3 HR Strategies to Boost Employee Engagement

January 19 2020 - Employee engagement is one of the latest buzzwords to emerge in the business world - but it's more than just a trendy new phrase. The term describes an important issue that is faced by businesses across different industries, and the need to improve levels of employee engagement can have a significant impact on the bottom line of a business.

HR departments are often on the front line of working to understand and improve employee engagement. Here are a few core strategies that can help you to take this further.

Establish clear communication

One of the most essential skills to have in order to understand and improve levels of employee engagement is to establish clear channels of communication.

Lack of clear communication can impact a business in numerous ways: by leading to delays and mistakes in project development; missing important milestones or deadlines; losing valuable sales and overall causing greater levels of stress and confusion; all the while reducing employee engagement.

Tools to improve communication, such as reviewing and streamlining how technology can be most effectively and efficiently used to make communication clearer and easier, can make a major difference. Other useful tools, such as an Inpulse employee survey, can help by giving you a direct insight into what currently works, and what may need to be improved, therefore helping your HR department to make specific changes.

Prioritize employee wellbeing

Increasing levels of stress and burnout have been found to have a greater impact on employee engagement, retention and overall happiness in roles. For a business to make the most of their talent in the long run, it's essential to treat employee wellbeing as a priority, and invest in it accordingly.

In order to identify the areas that can be improved to enhance wellbeing for staff, it's helpful to ask questions first, and to listen to what employees are asking for. Initiatives such as having workplace wellness programmes or fitness activities may not be helpful if employees feel overburdened or poorly supported in their roles. Some may need more flexible working hours, while others may prefer support to help them develop their skills and careers.

By putting the wellbeing of your employees first, you can feel confident that you are investing in a team that will help your business flourish.

Don't just take feedback - act on it

One of the biggest frustrations commonly cited by employees against HR departments is the lack of action after feedback has been delivered.

If you are investing the time and resources into carrying our surveys, asking questions and expecting employees to spend time responding thoroughly and clearly, you will then need to act upon the results in a timely way, in order to see positive results.

While some solutions may need compromise, this can be achieved with clear and effective communication, which can only happen once the feedback has been thoroughly and carefully looked at.

HR departments play an essential role in the management and growth of a business, and can help to make a key difference in terms of employee engagement and productivity.

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