Engaged employees are employees with a high level of job satisfaction, who approach their work with enthusiasm and pride. When employees feel engaged, they feel happier and are more productive employees. This ultimately boosts the moral and cohesion of the workplace as a whole. However, studies suggest that in the UK, lost productivity from disengaged employees costs £70 billion a year. Despite this, only a third of companies make employee engagement a priority.
If you’re not making employee engagement a priority within your company, it is vital to change this for the sake of your team’s wellbeing and the overall productivity of your workforce. Read on to find out how you can do this.
Above all else, making sure your team have a high level of mental and physical wellbeing should be the first step in improving their engagement. It is estimated that poor mental health alone leads to 9.1 million lost working days a year in the UK. The overall cost of sick days, lost productivity, and replacing staff, costs employers £30 billion.
Wellbeing reporting
The first step in improving employee wellness should be to implement a wellbeing reporting system, such as Lumien. Lumien allows you to monitor the wellbeing of your team as a whole. This can help you to understand the specific areas which need improving, and allow you to monitor the effects of any wellness programs that you implement. Monitoring your team in this way can boost engagement as it sends a clear signal that your company is committed to their wellbeing, thus making them feel appreciated.
Alongside this, you should invest in First Aid for Mental Health training. This will make it easier for you to recognise signs of mental illnesses and encourage your team to open up.
However, this wellbeing reporting system should be implemented alongside wellness programs. At Wellbeing in Your Office, we have a number of different wellbeing services to help you boost engagement.
Yoga
Yoga classes, which can be done either in person or over zoom, are a great choice if you’re looking to reduce your team’s stress levels and improve their physical wellbeing. An added bonus is that taking the classes as a team can be great fun and an easy way to get everyone together. This improves the cohesion of your team, making them feel happier and more engaged with their work.
Mindfulness
Another idea is to take mindfulness classes. Mindfulness is a type of meditation which aims to bring awareness to how you are feeling, both physically and mentally, in the present moment. This self-awareness has many benefits, including improved mood, reduced stress, and better decision making and focus. The benefit of mindfulness is that it can be taken in classes as a group (both online and in person). The techniques can then be used individually. Mindfulness is a great way to improve employee engagement for this reason.
You can find out more about the services we offer here, there really is something to suit every workplace.
How can we encourage our team to get involved?
To encourage your team to get involved in these programs, it is important for senior managers to join in too. This has the added bonus of boosting a sense of team spirit which is vital for engagement. It’s also worth considering which time of day will have the best turnout. Putting on short sessions after meetings when everyone is already together, rather than asking your team to give up their breaks or free time, may be the best option.
What else can you do to boost employee engagement?
If your teams are working from home, make sure that you keep everyone in the loop by scheduling regular meetings and sending out emails with company updates. You should also arrange meet ups outside of work to boost the sense of community within the workplace.
Ensure that you constantly recognise achievements, both individually and as a team, and offer praise and reassurance.
Offer rewards and employee perks, which could be anything from a box of healthy snacks to vouchers. If these are wellbeing related, it can reassure your team that you care about their health and wellness.
All of these simple steps will show your team that you are dedicated to looking after them both in and out of work, thus improving engagement.
Companies with engaged employees are 21% more productive, so doing anything you can to boost engagement really is in the best interests of everyone.
Ultimately, boosting employee engagement is as simple as making the effort to keep your teams happy and healthy.
Let us know some of your ideas and if you found this helpful.