As you have probably guessed by now, I am pretty passionate about employee engagement.

I have demonstrated before the impact it can have on your business. The trouble is, you are probably wondering just how you can improve engagement in your business.

One of the best ways to get employees onside, is to adopt a strong model of communicating.

Let’s investigate what this might look like in practice:

  1. Integrity – being open and honest with your team is a good place to start.
  2. Trust – this works both ways. If you trust your team with key information they are likely to reciprocate. But remember not to abuse this trust and keep things told in confidence just that – confidential.
  3. Gratitude – we’ve touched on this one before, but heartfelt thanks is always appreciated. In fact, many employees state they appreciate a genuine vote of thanks over gifts.
  4. Expectations – this is where many leaders fall down. By failing to set out your expectations – what you want, with appropriate timescales – people are left in the dark.
  5. Two way dialogue – if you want to build real relationships with your team, you need to encourage honest conversation both ways.
  6. Addressing concerns – tackling problems head on rather than bottling things up is always the best option. Identify why there is a problem and how you would like things to change, and remember to give the team member the right of reply.
  7. The future – talking about what your team want their future to look like in the organisation, and indeed where you see them, can be very uplifting. They will be delighted if they see you really believe in them, and equally, it is very encouraging for you to learn they are ambitious and what to grow with the business.

Crack this, and you are well on the way to having engaged employees. If you would like any help with this, please contact us on 01256 328 428.