Boosting Employee Engagement and Well-Being

Strong, healthy employees make for more productive teams and can save companies significant healthcare costs down the line.

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio

Encourage your remote teams to participate in employee engagement surveys and one-on-one video conversations, listening carefully to their feedback and acting upon it accordingly. Let them know that their opinions matter greatly!

Run a team wellness challenge

Wellness challenges are an excellent way to increase employee engagement and encourage healthy behaviors, showing employees that your company cares for their health and wellbeing, while at the same time helping reduce healthcare costs. A wellness challenge could range from something as straightforward as encouraging employees to track their daily steps with fitness trackers or smartphones apps, or more complex options like group exercise classes, eating healthier recipes or stress reduction techniques. Whatever kind of challenge it takes form in, its vital that its event be carefully planned out with an extensive communication plan so it is easily understandable by employees who may want to participate!

One key mistake to avoid with wellness challenges is overemphasizing competition as an element. Too much emphasis can create an intimidating or demoralizing work environment for employees who may feel overwhelmed or discouraged; aim instead for a balance between friendly competition and creating a supportive and inclusive atmosphere.

Another common pitfall of challenges is failing to provide support and resources during their implementation. This could include providing informative materials or publicizing it via intranet or other platforms, and failing to celebrate and recognize participants' accomplishments through events, certificates, shout-outs or closing ceremonies.

Error #3 is failing to evaluate and collect feedback after each challenge ends, whether through conducting a survey or tracking specific metrics. Gathering such information can improve future challenges while encouraging better health habits in general over time, as well as identify any problems that need addressing to keep the program running efficiently.

Use strengths assessment

People are happier in roles that draw upon their natural talents and interests, according to Marcus Buckingham and Martin Seligman's Strength Philosophy, whereby people gain more from investing effort into building up their strongest assets than in trying to remedy weaknesses.

Encourage your employees to complete a strengths assessment to assist in finding their ideal role. This engaging, interactive test measures and identifies individuals' top talents before suggesting potential careers that align with them. Available for people of all ages and stages of development.

There are various free online strength tests, such as the Standout Assessment and CliftonStrengths assessment. A more sophisticated tool is Clifton Strengths 34; this paid online test assesses an individual's top talents using 177 paired statements and offers a Realised Strengths Report which offers deep insight into both dominant talents and blind spots for an individual. Furthermore, Cappfinity Strengths Profile gives leaders insight into both their own and team strengths as well as providing unique perspective into what can be termed the team's 'Significant 7'.

Managers looking to maximize strengths assessments must hold regular conversations about strengths-based dialogue among their team members. Gallup research shows that teams who engage in such talks outperform those who don't. Promoting and encouraging such talks can help employees become more aware of their natural talents and use them at work more effectively; as well as creating enthusiasm around leveraging strengths in the workplace and improving employee engagement.

Be a motivating coach

employees who are happy in their jobs perform better and make healthier choices, while employees who feel unfulfilled at work tend to be less productive and more prone to burnout. Companies investing in employee wellbeing and engagement initiatives will reap dividends: according to Gallup research, employees engaged with their work and well-being have greater senses of purpose, energy and optimism for life.

To promote productivity and wellbeing within your team, offer tailored wellness programs designed specifically for their needs. This could involve fitness challenges, workshops or simply creating flexible working hours so employees can meet personal obligations outside the office.

Success lies not only in introducing such programs, but also actively encouraging employees to participate and regularly. Consider rewarding employees for their successes to boost morale and encourage ongoing participation in these programs. You could even offer prizes or gift cards as incentives when employees complete a wellness challenge!

Make sure to listen closely for feedback both during the team wellness challenges and after, to ensure that you're providing an optimal experience for your employees. Perhaps they'd like more challenges that push themselves beyond their attainable limits in order to feel accomplished and contented at work?

As mentioned above, employee well-being and engagement are inextricably linked. Enhancing employee wellbeing can be an excellent way to boost engagement while simultaneously helping employees cope with outside stresses that affect them in daily life.

Collect and act on employee feedback

To ensure team members feel engaged and invested in their work, they need to know you respect their opinions. One way of doing this is using an employee feedback tool with targeted questions that show employees they matter; whether it be asking about work-related skills they prefer using on weekends, or how they unwind afterward - asking questions like these helps employees feel more at ease bringing all aspects of themselves to work.

Listening is important, but acting on feedback and building a culture of integrity are also paramount. A clear plan for implementation can help accomplish this feat and Bob can guide this process!

Measure and track employee engagement through various metrics; one such metric is the Net Promoter Score (NPS). This score measures how likely employees are to recommend their employer as a place to work, by asking employees how likely they would be to recommend the business as an employer.

Absenteeism can also be an invaluable metric, providing insight into how often employees are absent due to illness or personal reasons, which provides an indicator of engagement levels - suggesting they might be present but lacking enthusiasm and motivation that is needed for maximum productivity.

As another way of showing that you value employee feedback, offering benefits and perks such as unlimited vacation days or free gym membership is a surefire way of showing employee appreciation - studies have proven this through increased employee engagement levels at work in exchange for these perks; employees recognize their wellbeing is being prioritized at the workplace, leading them to put forth greater effort when possible.

Assess and improve your corporate culture

A healthy culture can foster employee engagement and play an essential part in recruiting and retaining top talent. Culture cannot be achieved simply with perks; rather it reflects how employees perceive the organization, interact among themselves and demonstrate commitment to its goals and values.

Corporate culture can be defined as the unwritten rules, norms and attitudes that shape company policies and business practices. It's also an indicator of leadership; how they set the tone for everyone on their team. While some managers might view corporate culture as something soft- and fluffy compared to tangible metrics like profit, customer service, productivity efficiency or quality, culture has an integral part in making your company run effectively and thrive.

Assuming you have a culture that encourages personal and professional growth, such as encouraging employees to assume new responsibilities or pursue educational opportunities, this type of culture could foster high engagement by inspiring employees to be their authentic selves while showing them that your organization values their commitment to learning and professional growth.

Communication is also key when implementing or revising existing culture practices, according to Tavgac. "Seek people's opinions on their reactions to cultural changes," suggests Tavgac, adding that surveys, focus groups or individual conversations may all serve this purpose. ThoughtExchange can assist organizations in managing such exchanges for maximum employee input.