4 ways to engage employees

 According to an HR Magazine article, What’s In Store For HR In 2015, employee engagement and retention will be the number one “front-burner” issue this year for most HR professionals and organizations. “In today’s highly transparent job market, employee engagement and employment brand are becoming the same thing: If people are unhappy at work, they are not only under-performing and increasing the cost of turnover, they are also making it harder to hire good people. So a focus on engagement is a high priority everywhere,” the piece reports.

With Millennials projected to make up 75 percent of the total global workforce by 2020, companies must start thinking now about how they engage and retain employees, because workforce expectations are already shifting. The HR magazine piece likens workers to professional athletes joining teams. As long as there is a mutually beneficial relationship, workers stay on. When that ends, they leave.

At Disney Institute, we believe that by intentionally over-managing – or paying extraordinary attention to – certain critical human resources processes, an organization can create a sustainable workplace culture comprised of highly engaged employees.

Based on our experience, here are the four interconnected processes that, when intentionally designed and nurtured, can help to create this “culture by design:”

·         Employee Selection: Hiring people who are the right fit for the culture is crucial to the long-term success of an organization. In addition to testing for skills, hiring processes should include behavior-based questions that reveal how prospective employees act in various situations. Individuals who display behaviors that match the desired culture are more likely to be engaged, translating to a happy and productive workforce.

·         Training: Of course, simply attracting and hiring right-fit talent is not sufficient; it’s essential to operationalise training across the organization. This should start with an orientation process that infuses the company’s values and purpose and continue with ongoing development to optimize talent and enable career growth.

·         Communication: Organizations often underestimate the importance of communication in the workplace, yet communication continues to be one of the single most important determinants of employee engagement and organizational effectiveness. At Disney Institute, we encourage our clients and course attendees to redefine intentional communication as a two-way process, and to make active listening integral to their cultural model.

·         Care: We often get asked, “How can I increase productivity?” At Disney Institute, we challenge leaders to reframe the question to: “How can I demonstrate genuine care for my employees?” The reason: Genuinely caring for people, beyond standard benefits and incentive programs, creates a real sense of community, which leads to a positive and highly productive work environment. 

Credit: inc.com