Boost Productivity With These Employee Engagement Best Practices

With an increased focus on the employee experience, it’s no surprise that businesses are recognizing the profound impact of employee engagement on overall productivity, performance, and long-term success.

Employee engagement encompasses the emotional commitment and dedication employees have toward their work and the organization they belong to. For organizations, it’s critical to create a work environment where individuals feel motivated, valued, and connected.

By fostering a culture of engagement, organizations can unlock untapped potential in their workforce, achieve remarkable outcomes in an increasingly competitive market, and create an environment that’s appealing to potential candidates.

In this blog, we’ll explore five essential employee engagement best practices that can help companies cultivate a thriving workforce.

The Impact of Prioritizing Employee Experience

Employee engagement plays a critical role in the success and productivity of any organization. According to Gallup, highly engaged teams show 21% greater profitability — and positively contributing to the company’s bottom line is invaluable.

But fostering engagement can be a challenge, especially for businesses that haven’t implemented employee development programs.

Regardless of what stage your organization is in when it comes to better supporting your employees and fostering engagement, here are essential employee engagement best practices to keep in mind.

5 Employee Engagement Best Practices

1. Communicate consistently and frequently

It is vital to establish effective communication channels and ensure that employees understand the organization's goals and individual roles in achieving them. It’s also important to determine which channels your business will use to communicate with employees.

We recommend leveraging an internal talent marketplace to keep employees in the loop and streamline internal SMS or email campaigns. Once the channels are established, regularly share information — like company updates, event promotions, and announcements — provide feedback, and encourage two-way communication to keep employees engaged and aligned with organizational objectives.

2. Ensure easy access to opportunities for growth and development

Today’s employees are more interested in opportunities to learn, grow, and advance in their careers than in previous years. Offering professional development programs, training sessions, mentorship opportunities, and clear pathways for advancement within the organization are excellent ways to highlight your company’s commitment to employee development.

Providing your workforce with the tools and resources they need to enhance their skills and progress in their careers boosts engagement and loyalty.

3. Recognize and reward employees for their hard work

Recognizing and rewarding employees for their contributions and achievements is a powerful engagement strategy. Implement recognition programs that acknowledge individual and team accomplishments, whether through verbal appreciation, public recognition, performance-based bonuses, or other incentives. Genuine appreciation and rewards help foster a positive work environment and motivate employees to perform at their best.

4. Prioritize employee involvement and empowerment

Encourage employee involvement in decision-making processes and empower them to contribute their ideas and suggestions. Involving employees and offering them opportunities to voice their opinion is an invaluable way to bring individuals into the fold in a more meaningful way that extends beyond their everyday responsibilities.

Seek their feedback on various aspects of the organization, such as policies, processes, and work environment. Actively involving employees in shaping their work experience enhances their sense of ownership, commitment, and engagement.

5. Support work-life balance and flexibility

A well-balanced workweek is beneficial for both organizations and individuals. To keep your workforce operating at their best, promote a healthy work-life balance and offer flexible work arrangements whenever possible.

Recognize the individual needs of employees and provide options to accommodate them such as flexible schedules, remote work opportunities, or time off to attend to personal matters. Supporting work-life balance demonstrates that the organization values its employees' well-being, leading to increased satisfaction and engagement.

Support your employees through a talent marketplace

Remember, these employee engagement best practices should be tailored to your organization's unique culture, industry, and employee needs. Each organization will have a different mix of processes and programs that work best for its workforce.

Don’t forget to regularly assess the effectiveness of your engagement initiatives, gather feedback from employees, and adapt your practices accordingly to continuously improve engagement levels.

To streamline this process and accelerate how you engage your employees, consider implementing a talent marketplace. Gartner predicts that by 2025, 30% of large enterprises will have deployed a talent marketplace to optimize the utilization and agility of talent. Explore what talent marketplaces have to offer here.

If you’re ready to take a closer look at what Phenom Talent Marketplace can help you achieve, stream this on-demand product tour.

Kasey Lynch

Kasey is a content marketing writer, focused on highlighting the importance of positive experiences. She's passionate about SEO strategy, collaboration, and data analytics. In her free time, she enjoys camping, cooking, exercising, and spending time with her loved ones — including her dog, Rocky.