In the age of technology and the rise of the remote worker, employers the world over are finding it harder and harder and to keep people engaged. Even though the days of the “company man” still exist, the concept is becoming less and less prevalent. This is largely due to the fact that changing jobs, or even careers, multiple times is no longer seen with the same disdain it once was. As a result, employers are having to get more creative about not only retaining top talent, but keeping them engaged. If you find yourself with a revolving door of quality people coming and going, you might want to consider some of the following strategies.

What Makes Employees Feel Engaged?

Before you start thinking about how to keep employees engaged, you have to understand what the term means to them.

Recent research tells us that three words define what it means for an employee to feel engaged. Money isn’t one of them. Community, Value and Security.

Community

Employees need to feel that they’re included in the process. Being included in important meetings, asked for their input and communication all go a long way. Bottom line, if something important is going on, everyone needs to be kept in the loop.

Value

In order for employees to feel valued, they need to know that their work is important. This is why regular feedback, even if it’s constructive goes a long way. If someone does an exceptional job, let them know. Even just a short email or compliment goes a long way.

Security

This is a big one. With the prevalence of corporate takeovers and mergers, employees spend a lot of time on edge and looking over their shoulder. They’re never sure when their position might be eliminated, or their head will be on the chopping block. If you want to keep people around and fully engaged, let them know that they don’t have anything to worry about. Retirement plans, benefits, sales incentives, etc. all go a long way in easing employees’ minds.

Now that we’ve defined what engagement means to people, let’s discuss the best ways to keep them engaged.

Give People a Voice

Remember those surveys that companies would send out once a year to every employee to get their feedback? Those don’t cut it anymore. Employees today, especially Millennials and Gen Z, crave sharing of information, thoughts and ideas. That’s why it’s a good idea to have a central hub for communication not only within departments but between them. This space should be treated as a judgement-free zone. Sure, there are professional lines that need to be adhered to. But, employees should be able to be candid and share ideas and feedback freely.

Listen

It’s any employee’s job to listen to their boss. That goes without saying. But, guess what? It’s also your job as a boss to listen to your employees. If an employee raises a concern or comes up with a good idea, consider what they have to say and put it into action. When people see that their ideas add value to an organization, they feel like they matter.

Everyone Learns Differently

There’s a lot being made about different learning styles. And for good reason. Some people learn by watching and listening. Others, by doing. That’s why it’s imperative to accommodate everyone and how they learn. The days of reading a job description and the employee handbook are gone. For people to be engaged, they need you to be an active part of the process. It’s your job to identify their learning style and curtail your teachings accordingly. If you want to get the most out of your people, make their learning a top priority.

Creative Group Learning Sessions

You’re all too familiar with the typical company training that involves a Power Point and a manager talking in front of a group. These can be impactful but, it’s easy for them to become stale. An alternative is to do learning sessions in a way that involves and challenges everyone. You can get really creative here and have a lot of fun. An example might be dividing a team into groups to accomplish a certain task. Within a particular group, put someone that is shy or reserved in a position of leadership. While it might be uncomfortable for that person, you’re challenging them to step outside their comfort zone. These kinds of learning activities can be a real catalyst for individual and collective growth.

There’s no question that retaining quality people is harder now than ever before. The workforce has become smarter, values have changed, and technology has made it easier for people to do their job without being fully engaged. Sure, money is always a motivating factor for employees. More than anything though, they want to feel a sense of community, value and security. If you find yourself struggling to keep people around and excited about their work, try implementing some of these strategies. You just might be surprised by the results.

At some point in your career you’ve probably worked for a boss that always made you feel like you’re constantly walking on egg shells. You never knew where you stood with this person. They rarely provided feedback, instruction or guidance on how to do your job or what they expected of you. You always were left wondering if the work you were doing was exceptional or didn’t make the grade. The closed-door meetings you were left out of caused you undue stress and no matter how hard you tried you never received the praise you thought you deserved. At work the word used to describe the culture was fear.

Having learned from your own past experiences, you make it a point to be transparent with your employees. Such begs the question though, how transparent is too transparent?

Being Transparent Has Its Benefits

There is no denying that being transparent has its benefits. Perhaps the most obvious positive is that being transparent builds trust. By being transparent as a team lead or manager, you make clear what the expectations are for everyone in the organization. When transparency is present at the top, roles are clearly defined and people are free to do their jobs without having to wonder if they are meeting expectations.

Another benefit of being transparent is that it makes employees feel valued because they are more likely to be involved in the decision-making process. When employees feel like the job they do is important and they are valued as people, you’re organization will experience far less turnover and everyone will be much better positioned to maximize productivity and efficiency.

Avoiding Information Overload

While it’s beneficial for everyone when transparency exists, the fact remains that employees don’t need to know absolutely everything to do their jobs. For junior employees who aren’t charged with the responsibility of a C-suite executive, there’s no need to give them information they don’t need. In fact, overloading people with unnecessary information can create a sense of anxiousness and stress. When this happens, people have a hard time focusing and their productivity suffers as a result.

Should You Make Salaries Public Information?

It is becoming more and more a trend for companies to make public the salaries of all employees. While this is considered risky business by some, the practice has some potential benefits. Those that employ it believe it demonstrates openness and equality. The policy takes many of the unknowns out of the hiring process, makes expectations clear amongst team members and leaves plenty of room for people to grow within their respective roles.

The Importance of Maintaining an Open-Door Policy

There’s no worse feeling for someone than wondering if they fit into an organization. When employees feel that they can comfortably come to you and ask even difficult questions, trust is created and you make it clear to everyone that open lines of communication exist. By keeping an open-door policy you foster a culture of inclusion and openness that can only be a benefit.

Working as a Team

When transparency exists within an organization, space is created for individuals to come together, share ideas, openly communicate and work as a team toward a shared goal. If everyone is on the same page and can get behind the vision and mission set forth by people in positions of leadership, the sky is the limit for how successful an organization can become.

Creating Transparency

If your company is in its infancy or you simply feel greater transparency is needed, it’s a process that has to start from the top and be implemented at every level clear to the bottom and back up again. In order for it to work, transparency is something that has to be embraced by everyone in the entire company. Information and expectations need to be clearly stated in order for habits to change. If more open communication is what you’re after, you may have to make an investment in new technology or infrastructure that makes the sharing of information easier.

You’d be hard pressed to find someone in business that says transparency is a bad thing. The truth is no one likes to feel like they are walking on egg shells, not valued enough to be included in the decision-making process or left wondering if they are meeting expectations. Transparency has many positive characteristics that can help organizations grow and become more cohesive. It’s important to make sure you are transparent in the right ways however. The last thing you want to do is give people so much information that they become crippled. If implemented in ways that create a cultural of inclusion, open lines of communication and trust, your organization will be in a position to flourish.

Interested in learning more about a productive workplace? Contact Jeff King with RQ Focus. He is a Regulatory and Quality Recruiter in the Bay Area.