Employee Engagement 101

Employee engagement has become a buzzword. But what is the buzz word actually about? How exactly does a company achieve this employee engagement and what does it take to do so? We get to the bottom of these and other questions in this blog post.

Employee engagement is a workplace-based approach that creates the right conditions for all members of an organization to give their best every day, feel committed to the goals and values of their organization, are motivated to contribute to the success of the organization and have an increased sense of well-being (source: https://engageforsuccess.org/what-is-employee-engagement).

Employee engagement is therefore primarily about making employees happy and offering them a positive experience during their work. Companies are therefore putting people at the center at this moment. Employee engagement therefore allows you to find out within your company whether your employees are enthusiastic about their work and want to get involved in their workplace and contribute to the success of the company or whether they are simply doing their time in the office. The importance of this topic is clear, as various studies have already shown that happy, i.e. "engaged" employees are more motivated and therefore work more efficiently, which in turn has a positive impact on the company. Engaged employees perform better, make customers happier and also set the company apart from its competitors.

But how do we achieve a possible high level of employee engagement? The company Engage for success has defined 4 factors for engaged employees.

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Source:(https://engageforsuccess.org/what-is-employee-engagement)

Now that you are aware of these factors and may have already incorporated them into your corporate culture, the question remains: how can you measure whether your employees are engaged or not? During its research on employee engagement, the market research company Gallup defined 12 elements that employees must fulfill in order to feel fulfilled in their work and identify with their job:

I know what is expected of me at work.
I have the materials and equipment I need to do my job properly.
At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.
In the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for my good work.
My supervisor or someone at work seems to care about me as a person.
There is someone at work who promotes my development.
My opinion seems to count at work.
The mission or purpose of my organization makes me feel that my work is important.
My employees are committed to delivering high-quality work.
I have a best friend at work.
In the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about my progress.
Last year, I had the opportunity to learn and grow at work.

If your employees can answer most of the questions positively, you can assume that they are already engaged and that very little needs to be changed in terms of the employee experience at your company. However, if many of the answers are negative, you need to consider what measures and elements you could use to increase your employees' engagement and motivation.

Where does ahead start to increase employee engagement in companies?

Ahead's Intranet as a Service covers both business-relevant components—technology and culture—in one tool. With the various features and elements that are automated in the intranet, we strive to make the employee experience as pleasant and efficient as possible on a technological level, for example by making it easy to find and share documents. On the other hand, the intranet serves as a tool to bring the corporate culture to life and allow employees to participate in and become integrated into that culture.

The Company Compass highlights the corporate culture, for example, by visually representing the company's values, mission, and vision, and shows how the corporate culture is composed. In addition, the individual values can then be linked in a message to show that the values are actually lived and are not just empty phrases.

The news also helps employees stay up to date with the latest developments within the company. The comment function gives all employees a voice and allows them to express their opinions on various topics without being asked, thus integrating them into the culture. The "Stories" feature also gives employees the opportunity to share their experiences or questions with other employees.

With our latest feature, "Quick Pools," we give editors the opportunity to gather immediate feedback from employees. This allows the company to quickly and easily gather employee opinions, while at the same time allowing employees to comment on popular topics from the bottom up, giving them a certain say in the matter. Employees are thus able to express their opinions and actively participate in the discussion.

In summary, it can be said that employee engagement is rightly a buzzword in today's world. Employees have the greatest influence on the success of a company. It is therefore extremely important that they feel comfortable in their workplace, see meaning in their work, and that every working day is a positive experience.

Where does ahead start to increase employee engagement in companies?

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