{"id":2911,"date":"2021-02-16T20:23:45","date_gmt":"2021-02-16T20:23:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.bullseyeengagement.com\/?p=2911"},"modified":"2022-05-24T11:40:31","modified_gmt":"2022-05-24T11:40:31","slug":"employee-engagement-best-practices-for-2021","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bullseyeengagement.com\/blog\/employee-engagement-best-practices-for-2021\/","title":{"rendered":"Employee Engagement Best Practices for 2021"},"content":{"rendered":"<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We sat down with Jennifer Bonilla, Ph.D., FACHE, SHRM-SCP to discuss a topic she\u2019s well-versed in: employee engagement best practices. Dr. Bonilla\u2019s doctoral coursework at Iowa State University of Science &amp; Technology focused on the correlation of employee burnout and turnover with employee engagement. She also held several executive leadership roles in global services organizations, including CEO of ISS Facility Services, Division President of Sodexo, and President\u2013North America of Pitney Bowes Management Services.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Listen to our full conversation with Dr. Bonilla on our podcast, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bullseyeengagement.com\/resources\/podcast.asp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Strategic Boardroom: Insights from Thought Leaders<\/a>, or read below to find out her advice for leaders looking to boost employee engagement in 2021 and beyond.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><script src=\"https:\/\/www.buzzsprout.com\/1343743\/6789073-delivering-an-exceptional-employee-experience-jennifer-bonilla-ph-d-ep-1.js?container_id=buzzsprout-player-6789073&#038;player=small\" type=\"text\/javascript\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before we begin to discuss best practices for employee engagement, it\u2019s important to clarify that there are 3 statuses of employee engagement:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Engaged Employees:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> employees who care about their work and the performance of their company (they\u2019re strongly connected toward the work they do, their teams, and the organization)\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Not Engaged Employees:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> employees who put in the time, but not energy or passion, into their work (they get the job done, but aren\u2019t connected to their job or the organization)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Disengaged Employees<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: employees who lack energy and effort at work because they\u2019re dissatisfied and frustrated with the job or organization (they tend to actually work against the organization and can have a serious impact on your bottom line)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Most Employees are Not Engaged<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Interestingly enough, most employees are in the middle category (not engaged). Today about 40% of US employees are classified as engaged, about 47% are considered not engaged, and about 30% are disengaged. It\u2019s important to understand which category most of your employees fall under because companies with high levels of engaged employees have better business outcomes. This includes:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">23% Higher Profitability<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">14%-18% Higher Productivity<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">81% Less Absenteeism<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">18 -43% Lower Turnover<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">64% Fewer Safety Incidents<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gallup.com\/workplace\/321725\/gallup-q12-meta-analysis-report.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Gallup 2020 Meta-Analysis\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It\u2019s important for an organization to figure out the right recipe needed to get more employees in the engaged status.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>The Impact of Culture on Employee Engagement<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Employee engagement is made up of many different factors, but one of the most critical factors is the organization\u2019s culture. Culture stems from the brand that the company is trying to achieve and is communicated to employees through the company\u2019s mission, vision, and values.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Today, because there are so many millennials in the workforce (by 2030 the majority of employees in the workforce will be millennials), companies need a mission that employees believe in and want to support. Millennials are very purpose-driven and are increasingly looking for companies with the right kind of culture, the right purpose, and the right mission.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Employees today, regardless of the generation they come from, tend to gravitate toward companies that have a mission that they feel is aligned to their own personal beliefs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>The Impact of Leadership on Employee Engagement<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">People want to work for leaders that inspire them, that they respect, and that they identify with. Organizations with high levels of employee engagement have leaders who really live the values that the company espouses and who demonstrate the culture.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>The Impact of Communication on Employee Engagement<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Communication is probably more important now than ever because so many employees are working remotely. The way a company develops its communication strategy and practices is extremely important to employees. It\u2019s something people think about as they \u201cshop\u201d for an employer, and employees think about it frequently as they\u2019re working.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>The Impact of Employee Motivators<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another best practice to encourage employee engagement is to ensure the alignment of a company\u2019s programs to employee motivators. Interestingly, people often think employees choose an employer primarily based on compensation. However, many studies show that compensation is actually around #5 on the list of things that employees look for. In reality, all the other factors we\u2019ve mentioned (including the mission, vision, values, and purpose) are more important motivators to most employees and deserve more attention from employers. That said, rewards and recognition programs and employee development programs merit serious consideration.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Other Practices that Impact Employee Engagement<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">There are plenty of other day-to-day practices that impact employee engagement. These include:\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Providing meaningful assignments<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Providing ongoing communication about how the employee\u2019s work connects to the company\u2019s mission<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Recruitment strategies (are you bringing in people who add value and align with the mission and values?)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Advancement strategies (Is there a promote-from-within approach, or do you frequently hire from outside the company?)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Inclusion: Can every employee be their authentic self at work?\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While an organization can\u2019t improve employee engagement overnight, there are plenty of steps leaders can take to address the root causes of disengagement and eventually create a highly engaged workforce.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Interestingly enough, most employees are in the middle category (not engaged). Today about 40% of US employees are classified as engaged, about 47% are considered not engaged, and about 30% are disengaged.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":2913,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-employee-engagement"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\r\n<title>Employee Engagement Best Practices for 2021 and Beyond<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Consider these employee engagement best practices to address the root causes of disengagement and create a highly-engaged workforce.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link 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