How To Keep Employees Engaged At Work

by Mike Mirshams

Whether you own an entire company or just manage a small group within the company, you have to know how to manage your team. Part of that knowledge includes employee engagement. In other words, you need to keep your employees or team members interested in their work. The more interested and happy they are, the more efficient the company will be. So, here are some ways to keep employees engaged.

Give Them Incentives:

One way to encourage employee engagement in the workplace is to offer incentives. Those could be traditional things, such as bonuses or raises. However, you could also start an employee of the month club, or simply encourage the hobbies of your team members. For example, if you know that one of your team members loves movies, give them movie tickets for a job well done. If, on the other hand, you have a recently married employee, give them a gift certificate to a restaurant so they can treat their spouse.

You can also offer more general incentives around the office. You could hold prize drawings once a month, give small gifts to each team member as a surprise, or encourage casual dress to keep everyone comfortable. The options are limitless.

Keep Them Physically Comfortable:

Another key to good team engagement is making sure that your team members are comfortable while they are working. First, look at their physical comfort level. If they are all sitting in cubicles at desks, are their chairs comfortable? Is the air temperature comfortable? You should also check to see if they have enough space to keep their office or cubicle organized.

Decorating is also important. When you allow your team members to hang up pictures of their family members and friends, you can make them much happier at work. That can lead to a much better rate of team engagement and motivation. You can also decorate the office with things that make people feel more motivated and comfortable, such as comfortable chairs, pretty artwork, and even bulletin boards that you can use to post motivational sayings or group achievements.

Give Them a Break:

Everyone needs a break now and then, especially during a long work day. So, be sure that your team members feel comfortable taking a reasonable amount of breaks to recharge their batteries. You can even give them some break options. For instance, if given a 15-minute break, a lot of people, no matter how tired they are, might choose to keep working. After all, that’s not enough time to go Anywhere.

One good way to fix that problem is to turn an unused office space into a break room. Equip the room with things that you know your team members like. That could be anything from a pinball machine to a ping-pong table. It pays to get to know your team’s interests. If they are happy on their breaks, they will be more efficient when they are working.

Feed Them:

It’s amazing how much food can motivate people. So, if you keep the break room stocked with coffee, tea, and snacks, your team members will definitely be happier. You can also bring in bagels, donuts, subs, or other food on occasion as a nice surprise for your staff. Not only that, but don’t forget to encourage candy and other food around the holidays. That will keep people in a festive mood, even though they are stuck at the office.

Challenge and Trust Them:

Employee engagement also involves knowing when a team member needs something new to do. Some people like doing the same thing all the time, but most people get restless after a while. So, be sure to ask your team members if they want to take on new responsibilities from time to time. The more you challenge them, and also demonstrate that you can trust them, the more team motivation will increase.

Thank Them:

Finally, remember that a simple thank you goes a long way towards encouraging team motivation. You could thank your team verbally, write them notes, or even hold an unexpected office party as a reward for a job well done.

About the author

eLearningChampion.com offers high quality online training in management, specially for PMI PDU hours, NASBA credits [http://elearningchampion.com/nasba-cpe/] and HRCI credits [http://elearningchampion.com/hrci-credits-3/]. Whether you need to get a start on a new career, want to study for pleasure or simply looking to complement your university degree, eLearning Champion has something for you.