Employee Engagement Trends - 2020

Let employees contribute their ideas, directly

As 2020 begins – a new decade – companies are busy strategizing on how to create initiatives that will keep employees happy and engaged, both in their jobs and loyal to the company. HR professionals know that engaged employees are not only more productive, but their turnover rates are lower, and they report higher job satisfaction. In short, creating robust employee engagement strategies is a win/win for both the company and the employee.
 

If your team is tasked with working on initiatives to improve employee engagement, one trend worth exploring is direct employee feedback to a neutral research firm. In this article, I’ll explain the benefits of direct employee feedback, and highlight the difference it makes when employees are able to talk to a party outside of internal teams. Here are two easy steps to make it happen. 

Step 1: For maximum engagement, let employees contribute their ideas, directly

Do you know who knows best about what could make workers feel more engaged at their jobs? That’s right. The employees themselves. The best business books and MBAs may have well-constructed strategies and research documenting successful employee engagement programs, but at the end of the day, no one knows better than the people who show up, day-in and day-out to their unique work environments. Employees feel more empowered and report higher satisfaction when they are able to have a say in workplace initiatives that engage them, in their daily jobs, as well as help them feel more connected to the company culture as a whole. Instead of a top-down approach, where management dictates ways that employees can feel more fulfilled, this is an integrated, holistic approach where the employees get to contribute their ideas, and then it’s up to management to figure out how to build in programs for enhanced employee engagement.

There are various ways to let employees contribute ideas for engagement, from roundtable discussions, to surveys, to individual interviews. The exact approach will depend on the number of employees and the structure of the company. What matters most is ensuring that employees can directly contribute their ideas for how the workplace can be improved and how they can feel more engaged in their jobs. This leads us to step 2.

Step 2: Hire a neutral research firm to collect the data and facilitate employee conversations

Even the most sensitive HR teams and leaders understand that employees may be risk-averse to sharing their opinions about the work environment. Whether they are shy about speaking up, or if an employee worries that being too transparent can affect their job advancement, it’s common for employees to shield many of their honest thoughts and opinions from senior management. In fact, according to recent data, only one in three employees trust their employers. This is problematic when it comes to creating employee-centered initiatives, driven by employee input. Fortunately, employee-input doesn’t need to be axed because of this. 

A neutral research firm, experienced in employee insights and doing in-depth interviews, can collect employee insights, in a safe and confidential format. The firm will first meet with the senior management teams and HR to understand the current initiatives aimed at employee engagement, and they’ll gather ideas to spark conversations with employees about new initiatives. Then, in one-on-one formats, the firm will have moderator interview employees – confidentially. Employees will know that they can be direct without fear of exposing issues that may affect their job prospects – and they’ll feel more open talking with an outsider who doesn’t understand the daily constraints and political issues of their work environment. 

Once the research firm has conducted interviews with key employee stakeholders, the firm then assembles a report, compiling the themes and anonymizing the responses. The report contains recommendations on how the company can improve employee engagement, as told through the lens of the employees themselves. In this manner, employees feel they have a voice that is protected and heard, and the HR teams are able to bring to senior management actionable ideas for improving the culture and employee engagement. 

Start off 2020 on the right foot: By engaging your valuable employees directly and ensuring their voice gets heard, honestly and confidentially.

Author Bio

Joanna Jones is the CEO and Founder of InterQ Research.   Connect Joanna Jones Follow @InterQResearch