In fact, a study reveals that companies with a highly engaged workforce are 21% more profitable

Thus, employee engagement has gained immense popularity over the years, even due to the global pandemic that mandated work from home. It has changed most industries’ workplace dynamics, and thus, companies are facing newer challenges in keeping employees actively engaged.

However, it observed that organizations with a highly engaged workforce deliver exemplary customer service and greater operational efficiency. Besides, they have a positive cognitive, behavioral, and emotional connection with their work and workplace.

This Survey by Gallup states that 62% of Highly Engaged employees feel that their work positively affects their physical health compared to 22% of Actively Disengaged employees.

Thus, enhancing employee engagement is the need of the hour. This article will explore its’ basics, how the trends have changed, and how to keep your employees engaged in today’s corporate scenario.

What is employee engagement, and why is it important?

It is the ability with which an employee feels present, focused, and energized at workplace. As a result, both the employee and the employer succeed simultaneously. An engaged employee aligns their purpose with the company’s goals and understands their role’s impact on the company and co-workers.

Understanding individual wellness and providing a conducive environment go hand in hand with employee performance. Here are some reasons why employee engagement is essential –

• Engaged employees exhibit active participation at the workplace leading to enhanced team performance & productivity. When a group of engaged employees work cohesively, it also increases team morale and accountability.
• Employee engagement further translates into higher retention. Gallup reported up to 40% lower turnover rates in companies with highly engaged employees.
• Less work-related stress. Engaged employees and supportive managers are mindful, self-motivated, and thus, do not take negative work pressure.
• When these engaged employees bring in high productivity and better results, it leads to increased company revenue and profits as a direct business impact.

Next comes the inevitable question – who should own employee engagement in a company?

Who is responsible for employee engagement, and how?

Every entity and individual working in the company is responsible for employee engagement, including the organization, leadership team and, every employee. So, while you can have one person in charge to oversee the engagement activities, in reality, it should be part of everyone’s goals.

Let’s take a look at what each role can do for the benefit of one and all.

The Organization

To begin with, an empowering environment is necessary for employees to feel engaged. Therefore, an organization that values engagement automatically builds an employee-friendly work culture – by creating policies, ethos, work environment, authorizations, etc.

Leadership team

Senior leaders are the powerful influencers of the firm. They are responsible for formulating policies that favor both employers and employees. Moreover, their support to reinforce these policies further ascertains engagement.

Managers

Managers form the essential bridge between the employees and the leadership team as they oversee the implementation of employee engagement strategies. They also receive feedback from the employees first hand and are in charge of resolving any issues that might come up or relay it to the respective team as required.

Employees

Eventually, it is the employees’ participation that brings in crucial growth. Communicating well and on time, providing timely feedback, seeking out the available developmental opportunities, and brainstorming with the managers on their career paths are vital for their success and the organizations.

Latest trends in employee engagement

As stated earlier, employee engagement can be a success only when all parties understand and embrace their roles. More and more employers understand the importance of having an engaged resource pool for achieving continuous success.

Let us see what the factors that define employee engagement in this age and time are.

Embracing hybrid workspaces

Although hybrid workspaces existed before the onset of the pandemic, with the COVID-19 restrictions slowly lifted, many companies are switching to the hybrid model, offering a combination of onsite and offsite working. This model offers more flexibility to employees and emphasizes work-life balance, which in turn elevates employee satisfaction and engagement.

Fostering employee-centric culture

Though this has been a growing trend, companies have accelerated the people-first approach and culture in the past few years. They explicitly value the physical and mental well-being of the employees. Firms are fostering a positive work culture and extending a plethora of wellness benefits to the employees to upkeep their engagement.

Practicing diversity, equity, and inclusion

Since geography was not a primary criterion, companies started hiring people across ethnicities, cultures, genders, and social structures. Such a diverse employee pool brought fresh perspectives, innovative solutions, better representation, a safer environment for women, and a greater sense of belonging. When the employees feel heard and taken care of, they are automatically engaged and driven at the workplace.

Growing use of tools and technology

Technology is the enabler in today’s business landscape. With remote work gaining impetus, the use of technology has grown exponentially. Firms are implementing tools that bring the team together on a unified platform, thus negating the feeling of isolation and encouraging team engagement.

We now know about the metamorphosis the workplace culture has undergone in the past years. Here’s how companies can leverage the changes to keep the employees actively engaged.

How to ensure employee engagement while onboarding?

The onboarding stage is the most crucial time for a company to make an impression on its new hires. A streamlined onboarding process can help them feel at ease, stress-free, and welcome, which in turn helps create an emotional bond with the company.

Engage early to create strong internal social connections

The thoughtfully crafted first days after joining set the new hires’ mindset for the rest of their employment. If the new employee would be working onsite, taking them for a tour of facilities, introducing them to the onsite team opens the door for team connection and garners a sense of belonging. If the employee is offsite, then carrying out the same activities over video conferencing has an identical effect. Managers can also start introducing them to the company’s cultural construct during the first few weeks conversationally or during meetings.

Organize fun icebreakers during training

Icebreakers are fun and effective in breaking awkward silences and facilitating the proceedings when the participants are unknown to each other. Trainers or facilitators can keep the sessions interactive by ensuring that all the new recruits feel comfortable, contribute and create a common sense of purpose.

Simple things like switching places or partners for every session and having communication-intensive games help with creativity, innovation, and energy boost. Asking icebreaker questions like these to the group also helps break the monotony.

1. You all have one hour to live. What would you do together?
2. If you had the chance to be the company’s mascot, what would you be and why?
3. What would you be doing if money was not a criterion?

Implement an onboarding buddy system

An onboarding buddy is a peer to the new hire who coaches and assists them during their initial weeks. Most new hires begin with general anticipation of the work, workplace culture, ethics, colleagues, etc. Thus, assigning a buddy provides them the initial support to understand all these factors better.

Managers can assign a seasoned employee who has demonstrated a clear understanding of the company’s practices, culture, and systems. They should also have exemplary communication and interpersonal skills to resolve the new recruits’ queries. . Moreover, they can ensure that the new hire has someone to talk to, feel welcome, thus accelerating their engagement.

A well-executed onboarding sets the foundation for the long-term success of the new hires. This has to be sustained throughout an employee’s tenure to guarantee high engagement and retention.

Here are 8 effective employee engagement drivers for long term employees

How to facilitate employee engagement for seasoned employees?

Employee engagement is particularly complex when it comes to long-term employees. There is no one solution for all. Managers have to make an effort and be watchful of employee performance. Every sign of demotivation and low morale should be recognized on time and addressed promptly.

However, preventing an employee from burnout or demotivation should be the primary focus as engaged teams bring in 17% more productivity.

Provide new opportunities to upskill them

A path of progression for a career or skillset works great in motivating employees. When they feel that the company is ready to invest in them, it boosts their morale, makes them feel valued, and increases their engagement. Upskilling and cross-skilling employees keep them prepared for diverse or multi-faceted projects, thereby decreasing the mundaneness of working in a single profile.

Thus, managers should converse with their team members, understand their aspirations and formulate Individual Development Plans (IDP) accordingly. They should follow the same approach for each employee and provide tailor-made IDPs.

Foster physical & mental well-being of employees

Companies gain a lot by prioritizing the overall well-being of their employees. Even to this day, there are stigmas attached to talking about mental health in the workplace for fear of being judged.

Organizations can take a step ahead, educate the employees about mental health and its importance, organize health sessions with experts regularly, and even create a mental health hotline for employees to reach out anonymously. When companies support the holistic well-being of the employees, not only will they perform better, they are also more likely to recommend their company as an excellent place to work

Make work-life balance a priority

Work-life balance is crucial for employees to upkeep their psychological and physiological health. The onus is on the organizations/managers to prioritize work-life balance and facilitate their resources with flexible schedules and other benefits that can help strike this synergy. It helps them do justice for their work and personal lives by being a high performer at work while taking some time out for self-rejuvenation.

Companies can offer employee assistance programs like flexible working, gym memberships, crèche facilities for working mothers on the office premises, etc. Additionally, managers can encourage employees to take timely breaks, focus on productivity rather than hours, and regularly review their workloads to avoid overwork. When employees have enough time to recharge, it increases their attention span and energy levels, thereby enhancing engagement and productivity.

Give importance to hobbies & recreation

A large number of people tend to stop pursuing their hobbies as the workload increases over the years. When opportunities for such pursuits are provided, the companies are seen to celebrate life beyond work. This naturally uplifts the workforce’s spirits and motivates them to do better at the workplace.

Organizations can hold classes for various hobbies, organize sports tournaments, competitions, and other outdoor activities like hiking, trekking, camping, and reinforce team level engagement activities like team outings, themed dress-up, etc. If the offices are still into remote working, virtual team-building activities can be conducted like Bingo, murder mystery, remote scavenger hunt, virtual wine tasting, Pictionary, etc.

Offer diverse projects to the workforce

Often long-term employees start feeling the boredom from monotonous projects, admin work, etc. This can lower their engagement and productivity, and even lead to unplanned absences since they have nothing to look forward to at the workplace.

Companies can proactively take preventative measures by breaking siloed structures and forming cross-functional teams instead of hiring new workforce from external channels. This will allow employees to take on multiple endeavors and diversify their portfolios. Naturally, when the resources’ interests are taken care of, they feel the company provides them a platform to showcase their capabilities, which keeps them engaged.

Facilitate real-time rewards and recognition

Appreciations, rewards, and recognitions all positively impact employee motivation, productivity, and engagement by reinstating the fact that their performance is noted and they are a valuable addition to the firm.

With a continuous appraisal system, employees can work on their shortcomings ahead of time and start upskilling themselves for future projects. Companies can build a culture of positive reinforcement by rewarding with small but meaningful gestures like reward points, appreciation emails, etc.

Take feedback through employee surveys

Employee Assistance Programs, hobby clubs, mental health hotlines help treat the symptoms and not the root cause of disengagement. Employee surveys – both pulse and annual – help identify the needs of employees that would help them thrive at work. It also gives the companies an opportunity to improve their work practices, amend the culture if needed, address pressing concerns, etc.

These surveys should be kept short, precise, and confidential. The option to share responses anonymously or non-anonymously can also garner more honest insights from employees. These practices provide a safe space for the workforce to voice their concerns, make them feel heard, and thus, keep them engaged.

Ensure your tech minimizes the mundane tasks

Many of the necessary but mundane tasks, like administrative work, can be automated, which frees employees’ time to focus on more critical assignments such as billable and strategic work. In addition, companies can deploy technology and enable self-service for routine tasks like leave scheduling, raising IT tickets, streamlining payrolls, answering polls, etc.

89% of employees say that when repetitive routine tasks are streamlined through automation, it makes them more efficient.

Thus, taking admin and routine tasks out of the equation offers more time to employees to work on critical, creative, and other human-specific tasks, eventually enhancing their engagement.

Out of the many tools, implementing a resource management solution can enable managers to promote employee engagement. Here’s how,

How can Resource Management help enhance employee engagement?

Resource management allows multidimensional scheduling and competent resource allocation, which enables managers to tap into the maximum potential of the workforce.

It gives you 360-degree visibility of the resource pool, and the managers can view the skills, experience, capacity, availability, etc., of the resources. This way, they can ensure that the right resources are working on the right projects. Besides, when employees work on tasks in line with their interests and skills, it automatically engages them.

Moreover, managers can track utilization rates of resources in real-time and determine if a resource is overwhelmed or not. Further, they can optimize their schedules with optimizing tactics such as resource leveling and smoothing. It also allows you to keep overutilization in check and negate burnout. When employees’ stress levels are at a minimum, they are more active and productive at the workspace.

Not just that, the resource management tool also allows employees to show interest in open positions matching their skillset and availability. Following that, the resource managers can consider them while proposing the best fit resources for the project. Following this, they can validate and book them using the same platform. It also helps in improving task ownership from the employees’ end.

These practices make employees feel valued as their competencies are utilized to the maximum extent while considering their mental health, thus enhancing their engagement.

Conclusion

Employee engagement is complex but necessary for sustaining an optimized and motivated workforce. Thus, organizations must take necessary steps to ensure that their workforce is engaged, as it up keeps their well-being and elevates productivity and profitability. The strategies mentioned above will help you achieve the same efficiently.

What strategies do you employ to keep your team engaged?

The Glossary

SAVIOM Solution

SAVIOM is the market leader in helping multinational clients manage their resources efficiently and effectively. With over 20 years of experience, this Australian-based MNC has a global presence across 50 countries and has helped 100+ clients with their Workforce Planning Software. Saviom also provides tools for Enterprise Project Resource Management, Project Portfolio Management, and Professional Service Automation. Re-engineer employee engagement in your organization with Saviom.

According to recent Gartner research, “By 2030, the demand for remote work will increase by 30% as Gen Z will enter the workforce.”

While working from a brick-and-mortar office space, employees had the privilege to socialize at cafeterias, office desks, or work events. However, with the rise of remote work, communication and bonds between colleagues are slowly becoming strained. Therefore, organizations need to keep their virtual teams aligned with company culture while ensuring their productivity.

As rightly quoted by Bang Gae, “teamwork makes the dream work,” companies must organize virtual team building activities that leverage team empowerment and employee engagement. It includes weekly activities, happy hours, coffee meetings, virtual games sessions, and fun challenges. These practices reinforce employee morale, strengthen team connections, and maximize productivity.

This article will cover some best practices and benefits of virtual team building activities.

Let’s begin with understanding what exactly is virtual team building.

What is Virtual Team Building?

Virtual team building is a continuous process of bringing remote teams together and creating bonds with teammates through various communication technologies in a similar office environment. Since communication is not in person, trust and transparency are crucial.

Virtual team building activities require specific initiatives to be taken by the team leaders to keep the team on the same page. 

For example; Virtual lunch can replicate cafeteria lunch, casual coffee meetups, video streaming, stress busters games, and more. It helps teams connect personally by bringing human interaction to virtual work.

Now that we know the basics let’s understand different benefits in more detail here.

Benefits of virtual team building activities for remote teams

Regular virtual team building activities help your workforce quickly adapt to a new remote work lifestyle. It helps minimize the negative impact of online workplace cultures, such as the inability to separate work time from personal time, loneliness, and the added stress of a global health crisis.

According to Gallup research, “Virtual team building activities lead to an increase in employee performance rate, claiming 41% lower absenteeism and 21% higher profitability.”

Here is how virtual team building activities can benefit you:

Boosts Employees’ Morale

Constantly pushing teams to deliver work and adhere to deadlines can cause disengagement and burnout. Thus the ideal team leader must encourage the team to function cohesively by conducting virtual team building activities such as group discussions, online meetings, brainstorming, casual meetup, and more. These team bonding practices empower the team with positive reinforcement and make them feel valued.

It aids in developing mutual respect amongst employees, boosts employee morale, and eliminates internal conflicts.

Promotes Workforce Collaboration

Projects cannot succeed without team efforts as most tasks are interdependent and demand coordination between the resources. In a concrete workspace, it is easier for team collaboration. But when employees are working virtually, it gets challenging to align the team with the project’s progress. There are greater chances of discrepancies in communication.

Therefore, conducting virtual team building drills proves beneficial. It helps employees stay connected with coworkers and promotes them to work cohesively. It also makes resources aware of each other’s strengths and weaknesses and enables them to coordinate and complete tasks according to their competence, saving time and additional effort.

Supports Innovation Management

Innovation is a key to gaining a business advantage in the competitive industry. Virtual team building is a medium to bring all employees under one roof,  promote creativity, brainstorm, and foster innovation. When there are multiple perspectives, any idea can lead to a breakthrough innovation for a firm.

The innovation management strategy will boost team collaboration and allow people to interact, share, and receive constructive feedback. When employees look at an issue or challenge through the lens of innovation, they become more involved in achieving the company’s long-term goals.

Increases Productivity

When teams are siloed, chances are they don’t have a clear work direction which can lead to lower productivity. But virtual team building activities allow team leaders to explain organization goals with utmost clarity.

When employees have a sense of purpose, it motivates them to work with all their might to reach the goal. It, in turn, results in improving the resource pool’s performance index without any form of employee burnout.

Encourage Versatility

Several organizations now demand a versatile workforce to respond quickly and effectively to ever-changing developments. Thus, organizing team-building activities enhances resource skills and expertise in more than one discipline. It is also a safe zone for employees to try new tasks and make mistakes without the fear of repercussions.

technology, and people.

Reinforce Positive Work Culture

Using the diligent intuitive tool, organizations can ensure that remote teams have clear insight and visibility of all ongoing work. It will make all team members accountable for producing quality work.

Regular office catch-ups, work-related discussions all lead to a significant influence on employees, thereby reinforcing positive workplace cultures. Virtual team building games, lunch or a coffee break, book/music clubs, contest nights, virtual happy hours, birthday celebrations can boost positive work culture in an organization.

Build Diverse Relationships

The best work culture leverages resources from different time zones, embraces diversity (cultural/gender/race difference), and celebrates it. Thus, virtual team building activities help organizations build meaningful relationships and connections among geographically distributed teams and develop cross-generational relationships. It exposes virtual teams to new ways of working across boundaries through systems, processes, technology, and people.

The advantages of team-building activities are substantial. Let’s now look at some of the best practices that support virtual team-building with it.

Best Practices For Virtual Team-building

Team leaders can avail the benefits of the virtual work environment and promote team bonding  by following some tips given below: 

Regular check-ins & feedback with teammates

It is easy to check in on employees in traditional workspaces and keep a tab on their work rate by just visiting their cubicles. However, it gets challenging when the team is dispersed across boundaries. Managers must therefore make it a point to conduct regular check-ins with employees. It will help resources enhance their performance and get a clear picture of the process and scope of improvement from their perspective.

Aside from support, most managers’ and employees’ critical need is to find a shared understanding of what work to prioritize. The one-on-one conversation with employees will help managers understand how best to support employee’s work, productivity, growth, and success.

Foster virtual water-cooler chats

From casual office breaks to impromptu chats at a colleague’s desk, physical office space provided several opportunities for interaction with colleagues. To replicate this experience, managers can schedule virtual water-cooler discussions weekly where team members can indulge in a casual conversation or icebreaker questions over a cup of tea or coffee.

These simple yet effective initiatives can positively impact remote employees’ mental well-being and help them feel less isolated.

Conduct employee wellness programs

Employees are struggling to embrace the sudden shift of virtual work culture due to the challenging times of pandemic. As both of these factors have a significant impact on employees’ wellbeing, companies should consider investing in 3 domains of wellbeing initiatives, i.e., mental, physical, and social wellbeing.

Companies can provide wellness packages to employees and introduce the concept of mindfulness. Other supports include free and accessible counseling for mental well-being in remote employees, reimbursement for fitness activities, etc., to address employee’s stress, work concerns, and challenges.

Provide Recognition and Awards

Team leaders can deliver praise and acknowledgment to well-performing employees by providing recognition and awards. The recognition awards such as employee of the month, team hero, etc., will boost employee morale and motivate others to perform better in tasks.

Beyond financial incentives, other perks for employees can include online training, workspace upgrades, a wellness package, technology allowances, etc. It will make everyone aware of the performance expectations and drive them to take ownership of their work.

Conduct Daily Stand-ups

Regardless of whether the team is working remotely across different geographical boundaries or co-located, organizing daily stand-ups will bring all employees to the same page. A short, consistent, and focused daily stand-up will align resources on the highest priority tasks before the day starts. The success of any stand-up meeting depends on team participation and effective communication. People can move in sync only when everyone is aware of the team’s objectives, project deadlines, and team member availability.

Conclusion

In a post-pandemic world, most companies are considering remote work culture as a permanent option. The employees can save significant travel time while the organizations can cut down on expensive real-estate costs. If the activities are well-coordinated, it can be a win-win for both parties.

Thus, team-building drills can help organizations to prepare their workforce during this impromptu work transition period. It is known to be more effective when it is intentional and has a purpose as it transcends cultural and physical barriers. It also allows employees to participate without typical corporate hierarchies and across diverse geographical boundaries.

In a nutshell, team-building activities are essential to building a stable remote workforce for any business. By creating a fun and collaborative virtual environment where transparent communications are encouraged, you can help your team thrive and gain business profitability, even when they’re working virtually.

What are the key team-building practices you have adopted for your virtual employees?

The Glossary

The SAVIOM Solution

SAVIOM is the market leader in offering the most powerful and configurable solutions for managing enterprise resources efficiently and effectively. Having more than 20 years of experience, this Australian-based MNC has a global presence in over 50 countries. It is also popular with more than 100 customers and helping them to achieve their business goals. SAVIOM also has products for project portfolio management, professional service automation, and workforce planning software which can be easily customized as per business requirements.