Take a Holistic Approach to Employee Engagement

Many of the business leaders I know view employee engagement in terms of a program, or perhaps a campaign. Let me offer just a slight paradigm shift: The best way to consider employee engagement isn’t as a one-off, but as something you weave into the fabric of your business. In other words, I’m recommending a holistic approach.

But what does that look like in actual practice? Here are four practical steps to consider:

Four Ways to Pursue Holistic Employee Engagement

1. Invest in training for your leaders and managers. Employee engagement starts at the top; if you want your employees to feel like they have a real stake in the company’s future, that’s something managers must actively cultivate. For some managers, that will require a whole new understanding of employee communication, delegation, and team-building. Invest in some training and coaching, helping your leaders develop those critical skills. This will, in turn, permeate everything else you do in your business.
2. Make communication a top priority. Communication should be rich and frequent! And this ultimately boils down to developing the right habits. As the leader, it falls to you to set the tone for communication—regularly rounding, checking in with employees, and asking for their feedback. You shouldn’t only talk with employees once a year, at their annual review. Invest in regular
3. Provide training opportunities for your employees. Your team members should constantly be learning, growing, and developing new skills. That means providing plenty of training opportunities within your business. Let them know that you’ve made an investment in their professional development. This is one of the proven methods of keeping employees engaged!
4. Be clear in setting expectations. Employee engagement flourishes when all your team members know what they’re supposed to be accomplishing together—and that means regularly communicating the big-picture goals and vision of your company, and explaining to each employee how they fit into that big picture.

Creating a Culture of Engagement

Employee engagement won’t happen by accident. In fact, I’d argue that it’s not going to happen on the basis of a single program. It’s something you need to tackle holistically—and these steps will point you in the right direction.