How do you keep employees engaged? This is one of the key questions facing business owners and team leaders today. A 2023 survey shows that only 23% of UK employees are actively engaged at work. This represents a record low, demonstrating the scale of the task for employers.

At Enthuse, our vision is for everyone to enjoy being at work, and to achieve this, employees need to be engaged. So we help organisations to create a positive employee experience by engaging their team members. No one ever engaged anyone without communicating with them, so best practice internal communication is about having a regular drumbeat of communication that keeps colleagues feeling well-informed and valued.

So, how exactly do you keep employees engaged?

We believe this regular drumbeat of communication – having something that is perhaps, daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, annually, as well as ‘on all the time’ such as an intranet or app – should be the backbone of a communication plan.

Employee engagement is about creating an environment where people can enjoy doing their best work and feel informed and involved in helping the business to meet its objectives and grow.

The Enthuse team has decades of experience of creating and implementing employee engagement plans. In this informative guide, we’ll provide top tips to help you keep your employees engaged and share our tried and tested processes to guarantee success.

What is employee engagement?

Employee engagement is a phrase that has become increasingly commonplace, but what does it actually mean? According to Engage for Success, employee engagement is, ‘The level of enthusiasm and dedication a worker has for their job.’ Engaged employees enjoy their jobs, but this is a concept that runs much deeper than job satisfaction. Employee engagement encourages commitment, hard work, loyalty, high levels of performance, collaboration and cooperation and shared values. Positive examples include:

● Contributing to team projects and discussions

● Demonstrating a collaborative approach

● Asking for and taking feedback on board

● Effective communication with colleagues and senior team members

● Ambitions to progress within the company

Why is employee engagement important?

There are several reasons why employee engagement is important. High levels of engagement are beneficial for both employers and employees:

Benefits for businesses

Increased productivity

Engaged employees are likely to be more productive. According to Gallup, engaged employees are 21% more productive. Boosting productivity increases output and it can also improve efficiency. This is advantageous for customer experience and it can also help business owners to maximise profits.

Stronger teams

Studies show that increasing employee engagement can help build stronger, more cohesive teams. Engaged individuals feel valued and they are more willing to participate actively in team projects and communicate effectively with colleagues and coworkers.

Higher staff retention rates

People are changing jobs more frequently than ever. It is more difficult to retain employees today and there is the added challenge of a global skills shortage. It has never been more beneficial for employers to prioritise high employee retention rates. Analysis by the Corporate Leadership Council suggests that engaged employees are 87% less likely to leave their jobs. High retention rates are critical for enhancing brand image and maintaining consistent levels of productivity. Crucially, they can also reduce running costs considerably for businesses, as recruiting, onboarding and training are expensive. On average, it costs around 20%-30% of the individual’s salary to recruit a new employee (source).

Reduced rates of absenteeism

HSE statistics show that in the UK alone, more than 35 million working days were lost due to work-related illnesses and non-fatal injuries in 2022/2023. Companies with engaged workforces are less likely to experience high levels of absenteeism, which increases productivity and reduces the risk of losses.

Benefits for employees

Improved well-being

Research shows that engagement and well-being are intertwined. Positive engagement strategies can boost team morale and individual well-being, creating happier, healthier workforces. Engaged workers are less likely to take time off and levels of stress and anxiety tend to be lower. Employees who are prone to stress are more likely to become disengaged.

Ambitions to progress

Employee engagement can help to foster ambition and encourage individuals to enhance their career prospects. This is beneficial for both employees, who become more skilled and confident, and employers, who up-skill their workforce and save on recruitment costs.

Greater job satisfaction

The average person spends around 36 hours per week at work. This is a lot of time to devote to something you don’t enjoy. A lack of engagement can hamper motivation, productivity and well-being and zap the joy out of having a job. Engaged employees enjoy their work and they look forward to getting involved in work-related tasks and activities, taking part in group projects and representing their employer.

What do employees need to feel engaged?

The benefits of employee engagement are clear to see, but what keeps employees engaged? What can employers do to boost engagement levels and how can you tackle issues that impact engagement negatively? To help you understand how to keep employees engaged and motivated, here are some key requirements within the workplace:

A Clear Strategic Narrative

A well-defined strategic narrative provides employees with a clear understanding of where the organisation has come from, where it is now, and where it is heading. Employees need to connect with the company’s mission, vision and purpose. Leaders should communicate these core aspects consistently and transparently. When employees have a sense of direction and understand the bigger picture, they are more likely to feel motivated and aligned with the company’s goals. Sharing progress updates and celebrating milestones helps to reinforce this narrative and fosters a shared sense of purpose.

Policies and Guidelines That Create the Right Culture and Environment

Creating a positive work culture is essential for employee engagement. Effective policies and guidelines help establish an environment where employees feel comfortable, included and empowered. Promoting diversity, inclusivity, collaboration and efficient workflows builds a foundation for high engagement. Organisations should encourage the sharing of ideas, open communication and teamwork. Ensuring that the culture aligns with the company’s values and is consistently upheld is crucial for long-term engagement. Employees should experience these values not just in company statements but in everyday interactions and practices.

Effective and Open Communication

Communication is a two-way street and should be at the heart of any engagement strategy. Employees need to feel heard, valued and respected. Regular communication between leaders and employees fosters trust and openness. Encourage honest conversations, actively seek feedback and take action based on the insights received. It is not enough just to listen; employees want to see that their voice leads to tangible changes. Keep channels of communication open at all times, not just during scheduled meetings, to build a culture where feedback is welcomed and acted upon.

Engaging Leadership and Strong Management

The adage “people don’t leave companies, they leave managers” highlights the critical role of leadership in engagement. Managers and leaders should be approachable, supportive, and genuinely invested in their teams’ growth and well-being. Employees need leaders who communicate the strategic vision clearly, provide regular feedback and demonstrate appreciation. Engaging leaders not only drive productivity but also cultivate loyalty. Providing development opportunities, mentorship and regular recognition ensures that employees feel valued and connected to the organisation.

Support, Recognition and Rewards

While competitive compensation is important, employees today seek more holistic benefits. They want to feel appreciated for their contributions and maintain a healthy work-life balance. Recognition programmes and reward systems play a vital role in employee satisfaction and retention. Publicly acknowledging hard work, offering rewards for achievements, and fostering an atmosphere of gratitude can have a significant impact. Recognition should be timely, meaningful and tied to specific contributions, reinforcing the behaviour you want to encourage.

A Positive Culture and Cohesive Team Experience

Building a cohesive and positive workplace culture starts with strong company values that are lived out daily. Culture is not just about the work environment but also about how employees interact and collaborate. Regular team-building activities, social events, and opportunities for team bonding can help to create stronger relationships. Simple initiatives like after-work gatherings, celebrating milestones together, or participating in charity events can enhance camaraderie and improve the overall employee experience. It is crucial that company values are consistently reinforced in actions, not just in words, creating a supportive atmosphere where everyone feels a sense of belonging.

Employee Voice and Participation

A fundamental driver of engagement is whether employees feel they have a voice within the organisation. Are their opinions considered? Do they feel seen and heard? Employees who feel that their feedback and ideas are valued are more likely to be engaged. This ties directly into trust and empowerment. Organisations should create structured opportunities for employees to share feedback, provide suggestions and participate in decision-making processes. By acting on this input and recognising employee contributions, companies demonstrate that they genuinely value their people.

Steal our employee engagement framework

At Enthuse, our vision is for everyone to enjoy being at work. Our award winning expertise is helping employers and organisations create positive working environments, which actively promote employee engagement and provide positive employee experiences. If you are wondering how to keep employees engaged at work, we’ll let you in on our secrets. Here are some steps you can steal to make our employee engagement framework work for you:

Establishing trust with effective communication

We believe that effective communication forms a solid foundation for improved employee engagement. Communication builds trust, but it also helps to develop better relationships, streamline operations and get individuals and teams involved in group projects. At Enthuse, we focus on three lenses of communication: strategic, operational and social. All these cogs need oiling to create an overall communication strategy that aligns with your employee engagement objectives.

● Strategic Communication: Outline the strategic goals and direction of the organisation and make sure employees understand where the business is heading and the role they play in achieving this.

● Operational Communication: Ensure employees receive the day to day information they need to perform their roles

● Social Communication: Create opportunities for socialising, collaborating and fostering a sense of belonging so that employees can build relationships based on empathy and trust.

Encourage open communication between colleagues and employees and their managers. It is important that employees feel able to approach senior team members if they have worries or concerns, or they’d like to share ideas. Listening is a key component of employee engagement. If employers don’t listen to their employees, this can create a lack of trust. Organise regular catch-ups and implement an open-door policy to keep the conversation going.

Empowering employees with flexibility and autonomy

Giving workers more control over their workloads and schedules can help to empower them and enhance engagement and well-being. Many people prefer to have a degree of flexibility and autonomy. Building trust between managers and employees is one of the most significant outcomes of increased autonomy and it can also empower employees to explore opportunities. Boosting confidence, for example, may prompt employees to want to develop new skills or apply for a more senior role.

There are multiple ways to support flexibility and autonomy, including:

● Maximise opportunities for managing individual workloads

● Set core hours with flexibility to manage schedules outside of these times

● Embrace innovation and experimentation

● Encourage employees to share ideas

● Allow employees to take on different tasks and learn new skills

Recognising and rewarding employee achievements

We all want to feel valued and appreciated, especially if we’ve done something amazing or devoted a lot of effort and energy to a task. Employers should always go the extra mile to recognise and reward employee efforts and achievements. Showing gratitude and praising good work increases motivation. Employees who feel valued will also be more likely to be loyal to the company in the future. Rewards encourage high levels of performance and they also act as a motivator for hard work and commitment.

Utilising effective strategies to reward outstanding achievements and contributions can help to enhance employee engagement. There are many examples, which are suitable for businesses of all sizes with varying budgets. These include:

● Setting up an internal rewards scheme, for example, employee of the month

● Celebrating individual and group successes with prizes, perks or bonuses

● Providing regular feedback

● Sending positive messages and emails

● Creating thank you videos and social media posts

● Planning team outings

● Hosting a team lunch

Promoting personal growth and career development

Many employees are eager to get ahead. They want to learn more and expand their skill set and they may have ambitions to climb the corporate ladder, boost their earnings or take on more responsibility. Promoting personal growth and career development can help to optimise engagement and help individuals to fulfil their potential and get the most out of their roles. At Enthuse, we’re passionate about championing growth and development and we prioritise continuous learning.

We recommend these strategies to support personal and professional growth:

● Providing access to training and continuing professional education

● Involving employees in decision-making

● Exploring courses and programmes based on employee feedback

● Getting to know individuals to understand their personal and career goals and ambitions

● Assisting with funding for career development

● Work shadowing

● Offering more senior roles to internal candidates

Creating a positive, inclusive workplace environment

Every employee should feel comfortable, confident and content when they go to work. Employers have a duty to create positive, inclusive workplace environments, which support employees and make them feel valued and respected. There are several ways to do this, including:

● Keeping up to date with policies, legal guidelines and procedures related to workplace diversity and inclusivity

● Providing time and space for everyone to talk and listen

● Bringing teams together through effective communication and social activities

● Offering opportunities to everyone

● Providing diversity training

● Breaking down language barriers

● Outlining core company objectives and values

● Encouraging employees to provide feedback and acting on it

Assessing and evaluating employee engagement levels

Do you know if your employees feel engaged? If you don’t analyse and assess engagement levels, you may not be aware of problems or issues that are impacting your workforce. Utilise techniques and practices to assess engagement levels and track progress continuously.

We recommend using interactive research methods, such as interviews, focus groups, employee appraisals and informal group meetings, as well as anonymous surveys, question and comment boxes and questionnaires.

It is also beneficial to collect feedback from employees who are leaving and to analyse and evaluate key metrics, such as employee turnover rates and productivity levels.

Get to know your employees

If you’re wondering how smart companies are keeping employees engaged, ask yourself how well you know your employees. There’s a difference between saying hello and goodbye and having a catch-up twice a year, and understanding what makes your employees tick. Take the time to scratch the surface and learn more about individuals. Encourage conversation and take an active interest in your team. Find out more about what motivates them and what they want to achieve in the short and long term.

Address Pain points

Assessing employee engagement levels provides valuable information for business owners and leaders. Your research may produce positive feedback, but there may also be weaknesses or gaps in your strategy. Identify areas for improvement and use feedback to address pain points. This may include practical problems, such as ineffective communications, technology, or issues with the culture of the company, for example, a lack of inclusivity or compassion.

Tackling issues will help your business to run smoothly, but it also shows commitment to your employees. By taking swift action, you can demonstrate the importance and value of their feedback, which will build trust and confidence.

Summary

Understanding how to get employees engaged in their work is a tough task for employers. As research highlights the growing importance of employee engagement, it’s crucial for team leaders and company owners to be proactive in learning how to engage employees. High levels of engagement benefit both the businesses and the individuals.

Our most important takeaway would be to remember the three lenses of communication and make sure you are addressing all three:

Strategic

Your why – your narrative – ensuring your overarching messages are clear and understood by ALL your audiences

Operational

How strategy translates into daily actions so that you make progress. Do the daily interactions and communications match the vision or is there a disconnect?

Social

Creating opportunities for connection and belonging at work and to stimulate our feel good hormones like oxytocin and serotonin.

In this post, we’ve shared effective ways to boost engagement, including open communication, rewarding and recognising achievement and creating positive, supportive and inclusive environments for workers. Drawing up an effective employee engagement strategy will help you drive your business forward and boost team morale and productivity.

If you’re ready to take the next step and are looking for help with keeping your employees engaged, we’d love to hear from you. For more information and expert advice, don’t hesitate to contact us by calling Andrea on 07812 343310 or emailing hello@enthuse-comms.co.uk

Read about how we helped a client develop a communication strategy for their organisation here

How to keep employees engaged (steal our process)