
Once, there was a company facing critical issues with its project completion. It was missing deadlines in projects back-to-back, leading to complaints and bad reviews from the clients.
The CEO convened a meeting with the Heads of the Departments and the project managers to discuss the issue at length. The difficulty level of the projects, the resources available, the strategies used and the systems employed were all analyzed.
Still, they couldn’t come up with a practical solution that could generate tangible results. In the end, they had to outsource some of the orders to meet the deadline of their most important clients.
After some days, when the CEO and high-level executives interacted with the employees for a company event, they found a disturbing pattern among the developers. Most of them seemed passive and apathetic with no passion for their work.
While interacting with the team leads, they understood the problem.
Most of the low-level developers were slowly losing interest as they constantly worked on similar projects that posed no challenge, creating a sense of monotony. This was negatively influencing their efficiency and lengthening the time in which they delivered the projects.
The CEO again organized a meeting, this time, including the HR department and asked them to plan some employee engagement activities that infused vigor in the office. The HR team planned events like monthly contests, skill-building workshops, informal gatherings with the company heads, bi-yearly company tours, frequent games, etc.
Just within two months of such activities, the company observed a measurable improvement in project completions and also the morale of the employees.
The above case demonstrates that employee engagement plays a vital role in boosting productivity.
But how does it happen?
Through employment engagement drivers that focus on the enrichment of the workforce. Here are a few of them:
As managers interact and connect with the employees, it builds trust and loyalty among the subordinates. Such meetings reveal what’s important for the employees and what pains them. This further makes them believe that the company cares about their needs and well-being. Such interactions fulfill their need to belong, as a result of which they give more of themselves.
During such an informal gathering, executives can talk about what everyone’s role entails and how it’s going to impact the organization’s growth. This will create clarity about the importance of everyone’s tasks, which will motivate employees to work with greater focus and intent.
Making the workplace fun has been documented to increase employees’ morale and energy. Recreational activities and fun games inspire employees to come to work and saves them from burning out. Getting engaged in entertaining, brainstorming activities also stimulates their creativity and leads to innovation.
Everyone strives for appreciation for the efforts they make. When managers and superiors meet their subordinates and offer them recognition and positive feedback, it acts as a healthy boost of motivation. Such words of appreciation from important people in the company work as key engagement drivers that make people feel more competent and responsible, thus improving productivity.
Through skill-building activities, employees can work on improving their competencies and gain skills that enhance their market value. Through this, not only will they feel more confident in their work but also contribute more to the development of the company.
Therefore, the above points clearly show that through the judicious implementation of employee engagement drivers, companies can grow as the individual productivity of each employee increases.