Employee engagement is far from a new concept, but in tougher times for small business, it’s one of those things, like many peripheral business activities, that gets pushed to the side while business owners and managers focus on trying to keep the financials on track, the business afloat and new clients walking in the door. It could be argued that through times are the most important times to focus on these ‘peripheral activities’ to ensure you have a business that is ready for the ramp up when things get busy again.
It’s important to make sure you can keep your team engaged, motivated and committed, even through the tougher times.
Here are my top tips to improve employee engagement:
- Honesty and transparency – Don’t keep staff in the dark. The people who work with you and run your business aren’t silly, they will know if things are quiet, or a contract has been lost, or if workflow has changed.By communicating with staff openly, honestly, but in a positive and reassuring way, you can ensure that the right messages are being received about the business and the future.
- Follow Up on Promises – When times are tough in business, staff worry about lots of things, and are much more aware of what is happening day to day. It can often take less for them to consider moving on, especially if they are concerned about job security, or if they were already uncertain about their role. This is the time to ensure that you follow through on what you commit to and the promises you make.
- Projects and Responsibilities – Whilst the normal workflow may not be coming in, there can still be great projects for your people to work on which will keep them challenged, motivated and interested. Ask them what projects they can see might be useful, perhaps they will see something that you’ve missed. Get them to assist with preparing things that will assist efficiencies and processes when things pick up, look at all the operational side of things which becomes less important when things are busy, refresh the manuals, policy documents, procedures and have a clean out!
- Reward their Success – during the tougher times, celebrating the small wins can be particularly important, particularly if it’s something that your people have worked hard to achieve.
- Listen and Respond – it becomes more important than ever to not only listen to what your staff have to say, but to give them the courtesy of a response. You may not be able to give them the right answer or solution every time, but they will appreciate that you are taking the time to consider what they have to say.
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