Keeping your employees engaged is the key to a company’s success. In order to engage your employees you need to show them you care.   When your employees are happy with their jobs, your customers will share that experience through their interactions with your employees.   Remember that a delighted customer can be turned into a loyal customer through consistent service.   In addition, an employee that is engaged creates a loyal workforce that can help differentiate your company.

What is the key to engaging your employees? How do we best engage our employees?   What is the key to making that connection?   Here are some of the tips:

1. Listen to your employees – it sounds simple but we often ignore the fact that in order for us to connect with our employees to we need to listen to their viewpoints.
2. Improve communication – communicate, communicate, communicate…there is no such thing as over communication, but there is a downside of not communicating with them at all.
3. Timely communication – when communicating, the timeliness of the message is crucial to the effectiveness of the message.
4. Money is not always the answer – while money is a great way of recognizing your employees, it is best to realize that there are other means of recognizing them.   Recognition does not have to be expensive.   Saying thank you, buying gift cards, and awarding them with certificates are some the ways to show you care.
5. Share their cause – you might have an employee who is passionate about a specific charity. In that case adopt that charity and help your employee raise funds for that cause.
6. Invite your employee to participate in brainstorming sessions – in certain cases, involve your key employees and allow them to come up with ways to address a specific work problem that your business is dealing with. This is a way to recognize them.
7. Be flexible with your employee – provide your employees the flexibility to choose to telecommute and allow them to manage their affairs. This is not for everyone, as obviously some will take advantage of this.   The key is trusted employees.
8. Challenge your employees to come up with a new solution to an existing problem – allow them to apply creative thinking to help address a problem.   Allot a couple of hours each week for them to work on special projects that they are interested in.
9. Be accessible – the worst form of leadership is one that thinks that they reached the top of the tower and everyone is beneath them.   Don’t stay in your office. Walk the hall and mingle with your people in their workspace.   Be there, not to police, but rather to get to know them.
10. Ask questions – be aware that sometimes people will not tell you anything unless you ask questions.   Connect with them by asking questions that engage your employees.
11. Last but not least, be authentic and don’t fake it, like you care when you don’t.   Because your employees will sense that you’re not sincere. Remember, trust is the foundation of your relationship.

While the above mentioned tips can help engage your employees, the key to engaging your employees is being a servant leader and being there for them.   When you’re there for them, they will be there for you too. Let me know your thoughts on my post.