If we had written this article in 2019, or even the first couple of months of 2020, the advice would have been very different. The last year has certainly taken its toll and ONS research found that while levels of anxiety and happiness improved between March and December 2020, they remained significantly higher than pre-pandemic.

The changes during the past 12 months have resulted in an alternative workspace– often kitchen tables and spare bedrooms rather than the office. The tactics used to engage employees need to be adaptive, but the goals are still the same.

Let’s take a look at how to engage employees in 2021.

Advantages of engaged employees

An engaged workforce is what every business owner dreams of– passionate, productive and committed to their organisation and role.

Higher engagement levels leads to improved customer service, better employee retention and increased productivity. All of this has a positive effect on the bottom line.

Engaged employees care about their work and so achieve better results.

Implement pulse surveys

Implementing a pulse survey isn’t an employee engagement solution as such, but it’s a key first step. It doesn’t matter how many online studies you’ve looked at or the number of blogs you’ve read, your strategy won’t be truly successful if you don’t know what’s going on in your business.

What is a pulse survey?

A pulse survey consists of a small number of questions for employees to answer on a regular basis. Each survey should take no more than a few minutes to complete and should be of little inconvenience to the respondent. If answering a survey feels like a chore, answers are more likely to be inaccurate or rushed, leaving you with less than perfect data.

What are the benefits of pulse surveys?

Pulse surveys offer fast, frequent results. You can make impactful changes at the times when they really matter. Not only that, but the reduced pressure compared to annual reviews increases honesty and the number of respondents.

Pulse surveys give you information to act upon, in whatever way suits your feedback. More than that, though, the surveys alone increase employee engagement levels. Why? Because it shows your staff that their voices are being heard. They feel cared about and listened to, making them more engaged with the business.

2. Make employee engagement a priority

Everyone’s busy right now and there’s nothing wrong with looking for quick, easy solutions to employee engagement problems. That doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be taken seriously.

A recent Gallup study found that since the pandemic, and the consequent rise in remote working, depression, anxiety and loneliness have all increased. While this isn’t surprising, it demonstrates the need for employers to prioritise looking after their teams.

Here are a few tips on how to keep on top of this:

Schedule dedicated time each week to focus on employee engagement
Make a plan to follow
Enlist help – you could either get a colleague to divide tasks with or just to ensure you’re staying on track
Be transparent with your employees and show them what you’re doing. This shows them that action is being taken and keeps you on track
3. Schedule one-to-one meetings

There’s a reason so many businesses use this approach. One-to-one meetings give your employees the chance to air any concerns in a confidential environment. Make these meetings a ‘safe space’ for anything to be discussed.

The needs of each employee will vary wildly. One team member could feel overwhelmed working remotely while tackling childcare and a busy household, while another might live alone and be struggling with loneliness. Use the time to give their issues space. It’s important to build this time around those individual needs, showing the employee that their needs are being met.

If you’re sick and tired of video calls (yes, Zoom fatigue is real!) then why not try an alternative one-to-one. You could schedule a phone call while you both take a walk around your separate neighbourhoods. Fresh air and time away from your screen is a win-win!

4. Show your appreciation through reward and recognition

The power of a simple ‘thank you’ can be seriously underestimated. Has Sally done a great job on a recent project? Tell her. Has Tim supported his colleagues despite a busy home life? Thank him.

The benefits of employee recognition

Project management platform Proofhub shared some compelling employee recognition statistics including:

58% of employees feel that leaders could improve employee engagement with recognition
50% of employees believe that being thanked by their manager improves the relationship and builds trust

69% of employees would work harder if they felt their efforts were better appreciated

Of course, there are other ways to recognise and reward your employees beyond a ‘thank you’. You could implement a recognition programme that encourages peer-to-peer appreciation or offer rewards for those who have gone ‘above and beyond’ the requirements of their roles.

However, if you’re looking for a quick win, extending a thank you and acknowledgement of good work is a great way to start.

5. Extend your employee perks offering

Employee perks sometimes get a bad reputation. In this instance, we’re not talking about Zoom cocktail hours or ping pong tables. Those things are great but the key to developing employee perks that count is finding out what your employees actually need.

The world has certainly changed during the past year and, with it, so have your staff’s needs. Consider what you can do to make a positive impact on your employees’ lives. The biggest change to the workplace has been the move for many businesses to operate remotely. While this has had some fantastic results for businesses, including a 13% increase in productivity, take steps to ensure this isn’t negatively impacting your employees’ lives.

Contemplate implementing a flexible working policy, if you think this would help your staff. If it isn’t necessary for your staff to clock in at 9 and out at 5 then why make them do that?

Some of the great examples of adapted employee perks we’ve seen include:

Mental health days

Learning and development opportunities such as online courses and events
Wellbeing parcels delivered to the door

When looking at employee perks, as well as the ‘nice to have’s, make sure you’re covering all the essentials too. Does everyone have the technology required to work from home? If not, put that at the top of your to do list.

6. Focus on wellbeing

Wellbeing is something we’ve covered in other blogs, from caring for your own wellbeing while working from home to promoting positive mental health for your staff. You can check out those blogs, but it goes without saying that in times of high stress and anxiety, you should be looking out for the wellbeing of your team.

Along with physical and emotional– the two most commonly addressed types of wellbeing– there are two other types for employers to consider in their engagement strategies.

Financial wellbeing

Financial wellbeing refers to the relationship people have with their money. Recent research found 26% of employees experience ongoing worry about finances, making it the most worrying topic for employees. This is likely to affect other aspects of their lives, including their engagement levels in the workplace.

Helping your employees with their finances isn’t about paying them more (unless they deserve it, obviously!). It’s setting them up with the tools and skills to successfully manage their own money. You don’t need to be able to do this yourself, just guide employees to online courses and resources that can help them. Having a centralised place to store resources makes it easy to find the right help.

Social wellbeing

Imagine being locked in a house for a whole year... oh, wait. The concept of social wellbeing is still quite new but its importance has certainly become known since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. We miss our friends, our families, even being able to have a chat with the local shopkeeper.

Some of the employee perks mentioned above will help to allow a better work-life balance, but social relationships also exist within our businesses. Water cooler chat and office friendships form a big part of working life and, in recent months, these interactions have ranged from virtual to non-existent.

Consider ways to encourage (not force) your team members to chat about things outside of their roles. Zoom cocktail hours are great (seriously, we have nothing against them!) but try to include relationship building within work hours. You could use regular non-work catch-ups or suggest people take virtual coffee breaks together.

7. Team bonding exercises

We won’t be catching each other to build trust any time soon and honestly, we’re not that sorry. There are plenty of ways to encourage team bonding without being in the same room.

The key here is not to overthink things. Try fun games such a virtual escape room or light-hearted challenges. If you have a big project coming up, get the team together to brainstorm and collaborate.

Lots of the topics already mentioned in this blog will help encourage strong team relationships– one-to-one meetings, peer recognition, virtual coffee breaks.

If you’re really busy, try to keep team bonding exercises short and sweet. If they’re going to cause someone to work late to finish a project, then any positive effects will be lost.

8. Listen and learn

It sounds cheesy, right? The most important thing you can to do to inspire engagement from your employees is listen to and act upon their concerns. Making them feel understood and truly cared about is a key driver in boosting their engagement in your business.

We Love Surveys partners with businesses to create bespoke feedback solutions. We work alongside your team to ensure you have all the information you need to make impactful decisions.

Speak to us about how we can help you.