Sorina Faier: How to successfully motivate your employees

Only 21% of employees worldwide are engaged in their workplace, according to the Gallup State of the Global Workplace 2022 report. In Europe, the percentage of engaged employees is even lower, at only 14%. This means that only 1 in 10 employees are actively involved in their work, while the other 9 are either not engaged or actively disengaged. More specifically, it means that 9 out of 10 employees either just allocate time at work without energy or enthusiasm, or worse, they use their time to talk negatively about coworkers, projects, managers, and to undermine what their engaged coworkers accomplish.

By Sorina Faier, Elite Searchers

These numbers are not encouraging in Romania either, even though in our country the study shows that the level of employee engagement has reached a percentage of 33%, being the highest in Europe.

These should be alarming results to every manager and company. Lower engagement leads to lower productivity and thus slower economic growth, high personal turnover and many unhappy employees.

Focusing on the well-being of the employee actually sounds self-evident. However, it is not just about regular surveys, but regular one-on-one meetings and individual treatment. Everyone motivates themselves differently, some need more encouragement, others more freedom of choice. It is important to notice this and then act on it. For example, questions like “What would make you feel like a valued member of this team?” and “What bothers you personally about the cooperation?” can help the employer identify any issues or challenges that may be impacting employee engagement and satisfaction. By addressing these concerns, the employer can demonstrate their commitment to creating a positive and supportive work environment, which can ultimately lead to increased employee engagement and productivity.

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The more personal contact and solutions are tailored to the individual, the more they feel taken seriously and valued. Once the employee has confided in them, it is very important to react quickly and find creative and flexible solutions. Video messages are more engaging and they lead to a higher retention rate. Various studies show that 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual and visuals are processed tens of thousands of times faster in the brain than text. Compared to email, video is far more engaging. Build relationships through engaging communication methods.

Employee engagement surveys

Frequent employee surveys are one way of measuring levels of employee engagement and knowing the employee opinion about working at your company. Collect feedback through online and customizable engagement surveys based on the information you need to know to understand your people. Measure engagement, know the level of employee satisfaction and motivation, learn and improve organizational success by analyzing the results.

Importance of providing feedback for achievements

Motivation has a lot to do with one’s own feeling of being noticed and receiving positive feedback. If this does not happen, the employees lose the desire to get involved in something. Making recognition a regular item on the agenda and emphasizing individual contributions to the team and organization in different places will increase engagement. Establish a rewards program and give positive feedback. People like to feel acknowledged. They will be motivated to work harder if they are praised for a job well done. 

Promote 1:1 Meetings

Two-way communication between company leaders and teams can be done with 1-on-1 meetings and supported by software tools that facilitate collaboration and constructive feedback. These meetings can serve as an opportunity for team members to voice their concerns, provide input, and ask questions to the manager.

Autonomy not micromanagement

As mentioned above, people have different levels of involvement in their job, but in general employee engagement is related to the need for autonomy. Autonomy fosters creativity and innovation and promotes accountability. When employees are given the freedom to work independently and explore new ideas, they are more likely to come up with creative solutions to problems. They are also more likely to feel a sense of accountability and responsibility for the outcomes. This can lead to greater motivation, engagement, and productivity.

The level of engagement comes from employees

Evaluating the distribution of tasks repeatedly and listening to employees’ ideas is the first step towards creating new decision-making areas and giving employees more freedom. By evaluating task distribution and soliciting employee feedback, can lead to a more collaborative and innovative workplace culture, where employees feel empowered to contribute their ideas and take risks. 

Transparency and involvement

Employee engagement depends heavily on the emotional bond with the company. This in turn is influenced by internal transparency and communication. The more openly and clearly corporate goals are communicated, the better employees can understand decisions. However, transparency alone does not create a strong emotional bond. In order to get employees enthusiastic about their own company in the long term, they must be involved in important matters such as setting goals, corporate orientation, etc., and understand their own importance.

These can be accomplished through regular meetings in smaller and larger groups. Upper management levels should definitely be present and informally present results and, above all, answer questions. But for blue collars, this can be challenging due to their work schedules, shift patterns, on-site presence, the fact that blue collars do not have email addresses or business phones and they do not receive messages from the company. All these can make them feel disconnected from the company and its goals. This can lead to decreased job satisfaction, lower productivity, and higher rates of turnover.

But there are solutions in order to create a centralized environment easy to access by any category of employees.

Encourage collaboration

Another point is the promotion of team cooperation. Studies have shown that work friendships and strong team spirit have a significant impact on job satisfaction. Teambuilding events, but also regular feedback rounds can help to improve communication and build mutual trust. Discover who will fit to which team.

Offer clear career paths

Employees do not want to remain in the same place. Personal and professional development is important, and they need to make steps forward. Show that they have a real opportunity if they stay in your company.

Provide training and relevant career development opportunities, empower them to discover their potential, and choose to offer them promotions when they are ready. Help them understand what they need to do in order to progress in their career. This can be motivating and can help to increase employee engagement and retention. Make onboarding a pleasure for everyone, welcome employees’ feedback and implement good new ideas.

Employee engagement is the key to a successful company because it not only increases profitability but also resilience in times of crisis. To achieve an increase in employee engagement, the underlying components of employee satisfaction and loyalty to the company must be promoted. Material rewards play a lesser role than intrinsic measures, such as appreciation of the individual and the granting of areas of responsibility. Additionally, the company must act transparently and openly, so that employees can identify with the common vision and trust the communication and feedback processes.