Employee engagement is an integral part of what makes a successful business. A survey conducted by Harvard Business Review found that 71% of respondents ranked employee engagement as ‘very important’ to achieving overall business success.
How can you make your employees feel more engaged in your workplace? In this blog, we ask SME professionals how they improved employee engagement and why this has benefitted their businesses.
Why Should You Improve Employee Engagement?
Employee engagement goes hand-in-hand with satisfaction and retention, which are all essential factors for the success of your business. Engagement is critical to the work ethic of your team and can lead to increased productivity, satisfaction and morale. When you maximise this productivity, it can accelerate revenue and success.
There are various ways to increase employee engagement, such as pay negotiations, work-life balance, environmental improvements and working flexibility. But one aspect is beneficial and easy to implement for all SMEs 一 learning and development (L&D).
How to Improve Employee Engagement 一 According to SMEs
Udemy found that 80% of employees said L&D opportunities would help them feel more engaged at work. By providing effective L&D training, you’ll be able to upskill and engage your employees while increasing productivity across your business.
We’ve included seven key findings from SME professionals who’ve shared their experiences on how impactful L&D improved employee engagement in their workplace.
Tip #1: Identify the Areas for Improvement
“I identified the areas where employees struggled or felt disengaged. Once I understood the issues, I developed training programs and learning opportunities to address these specific needs.
“I also ensured that our L&D initiatives aligned with our company's overall strategy. Employees felt their work was meaningful and their skills were being utilised to achieve business objectives. As a result, we saw a significant increase in employee engagement and satisfaction levels.” 一 Michelle Hague, HR Manager at Solar Panels Network USA
Tip #2: Improve Your Employees’ Knowledge
“When employees learn through training or other methods, their confidence increases. Knowledge plays a vital role in the professional life of any employee. When employees' ability improves, they start showing more engagement with their colleagues. It improves the employees' engagement and the business standard” 一 Lorie Carson, Founder and Marketing Manager of Real People Finder
Tip #3: Provide Interactive Training
“Training and development are key to ensuring that our employees can provide clients with the absolute gold standard of care. To do this, we have frequent training and retraining session schedules for all employees and regular tests help flag employees who need a little help or a refresher.
“Interactive training is another silver bullet in our training tool kit, as it reinforces taught principles in a way applicable to much of patient care.” 一 Paul Bowley, CEO and Managing Director of Abbeycare Group
Tip #4: Put Learning and Development at the Forefront
“By offering our employees regular learning opportunities 一 whether formal training courses, e-learning modules or simply lunchtime learning sessions — we've seen a real increase in employee engagement, measured through engagement and feedback surveys.
“Not only are our employees more engaged with their work, but they're also more satisfied. This satisfaction has led to increased productivity, creativity and better results for the company.” 一 Tomasz Niezgoda, Head of Marketing and Co-Founder at Surfer
Tip #5: Have a Dependable Leader for Training and Development
“We have always focused on training because we appreciate the value of being able to hire internally. For this purpose, we have designated a person-in-charge for L&D, whose job is to identify problem areas or areas of improvement and create training modules specific to those areas.” 一 Daniel Cook, Head of Business Development and HR Consultant at Mullen & Mullen
Tip #6: Nurture Your Training Relationships
“L&D for new or current employees is great for employee bonding. The result of this training isn’t just an employee with updated skills but also a new relationship between trainee and trainers that can flourish into a valuable mentorship.” 一 Dan Kroytor, Founder of TailoredPay
Tip #7: Invest in Your Employees’ Development and Progression
“I noticed that when we prioritised investing in our employees' development, they felt more engaged with their jobs. They were excited about what they were doing and wanted to do it even better.
“We also found that when we provided training programs for our employees, they became more interested in taking on new responsibilities at work. They knew that if they wanted to make it up the corporate ladder or get a promotion, they would have to learn new skills and take on more responsibility.” 一 Bonnie Whitfield, Human Resources Director at Family Destinations Guide
Want To Learn How You Can Improve Employee Engagement in Your Workplace?
Based on suggestions from fellow SMEs, there’s no denying the importance of L&D when looking to increase employee engagement, but what other factors improve employee performance across your business?
We’ve created a report that tells you everything you need to know about how L&D can enhance employee engagement, satisfaction and retention. Take your business’s training to the next level by downloading your report below.
