Employee engagement is important. Motivated employees perform better and are more productive, which impacts the bottom line. But today, engagement is a problem for companies. Only about one-fourth of all employees report being truly engaged with their jobs. There is obviously work to do in this area. Here are a few ways to increase engagement at your business.

1. Better onboarding

Increasing engagement should begin as soon as a person is hired. Some experts even believe that the first three months on a job determine whether a person will succeed in the job or not.

It is important that the new employee has clear goals and expectations. The person needs to understand what the performance expectations are and how they will be measured. Also, the person needs to receive any training that he or she needs to ensure that he is successful.

2. Employee feedback

Many companies conduct surveys of their employees. But they are often done one time a year, and as a result, really are not that effective. Feedback from employees needs to be timely and ongoing. To achieve this, some companies survey their employees as often as once a week, but the surveys are short, sometimes only one or two questions.

3. Developing sense of community

People feel more engaged when they feel that they matter, that they are part of something bigger than themselves. One way of creating this sense of community is by sponsoring company activities, such as outings or sports trips. Another way is by having employees work together on team projects.

4. Professional development opportunities

Everyone wants to grow and advance in their career. Companies that give employees an opportunity to do this will enhance worker engagement. There are various ways to offering these opportunities – through mentoring, on-the-job training, online courses, or traditional classroom learning.

5. Reward and recognition

This is a powerful way of maintaining employee engagement. People want to know how they are doing, and they want recognition when they do a good job. This recognition can take the form of a monetary reward, but it does not have to.

It can be something as simple as sending out emails to employees congratulating a person on a job well done, or giving free dinners or tickets to sporting events as a reward.

6. Communication

Another important way for companies to maintain engagement is to be open and honest with employees. Supervisors need to have an open door policy, always willing to talk and give feedback to employees.

If your company is looking for qualified, reliable employees, Arrow Staffing is the place to go. At Arrow, we devote personal attention to all of our people and evaluate them thoroughly, so you know you are getting the best. Give Arrow a call today.