Top 5 Employee Engagement Trends and Tactics for 2019

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Employee engagement research supports what many of us in the corporate world already know: employees are more engaged when their inputs are valued and employers communicate that value in visible and specific ways.

As employers ride the wave of technology and the innovation of today’s workforce, employee engagement continues to be a major issue on the minds of business-savvy leaders around the world. Year after year, organizations experience the same challenges of employee engagement – from improving the onboarding process to enhancing employee participation. These are legitimate concerns, as the industry struggles with declining employee satisfaction, but these issues can no longer be solved via traditional efforts.

So, rather than resort to tweaking outdated approaches to employee engagement, here are 5 definitive steps you can take to enhance employee engagement levels and increase output:

  • Embody Leadership and Cultivate Company Culture

Engaging today’s employee means engaging their aspirations and career goals. Rashdah Hameed, who is Managing Director of Hidden Pearls which is a specialized hijab shop in UK, tells us that with innovations and technology, you can be more responsive to your employee’s needs, and cultivate a growth culture that meets the expectations of your employees. Communication tools can help connect employees to their supervisors, identify immature leaders within the organization, and provide outlets for continued and fruitful mentorships.

This kind of strategy not only ensures stronger employer-employee bonds for Hidden Pearls, it helps to set up both parties one-on-one, a powerful employee engagement driver. These kinds of engagement positively impacts the employer’s, giving them a sense of belonging and ultimately ensuring their retention.

  • Continuous Training

Industrial revolution is here with us. The digitalization of literally everything means there will be rabid shifts in the nature of the job market and skills in the future. This will massively impact employer-employee relationships. Developing a continuous learning culture will be key to moving employee engagement forwards and drive innovation.

  • Performance Management Process

Performance assessments which are aligned with company goals have proven to be a key driver for employee engagement. Unfortunately, most employers still work with old performance engagement processes and strategies, but these techniques do not have real impact on the progress of the entire organization.

As organizations are becoming more data-driven and depend on real-time feedback tools to inform their business decisions, there has been a rise in the use of data and technology for performance management processes. This trend is set to gain even more traction this year. When business leaders and employers better understand the reasons behind certain actions, and how these actions impact the overall organizational performance, they will better enhance their onboarding process and ultimately achieve their goals.

  • Find Ways to Target Millennials

By the year 2020, millenials will account for about 50% of the global workforce, with this demographic consisting of individuals born between 1982 and 2000. By 2025, this figure is expected to increase to 75%.

This means organizations and employers do not have a lot of time to get new employee engagement techniques in order to appeal to, motivate, and engage this new generation of employees. Considering the high turnover rate in today’s workforce, learning how to engage with these unique set of employees is an absolute must-do in 2019.

  • Enhance Employee Experience

“Customer is king”. You’ve probably heard that age-old business mantra on many occasions. Increasingly, however, organizations are realizing that in order to guarantee customer satisfaction, employees have to be treated like kings too. In 2019, it is important that you put employee experience at the front burner, focusing on improving office culture, team spirit, professional development, and other important areas mentioned earlier. When your employees are happy, your customers will likely enjoy a worthwhile experience, worthy of royalty.

The future of the workforce lies with effective employer-employee relationships. It will be exciting to see the expected changes in the way employers view employee engagement in the workforce. As the workforce becomes more employee-centric, these engagement trends and tactics are sure to make more sense.

Employee engagement is no quick fix project, rather it involves a strategic organization-wide approach that instills best workplace practices and cultures to recruit, engage, and retain the best employees. As 2019 unravels, we expect savvy organizations to build functional workplace cultures with these trends.