Revamp your employee engagement program this 2020

Imagine a strong business idea, a great product, the perfect brand name and a big list of potential clients-all in the hands of a frustrated employee. Sounds disastrous, doesn’t it?

The importance of motivated and engaged employees cannot be overstated. An inspired employee can turn a bad situation into a favourable one and in turn, a demotivated one has the potential to kill all the things working for the organisation. The importance of engaged employees is not just limited to the fulfilment of organisational longer-term goals but also inculcating small habits like keeping the workplace clean or recycling computer paper.

As much as we have read about labour being a factor of production, what we tend to forget is that employees are more than a resource. When we enter our place of work, we don’t suddenly stop being humans; all of us bring our specific emotions, biases, heuristics with us. To effectively mentor our employees for the greater benefit of the organisation, we need to think about these behaviours our human-employees have and effectively design schemes for their betterment and as well as that of the organisation.

(It is even more interesting when our biases interact with those of other employees, but let’s not get into that right now)

Following are some of the things to keep in mind when devising plans to promote employee engagement -

Keep your own biases at bay - It is only human to not notice when we have biases, but other people can sniff them from miles afar. One must be careful when designing incentive structures or recognition plans for the organisation. If at all there are some noticeable assumptions in them, the percolate down to the lowest level in the organisation. It is also important to keep an open mind and be up to date with the latest psychological concepts.

Everyone likes instant rewards - Ask someone to pick between Rs. 100 right now and Rs. 120 one month later and it is more probable that they pick the Rs. 100 right away. As humans, we tend to like instant pay-outs and look at delayed rewards with mistrust. This principle fits perfectly when rewarding employees for a job well done. Everyone expects instant praise; it is important that an incentive/recognition program is designed in such a way. Waiting for “Employee of the Year” is not a great idea.

Don’t make it too hard to get information - Many grocery stores stalk their premium brands at eye level to make sure that their customer doesn’t miss them. The greater the chance of the customer has seen the product, the greater the chance of them buying the product. This marketing 101 principle is very important when it comes to dispersing information within the organisation. You might think that just writing about the incentives in the policy document is enough, but it is imperative that the information is made known to the employees multiple times and in different ways. This ensures greater absorption and increased efforts towards the goals of the organisation.

Use collaboration, not competition - It is seen that employees respond well to incentive structures that are team-based as it not only harbours team spirit but also a healthy competition. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs states that friendship, intimacy, trust, and acceptance are crucial to feeling part of any organisation. These incentive schemes also tend to show a multifold increase in productivity due to the support everyone provides each other.

Your employee engagement scheme is not all that different from a marketing campaign. Just as a company invests time and effort in promoting their product to the customer, it should also be careful when managing its employees.

To know more about incentive schemes that will work for your specific organisation, contact info@beastglobal.com