the last word
Five Tips to an Engaged Workforce
NEW HRPA SURVEY FINDS THAT ENGAGEMENT IS STILL AN IMPORTANT
METRIC AND PROVIDES KEYS TO BUILDING AN ENGAGED WORKFORCE
Employee engagement is a human resources metric that es-sentially
tells an employer how happy its workers are.
A high engagement score means workers are satisfied,
committed, proud, loyal and understand how their role
impacts the organization as a whole. It translates into high pro-ductivity
and creativity in peoples’ jobs. A low engagement score
often correlates with high absenteeism and low morale and is a
clear indication of an unhealthy workplace.
The Human Resources Professionals Association (HRPA)
recently polled its members on the validity of the employee en-gagement
metric in the 21st century Canadian workplace.
Eighty per cent of the 850 HR professional respondents came
back with a strong affirmation of the metric, with more than a
third saying it’s a concept that’s increased in importance over the
years.
ENGAGEMENT ACROSS THE GENERATIONS
Seventy-six per cent of respondents agreed that engagement
means different things to different generations: mature workers
want to be valued as full contributors, rather than people nearing
the end of their careers; while millennials want continuous learn-ing
and advancement opportunities – they really want to enjoy
their work and want their voices to be heard.
BUILDING ENGAGEMENT
“Respondents said the most commonly shared drivers of en-gagement
are supportive managers, compelling work, career
opportunities, good salary, work/life balance and recognition,”
said Kristina Hidas, HRPA’s vice president of HR research and
development.
Using comments from respondents, five useful tips on building
an engaged workforce shone through:
1. KNOW THEM
It is vital for managers to know their employees. Senior leaders
should know – and understand – their workforce, while every
front-line manager should know the individuals on her/his team.
“Executives, managers and employers need to know who their
employees are. Not only names and faces, but also work experience,
education, outside interests, families. You want someone to be engaged
when they show up at work? Know that they have a sick parent or kids,
or that they’re training for a race, or love to play cards. Remember who
they are when they leave at the end of the day.”
2. GROW THEM
Help employees to improve their skills, including providing train-ing
and career development.
“Too often we think ‘growing employees’ means developing a formal
internal career path, or doing courses at night. Wrong. There are many
ways to grow employees, and they all make them feel more engaged in
their work lives. Send someone who’s afraid of public speaking to a
leadership workshop, support someone’s hobby, encourage a worker
to do a presentation on her favourite charity. These are all growth op-portunities
and they make all the difference in how people feel about
their work.”
3. INSPIRE THEM
Every worker should know exactly how their efforts support the
organization’s strategy.
“This means keeping employees in touch with every aspect of what
the organization is doing and showing them that we are all working to
a larger strategy and vision. When people feel they are part of some-thing
bigger, they’re engaged in it.”
4. INVOLVE THEM
Solicit employee input to leverage their experience and foster cre-ative
problem solving.
“Get employees involved in challenges that don’t directly touch them.
If they can give an opinion on an issue that affects another team, it’s
good for everyone. It generates ownership, and ownership leads to
engagement.”
5. REWARD THEM
Aside from compensation, reward employees according to what
they value.
“Compensation means a lot of things. We have to pay employees
fairly and competitively. But it also means benefits and vacation, flex
hours and the ability to work from home. One of the pillars of engage-ment
is the ability to compensate individuals according to what they
value, and according to what stage they’re at in their personal lives.” ■
The Human Resources Professionals Association (HRPA) is the pro-fessional
regulatory body and the professional association for Human
Resources professionals in Ontario.
cluckva /Shutterstock 56 ❚ SEPTEMBER 2014 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL