leadership matters
As the environment around us changes, so do employee needs
and employee engagement factors. Keeping teams and talent
engaged in meaningful work and productive in a disruptive cli-mate
requires us to develop new strategies and not rely on what
we have used before. The engagement and retention of workers
requires HR professionals to think beyond a yearly bonus struc-ture
or milestone anniversary gift programs – these alone will not
be effective.
Workplace concepts are shifting towards an increase in project-based
workforces, contingent work, the gig economy and portfolio
careers and this means employees have more options than ever.
Online recruitment practices, social media sites such as LinkedIn,
and the ease and speed of communication create employment
options that are more visible than ever before.
In today’s world of work, employee engagement has become a
more holistic discipline, consisting of strategies such as the adop-tion
of best practices for addressing workers’ psychological needs,
support for their personal wellness goals and offering flexible work
arrangements and locations, organizing team building events,
adopting continuous check-ins and performance dialogues, cre-ating
stretch and passion projects, travel or international work
opportunities and many others.
THE ENGAGEMENT AND RETENTION OF
WORKERS REQUIRES HR PROFESSIONALS
TO THINK BEYOND A YEARLY
BONUS STRUCTURE OR MILESTONE
ANNIVERSARY GIFT PROGRAMS – THESE
ALONE WILL NOT BE EFFECTIVE.
It may be that bells and whistles such as foosball tables, free
lunches and M&Ms on the desk are well received – fantastic,
if they fit within your budget and fit with your workplace and
industry culture. However, this may continue to change and it
not strictly. In essence, the new engagement strategy is not about
incorporating all the shiny extras – rather it may be more about
simply about empowering employees and providing them mean-ingful
work so that they feel a sense of pride and ownership in
their role, and they feel supported as a whole person (body, mind
and spirit). n
6 ❚ MARCH 2018 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL
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