Leadership and Employee Engagement Tips for 2023
Leaders hold the power to carve an organization’s culture. From setting the overall direction to shaping the company values, they can influence employees through their actions, inactions, behaviors and decisions. Effective leaders don’t just set targets and expectations; they also exhibit concern for team members and provide them with the support they need to succeed in their roles.
According to Gallup, only 2 in 10 employees say they are managed in a way that inspires them to do outstanding work. With that in mind, here’s what you could do to motivate and engage your employees in 2023.
1. Strengthen Employer-Employee Relationship
Today’s fluctuating economy can impact a workplace on macro and micro levels. Therefore, the leaders must prioritize building employee connections and establishing the climate of trust within the workplace. Without trust, it’s almost impossible to retain top talent, complete projects on time in hybrid or remote workplaces, or achieve organizational goals. One way to establish trust with employees is by communicating more transparently and frequently.
A platform such as an intranet can help you communicate company updates to employees regardless of where they are working from. For instance, leaders can leverage an intranet to provide weekly CEO updates, communicate future plans, and share snapshots of conferences, tradeshows, books they are reading or even vacations. Leaders can improve internal communication, boost organizational collaboration, and inspire employees by being authentic, approachable, and treating everyone fairly and with respect.
Get to know the effective ways you can improve your employee engagement and productivity using your intranet in this e-book.
2. Take a Holistic Employee Well-being Approach
Employee wellness is a valuable business investment, like any other. According to Microsoft’s 2022 Work Trend Index study, the pandemic has caused 47% of respondents to put family and personal life ahead of work and 53% of respondents to prioritize their health and well-being over work commitments. Therefore, leaders who adapt to this shift in employee mindset can reduce staff turnover, improve productivity, and increase retention rates. In addition, you can motivate employees to perform better by implementing policies and practices that promote your staff’s physical, mental, psychological health, and social well-being.
An intranet can help you gain insights on workplace dynamics and boost employee morale. For instance, you could conduct employee pulse surveys and polls to get their views on a process change, spread the cheer of holidays or share articles related to health, fitness & well-being on the platform. You can enhance company culture even if your employees are working in hybrid-remote setups by giving them a space to voice their ideas and concerns. A powerful intranet platform that allows employees to rate an idea with stars, thumbs up, thumbs down or, just okay signals can help leaders gauge employee sentiments.
3. Give Employees Room to Grow
According to a McKinsey report, employees are less likely to leave when they have internal mobility opportunities. By allowing your staff to expand their horizons beyond their specialization, you can increase their levels of commitment. For example, you could offer mentorship programs for freshers and personalized training plans for experienced staff and encourage them to participate in industry events, seminars and webinars.
Another way of cultivating a culture of growth is by removing informational silos in your organization. An intranet platform with knowledge management capabilities can empower cross-functional teams to learn from each other. If you are using Microsoft 365 in your organization, you could leverage SharePoint’s role-based sharing capabilities to connect employees across different departments and increase collaboration. A SharePoint-based intranet that allows employees to easily access their recent files on their SharePoint directory, or the files others had shared with them on Teams channels, from a single place can boost productivity.
4. Embrace New Work Designs
The pandemic has highlighted the need for flexible working arrangements. While most leaders have embraced hybrid and remote work designs, leaders must also look beyond the 9-to-5 culture and adopt flexible work arrangements such as a 4-day work week in the future.
In the Gartner 2021 Digital Worker Experience Survey, 43% of respondents said that flexible working hours enabled them to be more productive, while 30% said that reduced or no commute made them more productive. An intranet plays a crucial role in streamlining internal communications in flexible workplaces. For example, when you communicate company news via email, it can be challenging to track whether a staff member has seen the messages. But with an intranet, you could measure the engagement levels to see how employees have reacted to the news.
5. Revisit Your Vision & Set Clear Goals
A clear vision can help employees understand how their role fits into the big picture. Employees who understand your company’s vision are more likely to be motivated and invested. Whether your vision is to enrich the life of your customers or become a global leader, communicating your vision can create a sense of unity and teamwork and serve as a guideline in any decision-making process.
The BI research shows that employees with clear goals are 3.6 times more committed and 6.5 times more likely to recommend their organization. Therefore, business leaders must prioritize translating the company’s strategic priorities into actionable goals this year. Setting goals is not a one-time event but an iterative process. Organizations can achieve positive outcomes by including employees in the goal-setting process, breaking down the goals into small, measurable actions, and establishing deadlines. In addition, involving employees in the goal-setting process can make them more invested in the company’s success.
6. Recognize Employees & Show Appreciation
According to a Glassdoor survey on employee appreciation, more than half (53%) of employees admit they would stay longer in a company if they felt more appreciated. You can show appreciation through thoughtful gestures, such as by bringing donuts or pizzas, hosting events and happy hours, or annual retreats. You could still show appreciation if your team works in hybrid-remote setups by leveraging an intranet to praise efforts or give a shoutout on your company’s social media pages.
According to a recent report, 76% of employees experience burnout on the job occasionally, and 28% are burned out “very often” or “always.” Expressing gratitude can help leaders navigate challenging times of change by instilling a sense of belonging among employees.
7. Rethink Digital Workplace
Employees are 230% more engaged and 85% more likely to stay in a job for more than three years if they have the technology that supports them at work. Though the pandemic caused many organizations to adopt new working modes, the hybrid-remote trend is set to continue in 2023. Business leaders can take advantage of evolving trends and offer employees a seamless experience by rethinking the digital workplace.
According to Otka’s “Business at Work” report, an enterprise with more than 2,000 employees uses over 187 apps. A modern intranet platform can serve as your employees’ unified digital workplace. You can integrate proprietary and third-party business apps on the intranet and reduce the number of clicks for employees. With digital workspaces, employees are more mobile, flexible, and productive.
For example, a multinational accounting firm upgraded its infrastructure from on-premises SharePoint to Microsoft 365 and re-invented their workplace with a modern intranet. The platform allows leadership teams to share thoughts and employees to contribute by sharing success stories, corporate communication videos, and much more.
8. Prioritize Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Initiatives
A recent report reveals that diverse companies earn 2.5 times more per employee and inclusive teams are 35% more productive. When employees feel valued and respected for their ideas and contributions, it can lead to greater employee satisfaction and retention. Creating and implementing a successful DEI strategy starts with discovery. By understanding the unique diversity within your organization, you can take a comprehensive approach to address issues and plan initiatives.
The best way to gather employee opinions on your organization’s culture and DEI initiatives is by conducting surveys. An intranet can provide a platform for employees to share their thoughts and concerns and help organizations identify problem areas related to DEI. In addition, by leveraging the intranet to conduct surveys and compare the responses over time, leaders can identify gaps in their DEI initiatives and address them on time.
9. Lead by Example
Good leaders motivate and inspire by example. By demonstrating the behavior, you want people to follow, you can foster an environment of trust and accountability. In addition, you can nurture the strengths and talents of your teams by articulating your vision passionately, celebrating your team’s achievements and motivating them to continue giving their best.
With a powerful cloud-based intranet platform, leaders can motivate teams and connect with employees in fun and exciting ways. For example, you can use the platform to share organization-wide updates, shine a spotlight on employees or greet them on special days such as birthdays and work anniversaries.
Leaders can leverage an intranet to build a unified company culture by improving internal communication and increasing collaboration. For example, the leaders of LGA Accountancy leveraged the intranet to create a unified workplace culture after a merger. By providing a common platform for employees of both workplaces to come together, engage and interact, the leaders could navigate the post-merger transition smoothly.
10. Continuously Measure & Improve
Like any other transformation effort, improving employee engagement takes time and effort. However, leaders can adapt and refine employee engagement efforts by listening to employee feedback and continuously measuring engagement levels. For example, you could create a focus group that includes managers and cross-functional employees to brainstorm ideas for increasing engagement levels. You can also use exit interviews to collect feedback on your engagement initiatives and identify areas of improvement. An intranet that supports features such as likes and comments is also valuable for tracking employee engagement levels.
Accelerate Your Employee Engagement Efforts with PeopleOne
Leadership is more than just a position; it is a growth mindset. And along with this mindset, every leader also needs effective tools to bring people together. PeopleOne, our modern intranet platform, can bring your workplace culture to life. Whether you want to streamline internal communication or increase collaboration between remote teams, we can help you succeed. Try PeopleOne today!
