How Technology Can Boost Employee Engagement

Employee engagement is, in simple terms, how motivated and emotionally invested your employees are in their work for your organization. An engaged employee is someone who shares the same values and wants the company to reach its goals, succeed in its mission, and are not just working for the sake of their paycheck at the end of the month. When employees are not engaged, this leads to inefficiency, a drop in performance, higher rates of absenteeism, low productivity and a high staff turnover. Clearly, a disengaged workforce is not what you want, but how do improve engagement and motivation in your staff?

Essentially, each employee should feel they are useful, listened to, valued and part of a team — not just an unidentifiable worker on the payroll. There is a lot of technology out there which can help you improve employee engagement and this guide outlines some of the most effective ones.

Flexible, Remote and Collaborative Working Tools

Many businesses are now offering their employees the opportunity to work remotely thanks to advances in virtual co-working and communication technology. Being able to work flexible hours and avoid commuting regularly demonstrates a great deal of trust in your employees and has been shown to reduce stress and absenteeism, as well as boost productivity in many cases. With mobile training, employees can complete their learning on a schedule which suits them.

The best examples of co-working software for businesses include video conferencing, file sharing with collaborative editing, instant messaging, shared resources for employees, organization and project management tools, shared whiteboards and forums.

Gamification of Training

Workplace training can feel like a big drain on both time and motivation, but using gamification can increase participation and improve motivation levels. Online eLearning courses which are structured like games create a sense of friendly competition between colleagues, and can satisfy our natural desire to complete challenges and generally make the process more fun.

Employee Surveys

To get a real insight into what your employees think and feel about the company and why, consider using Inpulse surveys and employee engagement software. You can use the software to ask key questions which will help you monitor and track employee engagement across a range of areas. With the easy-to-use dashboards and analytics you can use the feedback data to improve performance going forward.

BYOD Policy

There is a lot of debate about Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) into work policies as some believe it could be distracting. In reality, there is plenty of research which shows that people are actually more productive when they can work on a device they are familiar with. Younger professionals have grown up with smartphones and tablets in every aspect of their life, so why not let them use the device they know best to get their work done?

Peer-To-Peer Recognition

One of the biggest sources of dissatisfaction in the workplace is the feeling that we are not valued and our contribution is not recognized. To combat this, many companies have adopted peer-to-peer or P2P recognition software. This enables staff to support one another, give each other positive feedback and encourage others who are under pressure. Sometimes managers and directors are too bogged down in the day to day to give employees the support and positive reinforcement needed to keep motivation levels up; this software enables colleagues to do this for each other and improve office culture.