Employee Retention: Creating a Culture of Engagement and Trust
Nov 16, 2015
Employee Retention: Creating a Culture of Engagement and Trust
Nov 16, 2015
Business people discussing a new project in the office

Creating Engagement- Part 1

The basis to any successful organization is a high level of engagement amongst employees. Improved performance and productivity is amongst many other fundamental attributes that employee engagement contributes to. Ultimately, employee engagement contributes significantly to retention. Here we discuss the main components that ultimately contribute to a high level of employee retention.

Vision:  The prospect of vision and progression largely contributes to engagement. When faced with this prospect, employee’s engagement levels are likely to increase significantly. Engagement naturally occurs when an employee feels they are working towards something that will benefit them. In circumstances where employees place a large importance on progression, a high engagement level is deemed as an important factor in achieving their progression. Open up this prospect to all your staff, no matter what level they are at on the career ladder.  

Interaction: There is a strong correlation between how well an employee performs and their relationship with their boss. Provide your employees with constructive and positive feedback on a regular basis and maintain a constant level of interaction with your team. Creating a good relationship is an imperative step to encouraging engagement and ultimately creating retention. If creating strong employee relations is not a priority to you, your staff are less likely to place importance on their performance in the workplace.

Creating Engagement Part- 2

Reward: It is imperative that employees achievements are praised and efforts are appreciated. You will find there is a significantly higher level of engagement if employees feel they are working towards something that they will benefit from. Provide your employees with rewards when they have accomplished a goal or task and celebrate their achievements. No matter how big or small this achievement may be, if it is important to the employee, it should be important to you. Rewarding your team’s accomplishments will create a sense of purpose and importance as well as contributing to creating a strong camaraderie in the workplace. According to findings by Globoforce “when companies spend 1% or more of payroll on recognition, 85% see a positive impact on engagement”.

Training and Development: This is a topic we have previously touched on, however it is such an important step to maximising the potential of your employees and your organisation. Provide your employees with training to contribute to their existing knowledge and skills in order to instil your employees with confidence and sense of authority over their role.

Creating Trust- Part 1

Trust is the basis for any successful team. The concept of trust goes hand in hand with loyalty, and loyalty equates to retention. Essentially, you will cease to maintain a strong level of retention if your employees have little trust in you or your organisation. Here are our top components to creating trust in the workplace in order maintain employee retention.

Shared Vision: Building up a workplace where each individual is working towards the same goal and acquires the same vision creates a strong sense of trust and openness. The team are far more likely to feel a sense of contribution and importance as opposed to working towards the employer’s personal goal. A shared vision creates a sense of certainty and loyalty, and will significantly enhance the employees trust in you and your organization.

Integrity: Remaining honest and sincere is of paramount in creating trust. Honouring promises and maintaining a level of consistency with your approach is key when it comes to earning trust. You may find that your judgement is needed in determining what to share and what not to share. Sometimes confidentiality is unavoidable but in those instances, be honest about what you can share and what you cannot. You will easily earn trust if you simply remain consistent and open.

Creating Trust- Part 2

Open-mindedness: A “my way or the high way” approach to the processes of the organisation will fail in contributing towards any sense of trust in the workplace. Be open to new suggestions from your employees. Try not to instantly disregard new ideas. Be aware that building employees confidence in suggesting new ideas, and ensuring that each employee feels as valued and important as one another is imperative. If your employees feel that you trust their judgment and acknowledge their thoughts and ideas, they are far more likely to trust you.

Body Language: According to body language experts, over half our communication is derived from our body language. Direct eye contact is an attribute that contributes significantly to creating an openness in our body language. Maintain an openness in your body language. To stimulate good feeling, smile. When you are in conversation, mirror their body language as this creates a sense of agreement and acknowledgement. Crossing your arms and legs is deemed ‘shifty’ and closed. Use your hands when in discussion. This creates a sense of passion. These may seem like obvious points to remember; however, they really are important components in earning trust. Practice open body language and watch how quickly you begin to earn trust from your employees.

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