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These days, the trending term in the HR world is ‘employee engagement’. Employee engagement is the extent to which employees feel passionate about their jobs, are committed to the organization, and put discretionary effort into their work. When employees are engaged, they are more likely to invest in the work they do, which tend to lead to a higher quality of work produced. This in turn will lead to a higher chance of overall company success.
However, before you start strategizing your company’s employee engagement, you need to take steps to ensure that your employees’ basic needs are met first. If your employees do not feel safe, healthy and do not feel like they belong, no amount of Employee Engagement to make the employee more productive will work and all your effort will go down the drain.
A great diagram that you can reference is the 5 Levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs includes five levels of human needs that allow an individual to feel fulfilled. It can be applied to the workplace as a means to determine how to more effectively motivate employees and make sure their needs are m
et.
According to the 5 Levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs, first you need to ensure that the employee’s basic needs such as safet
y and health are met. Then, you need to foster a sense of belonging in them, so they will look forward to coming to work everyday, because they feel wanted.
Here are some steps that you can take to improve your company’s employee welfare, so more of your employees look forward to going to work everyday.
What really matters is the day-to-day activities, the transparent yet professional atmosphere in a workplace, and minimizing workplace politics and bullying.
1. Promote healthy living by having a fruit day (Time required: 10 minutes to craft and mass send the email, 15-30 minutes to select and order fruits. 10 minutes to announce)
Having a fruit day is a really effective way to let your colleagues and staff know that you care about their well being and want them to eat healthy. It also does not take too much of the HR manager’s time to start this initiative.
Some other benefits or activities that you can implement to promote healthy living are:
- Exercise sessions (Youtube workouts, Jogging, Spin classes)
- Healthy food vouchers (Everyone will LOVE a good voucher that they can utilize)
2. Give benefits like dental claims, birthday leaves (Time required: 30 minutes to convince your boss, 1-2 hours to update on the system and inform all your colleagues)
When your employees know that they are able to claim for dentist appointments, they will most likely utilize this. There is a reason why it is recommended for everyone to visit the dentist every 6 months – this is so their oral health is always checked and managed. Having such regular dentist visits will also minimize uncomfortable situations such as having to endure another colleague’s bad breath.
Birthday leaves are just like a little treat that you are gifting to the employees for their birthday. Simple but effective in letting your employees know that you want them to relax on their special day.
3. Give little rewards like team budgets (Time required: 1-2 hours to plan, 3-5 hours for each activity)
Team budgets encourage each team to bond and get to know each other. Each team can take ownership in deciding what they want to do. If you decide to do this, I recommend you set restrictions and requirements for the activities that each team chooses to do.
The whole purpose of such team outings is to create a better relationship between everyone in the team. It is best if their activities are enriching and foster a greater sense of belonging for all team members, and are also beneficial for each of their personal growth.
4. Take measures to ensure that your employees do not feel outcasted
Even if your employee is the 2nd or 3rd choice that you wanted in your company, the fact of the matter is that you chose them. Therefore, you should take measures to ensure that your employees feel like they belong . Sometimes it does take some extra effort on the team leader’s end to break the ice between the new employee and the existing team.
You can organize a team lunch on the first day of work, assign a buddy to the new employee, properly introduce the new employee to everyone, etc.
Remember, if you want your whole team to grow as one, everyone will need to feel like they belong and are acknowledged.
5. Have interest group sessions such as Game night
The gaming industry is booming. This means that many people, and likely plenty of your employees enjoy playing games! If you as a HR manager are an avid gamer yourself, this is a great opportunity to broadcast to your company about having a game night.
Alternatively, if you are not an avid gamer, you can create a survey and send it out to your colleagues, asking them what activities they want. Some options can include Spin Class, Zumba, Game night, Karaoke, Board Games, Exercising, and more.
If at least 4-5 of the staff chose Game night, they can proceed with it and book your office’s meeting room every Friday night just for Game Night. Overtime, more and more colleagues will likely join in the fun. It is all about gathering people who have similar interests together, so work life will be more meaningful for them.
6. Have potluck days
A potluck lunch session is an EASY way to allow all your employees to participate and contribute to a company activity. The logistics that HR needs to do is kept to a minimum as everyone is required to bring their own food. Potluck is also a great way to build conversation and rapport between employees as it allows employees to get to know each other’s food preferences. A way to make your potluck more fun is to have themed potlucks (Eg. National Day theme, Christmas theme). This allows your employees to get creative and will make the occasion more fruitful and enjoyable.
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I hope that you found the tips shared in this article useful. Once you have tried the tips out, do keep us at OpensoftHR updated if these tips have helped you improve the safety, health and sense of belonging in your employees. May your workplace be a positive place where everyone can continue to grow and learn, as your company grows!
