{"id":5256,"date":"2019-07-09T21:11:16","date_gmt":"2019-07-10T02:11:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/?p=5256"},"modified":"2019-07-09T20:15:51","modified_gmt":"2019-07-10T01:15:51","slug":"4-cost-efficient-ways-to-keep-your-employees-happy-and-engaged","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/4-cost-efficient-ways-to-keep-your-employees-happy-and-engaged\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Cost-Efficient Ways to Keep Your Employees Happy and Engaged"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Currently, surveys reveal that\u00a085% of US workers are somewhat or very satisfied with their jobs<\/a>. This is a good sign, as employee satisfaction is closely tied to their engagement.\u00a0Management expert Dwight Mihalicz previously explored the powerful impact of employee engagement<\/a>\u00a0on things like customer satisfaction, profitability, and productivity. If your employees are disengaged and unhappy, it can definitely affect their behavior, especially when it comes to issues related to turnover, safety, theft, and absenteeism.<\/p>\n

So it goes without saying that it’s not only important to keep employees satisfied with their jobs, but also engaged and motivated. In this regard, remember that impressing your workers and teammates shouldn’t stop after the hiring process, as onboarding goes well beyond an employee’s first day. Periodic check-ins are important and should continue for the next 12 to 24 months after welcoming a new team member to ensure that they’re happy and engaged in the workplace. This process, though extensive, can be very rewarding, as\u00a0Special Counsel\u2019s article on the ‘3 Keys to Successful New Hire Onboarding’<\/a>\u00a0points out that organizations with a strong onboarding process improve retention by 82% and productivity by 70%. This also sets the foundation for building a team that is happy, engaged, and more importantly, successful, in the long run. So alongside periodic check-ins, here are some of the most cost-effective ways to do that:<\/p>\n

Prioritize work-life balance<\/strong><\/p>\n

Work-life balance is one of the key factors that contribute to a healthy work environment. It\u2019s been proven to reduce stress and prevent burnout, especially now that chronic stress has become the most common\u00a0health\u00a0<\/em>issue in the workplace.<\/p>\n

American Psychological Association assistant executive director\u00a0David Ballard explains that it\u2019s no longer sufficient to focus on benefits<\/a>\u00a0to keep the workforce engaged and competitive. \u201cTop employers create an environment where employees feel connected to the organization and have a positive work experience that’s part of a rich, fulfilling life,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Make the workplace fun<\/strong><\/p>\n

Offices have a bad rap for being drab and boring, but\u00a0Ajmal Saleem from Suprex Learning told All\u00a0Business\u00a0<\/em>that you can cheer everyone up<\/a>\u00a0by playing some music in the office and letting people put in requests for what they want to hear. \u201cWe also have a small basketball hoop so that we can shoot some hoops when we\u2019re taking a break,\u201d he shared.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re handling a remote team, you can create a bond with each other through online games. You can use ones like the\u00a0Jackbox Party Pack<\/em>, which includes\u00a0Fibbage<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0Monster Seeking Monster<\/em>. Both fun and engaging, these can also be a great way to cultivate creativity and camaraderie.<\/p>\n

Promote horizontally<\/strong><\/p>\n

Companies operating with a limited budget will probably not have a lot of\u00a0job\u00a0<\/em>vacancies, especially in the senior and leadership positions. It is because of this that your employees might feel tempted to move to a bigger company in search of better opportunities.<\/p>\n

To counter this,\u00a0Inc\u2019s Tanya Hall suggests creating opportunities to move in another direction<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 and it doesn\u2019t necessarily have to be upwards. It could be lateral opportunities or towards passion projects. Employees could start leading team initiatives or creating special products and projects. Consistently finding a way to help your employees shine would encourage them to work hard and excel in their roles.<\/p>\n

Offer budget-friendly (but meaningful) perks<\/strong><\/p>\n

Perks can range from providing healthy cafeteria food and snack machines to wellness facilities and even free desktop music. Providing quality corporate-branded merchandise is also a good idea. You can work with a local printer and have your company\u2019s name printed on water bottles, t-shirts, and other useful things your employees can use at work. Another option is to open up your company to clubs that offer to teach valuable life skills, like public speaking and fitness training.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Currently, surveys reveal that\u00a085% of US workers are somewhat or very satisfied with their jobs. This is a good sign, as employee satisfaction is closely tied to their engagement.\u00a0Management expert Dwight Mihalicz previously explored the powerful impact of employee engagement\u00a0on things like customer satisfaction, profitability, and productivity. If your employees are disengaged and unhappy, it… 4 Cost-Efficient Ways to Keep Your Employees Happy and Engaged<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":5257,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-organization"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5256"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5256\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5258,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5256\/revisions\/5258"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}