Americans spend an average of 1,700 hours a year working, according to BusinessInsider.com. This is quite a lot of time in a person’s year, so why not make it enjoyable and productive. In fact, a rather recent study by Towers Watson shows that employees that engaged at work are much more productive. Thus, as a business owner, it would behoove you to create a positive and engaging work environment. Take a look at Google’s headquarters for an extreme case of offering employees reason to engage at work. Arcade games, gourmet food, massages on request, nap rooms and swimming pools are a few of the luxuries Googlers enjoy while working for Google. Let’s take a look at how to achieve engagement at the office on a smaller scale.
A Caring Culture
To make sure employees feel the company cares about them, create one-on-ones between mentors and mentees and group activities focused solely on communicating with one another on a personal basis. If employees feel detached and unsupported then it can threaten quality and productivity. There are four types of effective behavior that were determined by a Harvard Business Study as important for employees:
• Giving feedback and reacting to problems with compassion and assistance
• Displaying support for employees and supporting subordinates in alleviating tense situations, keeping everyone informed and disclosing personal information
• Acknowledging good work both publicly and privately
• Requesting the opinions of subordinates and acting on them
Trust and Bonding
Trust in the workplace is often repaid with honesty and employees contributing more hours of work in the long run. As long as the work gets done, allowances can be made in schedules, not necessarily adhering to the 9 to 5 schedule. Find a common ground among team members and arrange an outing or activity that everyone will enjoy doing together. For example, if everyone enjoys art, get everyone together to visit a local art museum one evening.
If you would like to find out more on how to actively engage your employees, check out this article in Entrepreneur.com. Make all those hours spent together enjoyable and you will see productivity and office morale jump to new heights!
