How to Build a Powerful Employee Engagement Program This Year

The emerging role of the CEO will need to now include connecting with employees to set the tone and temperature of your company culture. That’s because according to a Gallup poll, spanning 142 countries with 180 million participants, HR professionals found that only 13% of employees actually feel engaged in their work. And, the culprit: very little to now interaction with upper management or executive teams. Without a clear line of communication, many times employees feel replaceable or struggle to understand the impact their work has on the larger organization.

So, what can CEOs do to turn the trend and re-engage their workforce?

HR managers and CEO development consultants highly recommend for CEOs to reconnect with their employees on a personal level. Here are 3 ways CEOs and HR departments can work together to quickly and inexpensively strengthen employee engagement.

1. Reach out with a personal touch. Companies with high engagement make an effort to recognize their employees’ achievements and milestones. Sending individual hand-written cards to celebrate birthdays or work anniversaries can go a long way in helping employees feel appreciated and valued by high-level executives. Adding in a small gift card of $5 or $10 can also be effective in boosting workplace morale. And, the time commitment to do these personalized cards is usually quite minimal, depending on the size of your organization, with most CEOs dedicating 1-2 hours at the beginning of each month.

2. Make time to make a connection (online or offline). In most organizations, the CEO is not accessible and rarely interacts with anyone other than their executive teams. However, to re-engage your employees, making yourself more accessible for small group meetings or events with all employees is essential. For example, some CEOs plan a regularly scheduled “CEO Coffee Hour” and invite all employees to join them for time to enjoy coffee and chat about their interests and/or their concerns. This enables a time for employees to get to know the CEO on a more personal level and feel that their voice can be heard.

3. Make information sharing a priority and encourage it often. Leveraging a company-wide newsletter is a great way to build a more cohesive workplace community. This can be an electronic version or printed quarterly and distributed to all employees and can include business or department-related goals, achievements, events, or business/project needs. Sharing personal highlights such as vacation photos, upcoming weddings, pregnancy/baby announcements, promotions, and even inserting job openings throughout the organization in each newsletter can keep everyone in the loop and feel included.

These are just three simple ways that you can build more rapport with your employees. What other strategies have you used in the past with success to better engage your workforce? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page here.