There is another pandemic hitting workplaces in Singapore aside from the Covid-19 virus. In Singapore workplaces, staff engagement is below the global average. Conducted in a study over the course of 18 days, the report claims that only 47% of employees in Singapore are actually engaged.
This makes employee engagement in Singapore lower than our Asian counterparts; Malaysia, United States, Britain, and India. So, what’s the big deal about employee engagement? Well, studies show that highly engaged employees are more productive.
Some benefits of high employee engagement include:
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Lower absenteeism rate
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More motivated employees
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Lower turnover rate
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Higher customer scores and an increase in sales
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Less theft: According to some articles, businesses with highly engaged workers experience a reduction of 28% of inventory loss.
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Fewer injuries
Seeing as this could be the next pandemic to hit more Singapore offices, we’ve listed some methods to help you boost employee engagement:
1. Measure Team Engagement to Start!
Ask any doctor for a quick-fix cure all and they’ll probably tell you this. Before you treat a problem, you’ll need to first understand the extent of your problem. Some ways for you to measure team engagement are:
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Focus groups: For some, having a teammate or familiar face on the same team allows them to let their guard down. Running a focus group doesn’t have to be particularly tough. All you need is a little bit of preparation to get things started. There are a number of articles out there to help you prep for a focus group available on the internet.
Learn more about setting up focus groups here.
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Hold surveys: Some might find surveys and polls slightly easier to hold. However, instead of sending your employees a lengthy survey or poll to fill. Instead, you can try holding pulse surveys, sending employees one or two questions at the end of each working week. This allows you to gain a “snapshot” access of your employees’ week.
2. Onboard new candidates thoughtfully
The key to having happy, motivated employees, is to hire happy and motivated employees. Onboarding is the key time to connect new employees with their work, team goals, and organizational mission. It is also a time to experiment with new methods to energize and engage employees
Finding the right candidate might also be the key to keeping some of your older workers engaged at work. Especially during training, pairing them up to teach them the ropes. With an engaged, new hire, employers can also explore the idea of cross departmental collaborative onboarding. This allows both the new and seasoned employees to build rapport as well as exchange skills faster than with one on one training.
Find out more about cross departmental collaborative onboarding here. Additionally, click here to learn about the benefits of onboarding new candidates thoughtfully with the help of recruitment process outsourcing (RPO).
3. Prioritize wellness and health
Wellness is the key to happier employees. And happy employees are more engaged and productive at work. The term wellness should refer to both physical and mental wellness. One way to provide employees with good wellness is by encouraging your workers to have a healthy lifestyle. This gentle encouragement can be done by:
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Organizing after work activities: Ideas to help organize some after work activities that appeal to your employees interests. Of course this varies from organization to organization. Additionally, companies often provide corporate packages or discounted rates.
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Team bonding outings: Another way to encourage work-life balance is through team bonding activities. Barbecues, company retreats, karaoke sessions are some good examples for you to think through.
It’s important to keep in mind that activities and team bonding activities are not the only tools to play around with. In fact, it is also crucial to tailor your workplace to make it as accommodating as possible to ALL your employees. Consider:
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Do your employees get enough rest and sleep at night?
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Are they comfortable in the workplace?
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Is the workplace a psychologically safe area?
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Is it diverse to accomodate the needs of diverse employees? Learn more about the benefits of a diverse workplace here.
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Do your employees have work-life balance?
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Are you willing to provide benefits such as flexible working schedules or no mc sick leave privilege?
Understanding the different needs that your employees want might be the key to boosting employee engagement. As a human resource outsourcing (HRO) provider, we’ve written our fair share of articles on the different employees in the workplace right now.
Some recommended pieces include:
4. Encourage transparency
According to Glassdoor, a transparent workplace is one that “creates openness between both the managers and the employees”. Furthermore, one major benefit to a transparent workplace are happier and healthier employees. In a study conducted by the Harvard Business Review, 70% of employees feel engaged with their workplace when their supervisors and leaders update the staff on the organization’s progress. Transparency is also one way to build a trusting relationship between both the organization and the employees.
5. Encourage professional development
Professional development is a blanket term that can encapsulate everything from celebrating innovation to investing in your employee’s professional goals. One fullproof way to encourage innovation and out of the box ideas, is by rewarding employees for their innovative ideas.
Whilst investing in your employee’s professional goals can be anything from providing workshops aimed at development, to sending your employees to specialized courses. There are of course a multitude of ways to help encourage professional development.
What are some tried and trusted ways for organizations to boost employee engagement in Singapore? Let us know in the comments section below!
Read More: 6 Simple Ways to Improve Staff Morale During the Covid-19 Pandemic