Best employee engagement ideas and practices

2020 has been a year of learning for companies as it allowed us to focus on themes central to success at the workplace – productivity, motivation, and well-being – during a worldwide pandemic, no less. So this year, there has been special attention given to employee engagement activities across many companies to ensure that employees feel motivated, appreciated and supported by those around them. Here are some of the employee engagement ideas and practices you could implement in your workforce management planning in 2021.

Treat your staff as stakeholders

The most crucial way to engage employees is creating avenues for them to have open communication with everyone in the company, and most importantly with their supervisors and management. This could simply be in the form of giving more regular feedback to staff and listening to their insights about the company, such as which strengths the company should capitalise on, or which areas could be improved on. Allocate time to have regular and open catch-ups with your staff. With many employees around the globe still working remotely, regular communication is more important than ever. A simple phone call (for those with ‘Zoom-fatigue’) is highly effective.

Richard Branson, Founder of the Virgin Group, said, “I am a firm believer in listening to your staff at all times. The moment you stop doing this, you are in danger of losing your best people.” Listening to staff for their insights and showing empathy assures them of their voice and gives them confidence in their value within the company. By treating them as crucial stakeholders and not merely as resources, you get to engage and retain your best employees who are also actively contributing to the success of your business strategies.

Use employee strengths for good

Your employees join your company for more than monetary and career reasons – they believe in your vision, mission and values as well. One way you can create a better sense of fulfilment for your employees is by taking their strengths and tying them to your corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. If you are a company that promotes sustainability, you could host events where your staff can showcase their ideas on great recycling habits. If you are a marketing agency, you could create videos or host webinars teaching graduates and interns the basics of marketing to help them gain a better footing for when they join the industry. And if you’re a tech company, you could host basic coding programs for young students – this is one initiative Google has had as part of their workforce management and employee engagement initiatives.

Events like these open companies up to the possibilities of making a wider impact, outside of their own business.  Engaging such strategies helps future-proof communities, build new skills for young people; creates new networks/clients; and brings an additional sense of purpose and belongingness to your existing employees. As you align your company goals with your team’s strengths, and apply them beyond your office walls, you effectively bring more meaning to their jobs, their skills, and their contribution to society.

Recognise good behaviour

Apart from regular performance reviews that highlight good job performance, it is equally important to recognise the intangible things that contribute to your employees’ individual success and your company’s collective success. This could be their leadership; the consistency of their work output; their work ethic; or their collaborative spirit. You could also commend them for doing things that go beyond their job description – supporting/coaching colleagues or clients; coordinating effectively with internal and external stakeholders; or their willingness to learn and do more than what they were hired for.

The goodwill that employees choose to do shows the loyalty they have for the company. It emphasizes that they want to maintain a harmonious relationship with everyone they work with, and that they protect the interests of the company. Recognising their good behaviour helps build a high-performance team and motivates others to also aim to do more.

Create spaces for non-work activities

Time spent at work shouldn’t always just be about work – this is something most companies don’t always understand. People can easily feel burnt out if they only see, hear and do work without breaks – this has been apparent during the pandemic with more people working from home, upholding productivity targets and spending their days without a delineation between work and home life.

Non-work activities could be as simple as using Friday meetings as a time for everyone to talk freely about their interests – movies, hobbies, or what they plan to do for the weekend. Our team loves to play online games together once a fortnight. You could host more official team building events in person or virtually. When possible, make time for the team to get together in person and do something socially. This creates a healthier work culture, strengthens the bond between team members beyond everyday work, and gives them time to recuperate and recharge their physical and mental health.

Workforce management in Vietnam in 2021

When you’re thinking about workforce management, especially in Vietnam, or different ways to engage your employees, there are a lot of goals to consider. These could be employee experience, recognition, motivation, sense of belongingness, purpose, job security, happiness and self-actualisation, among other things. But it is important to be attuned to your employee’s needs and wants, both in their career and personal development. By keeping a pulse on what they are interested in and what they value, you can create employee engagement initiatives that will bring success and fulfilment to your team and to your business.

Want to explore executive search and workforce management in Vietnam? Talk to ASW Consulting to understand how you can benefit from using our boutique recruitment agency in Ho Chi Minh today. For a confidential discussion, please email sarah@consulting.aswhiteglobal.com.