As HR directors, a good part of your week is spent working with employees to manage their performance, productivity, expectations and level of engagement. That last point is significant because it not only impacts your employees’ output, but it can also strongly influence retention levels.
For this reason, it’s important for HR to find ways to demonstrate to staff that they are valued.
Lyndal Hughes, associate director at Third Horizon Consulting Partners, offers four simple strategies for cultivating an engaged and motivated workforce that feels both valued and valuable:
- Offer a sense of purpose. Those employees who strongly connect with your organisation’s values and vision will clearly be more engaged at work than those who are simply punching in and punching out. “Giving purpose and meaning to work [helps] the individual link it to their overall work/life purpose,” Hughes said.
- Show or tell them. “I often talk about the value of a simple, hand-written message or thankyou card. It goes a long way to show that a team member is important and that their effort is noticed – it’s a tangible way of showing that their effort is valued,” she said.
- Create structured lunch breaks. “Reinforcing and recognising a culture where people are encouraged not only to take a lunch break, but to leave the office, does wonders for morale and well-being,” Hughes said.
- Provide a sense of control. Employees don’t need 100% control, but they do need some autonomy. “Giving a sense of control over certain aspects of work, such as being brought into some HR decisions earlier, can significantly increase their sense of control. This in turn reduces stress and increases retention.
