22 Surefire Ways to Increase Employee Engagement

Set Goals

Would you like to improve your employee engagement program by 20%? In its 2013 Trends in Global Employee Engagement report, Aon Hewitt lists performance management as the 2nd top driver of employee engagement in North America (after career opportunities).

When done right, performance management helps individuals set clear goals and understand how their work contributes to the company’s success. According to Blessings White 2013 Employee Engagement Research Report, “clarity about what the organization needs me to do – and why” is the top driver of employee contribution globally, accounting for 20% of all surveyed. Clarity is the first step to setting real goals, the kind that inspire ownership and commitment. Use simple and direct language that has specific meaning to the employee. Once they are clear about job expectations, let employees set their own goals. Ask them if they are working on learning a new skill or completing a certification, and make it a part of the evaluation. The right goals can motivate people to achieve extraordinary results. Leadership IQ surveyed 5,000 workers in various fields to study the impact of goal-setting on employee engagement models. They found that people who set motivational goals are up to 75% more fulfilled than people who set routine goals. Unlike routine goals, motivational goals bring out a sense of success – an intrinsic motivator that our minds obey in any setting. In his book, HARD Goals, Mark Murphy makes a case for goals that are:

• Heartfelt or emotionally appealing
• Animated by dreams and a vision
• Required or necessary and urgent
• Difficult o rdevelopmental, outside of the comfort zone

In other words, in order to motivate, a performance goal needs to be a true goal, something our heart desires, but doesn’t yet have within easy reach. That said, don’t make your goals too hard. While high expectations can motivate people to leave their comfort zones, unrealistic goals can also lead to quick disappointment and burnout. Especially when the goal is taking the employee in a new direction, let him test the ground first. It’s better to build on a small success than on a spectacular failure. Aim for a stretch, not a strain, and let the employee demonstrate that he is ready for more. While discussing performance goals, remember to tailor your expectations to the individual. What motivates one employee may be stressful or threatening to another. Customize your tool. Many performance evaluation systems are built with sales teams in mind. Pick a solution that allows for customization into your industry-specific goals.

Keep the eyes on the prize

Even though your employee engagement strategy and employee job satisfaction are closely related, keep in mind that engagement is ultimately about performance, not satisfaction.

The last thing you want is a team of satisfied but underperforming employees. To boost performance, make it easy for employees to own their tasks and focus on results. Better yet, make it fun. In her article, Latest Game Theory: Mixing Work and Play, published in October 2011 in The Wall Street Journal, Rachel Emma Silverman reported that several major employers relied on videogaming tactics to help employees focus on the task at hand. IBM, No. 37 on CareerBliss 50 Happiest Companies in America for 2014, employs video game-like solutions throughout its intranet. One game is about making a virtual city more efficient. Others allow users to simulate business scenarios. Deloitte, ranked 61 on Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2014, uses digital games for its Deloitte Leadership Academy, an executive education program for clients and employees. The idea is to turn a routine or daunting task into a game of competition or collaboration – or a creative endeavor. One way is to assign points to business results, for example, completing jobs or staying within time limits. Some systems encourage friendly competition by publicly tracking everyone’s scores. Some promote collaboration by assigning points for giving feedback or asking and answering questions. Some favor communication with points for blogging, commenting, and uploading files for public use.

Network

Character traits and motivational plays only go so far to explain our state of mind and our success at work. An emerging field of network science looks at the strength and quantity of our ties to one another to understand the behavior of individuals and groups.

New research points to employee social networks as the secret sauce inside the high-performing workplaces. TINYpulse 2013 Employee Engagement Survey of 40,000 employees at more that 300 companies discovered that “employee happiness is more dependent on co-workers than direct managers” and that “team play and collaboration are the top trait employees love about their co-workers“. In his January 17, 2013 article Harvard Professor Finds That Innovative Ideas Spread Like The Flu; Here’s How To Catch Them, Drake Baer of Fast Company reported that a group of network scientists conducted a case study in a large aerospace company. The study looked at the link between the engineers’ inside-the-company connections and their success at filing patents or bringing new products to market. It turned out that the number and quality of connections were the second most important success factor, after a related variable – length of employment. The study found that successful individuals had strong relationships, both with peers across departments and up and down the chain of command. Similarly, successful teams were the most interwoven and highly connected to the rest of the company. Ideas, insights, and inspiration spread from person to person within the network, much like office gossip or a flu virus. Those in the center of large, densely populated networks are first to get new information and to gather input on projects – an advantage over those working in isolation. Well-networked teams are able to exchange ideas with the entire organization, gain the broadest perspective, and command the most support. Today’s workforce, especially those dubbed generation X and generation Y (the Millennials), come equipped with social media networking skills. To fuel professional networking, give employees opportunities to mix and mingle on- and off-line. Intra-company social media, also called intranet software, could be the missing link to strong employee networks.

Use them or lose them

Can you make your employees 24% happier while giving them more work? 24% of those surveyed by Blessings White reported “more opportunities to do what I do best” as the key to their job satisfaction.

The report also says that the main reason employees stay at their jobs is because they like the work they do. The best managers learn employees’ personalities and understand what people like about their jobs. They provide work that fully utilizes employees’ skills and experience and is challenging for the right reasons. Many people find their most productive and creative moments during unplanned and unscheduled activities. LinkedIn cancels all meetings a few days each month so that employees can work on something they are passionate about – or attend a talk by their favorite inspirational speaker. Give yourself and your staff “white space,” for example, half a day per week to work on any task they choose.

Support career development

The 2013 Trends in Global Employee Engagement report by Aon Hewitt cites career opportunities as the no.1 driver of employee engagement in North America.

How much difference does a future career path make in employees’ day-to-day attitudes? Blessings White reports that 24% of those it surveyed rank career development and training as the most important factor in job satisfaction. Likewise, poor career prospects is the top reason for leaving a job. Unfortunately, it’s too easy for managers to lose sight of individual goals and aspirations while putting out daily fires. Remember: if they can’t count on you to have their backs when it comes to raises and promotions, you can’t count on them to have your back on critical projects. Sit down with your employees to talk about career paths as often as necessary:

• Understand and support their ambitions
• Explain how current responsibilities will lead to future opportunities
• Point out the skills they need to master and set aside the time and resources for that purpose
• Offer help, coaching, and mentorship
• Build trust by honoring your commitments

Don’t wait for the annual evaluation to start the dialogue. Do take advantage of a planned performance review to relieve employees’ anxiety and renew your support. Don’t make it all about past performance. Surprise criticism can breed resentment and drive a wedge between the manager and the employee. Instead, give real-time feedback throughout the year and use the annual review to zero in on career development and the future. Make it a tool to help your employees succeed, and show them how to use it in their best interests. Career is not always about rapid promotion. Encourage breadth and depth of experience. Set your people up for the maximum impact in the immediate future and maximum opportunity in the long run.

Make them visible

Being front and center, and in the spotlight, can be one of the most energizing and fulfilling experiences the workplace has to offer.

Sure, sometimes we fall asleep in the stands. But who can remain sluggish and apathetic on the court, when the game is on and all the eyes are on you? Managers often act as gate-keepers to high-profile projects, clients, and the higher-ups. However, it is these types of interactions that lend meaning and urgency to everyday tasks. The Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp) recommends that managers offer high-visibility and strategic assignments to engage their teams. The i4cp study suggests a few ways to bring employees into the spotlight. Some managers encourage people to research a new idea and present alternatives for going forward. Others create opportunities to participate in cross-departmental projects – or to attend industry events and share what they’ve learned with the group.

Let go of your inner micromanager

Nothing kills trust, drains motivation, and sucks all the joy out of work faster than needless handholding. Research by a global HR consulting firm, Mercer, shows that employees, regardless of age and gender, favor a flexible approach to work.

In his book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, Daniel H. Pink argues that autonomy – the desire to direct our own lives – is one of only three primary factors shaping our gut response to our work. (The other two are mastery and purpose.) He recommends that managers take three steps toward giving up control:

• Involve people in goal setting
• Use non-controlling language
• Hold office hours so people can come see them

To speed up the transfer of control from manager to employees doing the work, technology has created a virtual workplace. And many employers, like LiveOps, are eager to kill two birds with one stone: give employees their much desired space and reap the cost savings of housing fewer bodies. However, experts warn that the virtual office comes with its own rules of employee engagement. In the absence of a traditional supervisor, team dynamics become an even more important driver of individual contribution. In his series on virtual teams, Keith Ferrazzi of Harvard Business Review offers this advice:

1. To start off, allow team members to form critical relationships inside and outside the team. Instead of asking them to read and digest documents on their own, invite team members to identify those people who are most important to doing their job successfully and get in contact with each one in the first two weeks.
2. A small-but-significant first challenge will move everyone in the right direction. Choose something that every team member can weigh in on, contribute to, and see the results quickly, ideally within 60-90 days.
3. Email updates and weekly conference calls are not enough to sustain team momentum. Use technology: webcams, social business platforms – to stay in touch real-time. Celebrate small wins.
4. Humans are intensely social beings. They need to feel connected. Check- in with your virtual team personally and professionally. Let them share work success or a personal story before a meeting begins.
5. Don’t allow multitasking. Research shows as many as 90% of people doing other things during conference calls, including visits to the kitchen, the pool, and yes, the bathroom. Collaboration can only happen when everyone is mentally present and engaged. Set that as an expectation – and call on people often to share their thoughts.
6. Don’t mute your line and ask your team to limit muting whenever practical. Dead air kills group bonding and breeds disengagement.
7. Keep the conversation candid. Don’t be afraid to ask, “So, what’s going on here that nobody’s talking about?” Praise those who speak their minds and remember: people will be watching closely to see that you don’t subtly dismiss or minimize their issues.

Ultimately, micromanagement is only an imperfect substitute for those human relationships and working conditions that make it easy for us to put in our best effort. Today’s winning enterprises focus on relationships and conditions impacting their workforce on every level: person-to-person, manager- to-team, and company-to-employees.

Be authentic

In every kind of relationship, people favor those with whom they have established a human connection. So, it’s hardly surprising that employees put greater trust in their bosses when they feel they know them on a personal level.

This is particularly true in North America. When Blessings White asked employees to rate their immediate managers on eight critical skills, managers who showed their human side scored 59 percentage points higher than those who put up a front. The percentage gap was as wide as 64 points among the least engaged employees. The message is simple, if often overlooked: It is the manager’s responsibility to authentically connect with people, which inspires trust and galvanizes the team. According to Gallup’s 2013 State of the Global Workplace report, 71% of North American and 87% of world-wide employees are “not engaged” or “actively disengaged.” Add the fact that disengaged employees are also the ones most sensitive to “inauthentic” bosses. Showing your human side becomes the biggest untapped source of employee engagement! If being authentic works, why do so few managers give it a try? Blessings White offers this insight: Don’t be afraid to show your vulnerability. Often, we think we know what to expect from people, when in reality our entire past experience with them has been a result of our own attitudes. When we change the way we relate to people, their response changes dramatically. Set the tone for genuine communication with your team and use it for both work and play. Be honest about your own struggles and let people surprise you with their empathy and good will. Trusting your team to know you as a person works both ways. You will find your people more responsive and yourself more effective as a manager. That’s because trust is usually reciprocated, and because believing we’re trusted (or not) makes a big difference in our willingness to do the work.

Help

Not everyone is vocal about their needs. A helpful and compassionate attitude will lead you to uncover a hidden roadblock faster than a demanding one.

When you reach out to help, your actions say “we are in this together,” a far more uplifting message than “you’ve dropped the ball.” Your willingness to give of yourself clears the air and makes it possible to find a real solution. When in doubt, start your conversation with a question. Leadership and communication strategist Steve Roesler points out that questions engage the brain more than statements. In his article, Ten Questions Designed To Engage, he lists these favorites of his:

• How can I help you right now?
• What else do you need from me for this project?
• To whom can I introduce you to help make this happen?
• When can we get together to discuss our progress?
• What can we do to make this just a little bit better?
• Who else can we include?
• What other information can I provide?
• How can I best support the others in the group?
• What else would be helpful to discuss?

Use non-monetary rewards

In its 2013 study Trends in Global Employee Engagement, Aon Hewitt reports that, while recognition is one of the top five drivers of employee engagement in North America, pay is not.

What’s going on here? What’s wrong with pay raises and bonuses for top performers? And how do employees want to be rewarded for extraordinary performance? Competitive pay is a must for attracting and retaining top-notch talent in the private sector. Yet, when it comes to reinforcing behaviors, money has a few disadvantages. First, the satisfaction it delivers is short-lived. Second, experience shows that money never makes up for lack of intrinsic motivation: you simply cannot pay people enough to like their job. Finally, perceived pay inequity makes for a very toxic workplace. And there is no keeping it secret. It’s better to pay similarly for similar jobs, and use recognition and non-monetary rewards for going above and beyond. Of course, any time you single out an individual or a group for a prize, someone is bound to feel left out. Do your part by making it clear what the reward is for and how the winners were chosen – and leave it up to your crew to respond graciously. Create new opportunities for others to win. What you are after is making your best people feel appreciated. Choose rewards that are not only of practical value, but also emotionally meaningful to the recipient. Here are some of the ways in which employers around the world recognize and celebrate performance of both individuals and groups.

• Friday Drinks. Take your team out to celebrate a win on a Friday afternoon. Leave early, so people don’t have to stay after work – or bring food and drinks into the office and give the team the rest of the day off.
• Extra Time-Off. Celebrate beating a deadline or completing a project by giving your team some time to recharge and spend with their loved ones.
• Subsidized Sports and Fitness Activities. Why not support healthy recreation for your best people (if not for all)? Gym passes, participating in walking, running, and cycling events, or amateur sports teams are all great rewards for those employees who will use them.
• Personal and Career Development. Everyone can use a little training and coaching to take their game to the next level. There are great courses out there that benefit the whole person, as well as those geared towards a specific career. If this is not an option for everyone at your company, use it selectively to invest in your top performers.
• Everyone’s Favorites. Are your people hooked on Starbucks or Netflix? A lot of pet owners around the office? People cherish thoughtful gifts more than expensive ones. Show employees that you know and care about them as people. Try personalized gift cards, chew toys for animals – or anything else you know they’ll love.

(You can also check out a list of 499 employee engagement ideas.)

Start at the top

“Walking the talk” may be the single most effective employee engagement strategy company leaders have at their disposal.

Author and workplace expert, Nan Russell, explains in Psychology Today that the best leaders aren’t focused on engagement. Rather, they succeed by creating trust. Trust in the workplace makes it possible for people to focus on teamwork, innovation, and passionate service – the magic ingredients of consistently high employee engagement best practices and performance.

Got culture?

There is a reason the word culture has become a corporate buzzword: culture works. In a 1992 landmark study published in Corporate Culture and Performance, Kotter and Heskett tracked a group of corporations over a ten-year period.

Those that “managed their cultures well” outperformed peer companies that did not by a wide margin.

• Revenue growth: 682% vs. 166%
• Stock price increase: 901% vs. 74%
• Net income increase: 756% vs. 1%
• Job growth: 282% vs. 36%

Jim Collins’ and Jerry Porras’ bestseller, Built to Last, defines winning corporate culture as timeless ideology plus adaptive business tactics. A retrospective study reported in Harvard Business Review showed that companies who fit this description outperformed their industries and the general stock market. In recent history, Google, Facebook, and many others have led the market by creating a strong corporate culture. Does your company have what it takes to rally around a common purpose, goals, and values? Take a cue from Gen. Joe Robles of USAA and start by listening. For example, do your employees refer to the company as “we” or “they“? One way to create a “we” company is to show you trust your employees and defer to their judgment as much as possible. ROWE (Results Only Work Environment) keeps people accountable for work goals and removes all other constraints. No expected time in the office, dress code, or unnecessarily standardized procedures. ROWE was pioneered by Jody Thompson and Cali Ressler at Best Buy. Now, Gap, Inc. and other companies are adopting it to create a trust- based high-performing culture. Changing corporate culture doesn’t have to be all-or-nothing. Many of the winners on Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For have selectively discarded old rules as the company outgrew them. NetApp (no. 33 in 2014 and one time top spot holder) started many years ago by rewriting its elaborate travel policy. The new policy read: Now several NetApp business units have replaced traditional business plans with “future histories” – an intentionally imaginative take on the near future of their business

Communicate

In 2014, About.com took an on-line poll to find out why people don’t care for their jobs. The top three causes of negativity at work, together accounting for 64% of all responses, are all communication-related:

Lack of direction from management: 38% Poor communication overall: 14% Constant change that’s not well-communicated: 12%

In 2013 TINYpulse surveyed 40,000 employees from 300 companies around the world to find out that only 42% of employees know their organization’s vision, mission, and values. The study concluded that “too many executives are not communicating and reinforcing their company’s guiding principles and mission,” and the result is apathetic, disengaged, or actively disgruntled employees. Talking and writing does not always equate with reaching your audience. When asked about an opening night of one of his plays, George Bernard Shaw famously replied: “The play was a great success, but the audience was a dismal failure.” How can companies avoid failing their internal audiences? Communicate opportunistically, as well as at regular intervals, through any means appropriate to the occasion. Promote openness and transparency. Promptly address concerns. Give employees a clear line-of-sight: where they are going, how they are doing, and where they fit in. In a 2013 whitepaper, A New Way to Work, Unify (formerly Siemens Enterprise Communications) offers these tips to more engaging employee communications:

• Tell people what they need to know to do their jobs well
• Use internal and external social networks
• Listen as you speak: start and join multi-way conversations
• Access all media types, information, and people
• Respond in real-time
• Aggregate networks
• Add intelligence to filter, summarize, and act on events
• Use plain language

The last suggestion, although by no means new, remains one of the most powerful and underutilized means of engaging people.

Go on a mission

Nowadays most companies can readily produce a mission statement. Some go to great lengths to compose and prominently display these writings in print, on the web, and in the workplace.

The question is, does it help? It depends. Successful companies teach us that being on a mission doesn’t begin nor end with a mission statement. Words themselves are not as important as where they come from. Did you crowdsource your mission statement – or did you let a top executive hammer it out? Did you take a fresh look at your company, your business, and your market – or did you rehash old rhetoric? Does your mission statement reflect how people feel about their jobs – or does it impress marketing and HR? Likewise, spreading the word is less important than putting it into everyday practice. Does your stated mission change the way your company hires and promotes people, allocates funds, develops products, and treats customers?

Be transparent

Transparency is another way of showing trust. 2013 TINYpulse Employee Engagement Survey confirms that employees everywhere appreciate being trusted with sensitive information.

When researchers at TINYhr analyzed anonymous responses from more than 150 global companies, they discovered that management transparency went hand-in-hand with employee happiness 94% of the time! Not only was management transparency highly predictive of how people really felt about their jobs, it was the chief contributing factor! Co-workers, supervisors, and influence over the company’s affairs all came in as runners up. What’s more, transparency seems to impact overall performance. In his book, Transparency: Creating a Culture of Candor, Warren Bennis cites a 2005 study of U.S. 27 “most transparent” companies. The study group beat the S&P 500 by 11.3%. Transparency doesn’t depend on costly infrastructure. Rather, it calls for an ongoing conversation between top executives and the rest of the company. Or, if you are like Red Hat (no. 23 on Glassdoor’s Employees’ Choice 50 Best Places to Work in 2014) and Google, you let everyone in on everyone else’s conversation – by default. “Default to open” – a mindset both companies embrace – means that managers start from the place that everyone in the company deserves equal access to information, then chose what, if anything, needs to be kept confidential. In practice, this might mean videotaping CEO staff meetings for the entire company … … or encouraging tough questions from the audience during a CEO address … … or frequent opportunities to speak with top management face-to- face. (Google’s Larry Page and Sergey Brin host “all-hands” meetings every Friday) … … or posting product roadmaps, launch plans, team goals and status reports on the intranet, so that everyone can see what everyone else is working on. Google’s SVP of People Operations, Laszlo Bock says: Whether or not your company is ready to break down all the silos, the fact remains that engaged employees everywhere want to know how the company makes decisions and how they can contribute. One big area of concern is pay and benefits. Make it as clear as possible to employees how compensation decisions are made and how performance makes a difference in their paycheck.

Give them a voice

In order to discover hidden potential in their employees, many of today’s most innovative, influential, and forward-thinking companies follow these two rules religiously:

1. Never assume you know what your employees think – let them tell you
2. Take the risk of sharing too much, rather than miss out on an opportunity to connect, collaborate, and learn from one another

Employee engagement surveys are one way to solicit feedback and take the pulse of engagement. There are a million survey questions you could ask. Chose the topics that matter the most at your company. SAS, for example, focuses on open communication, respect from fellow employees, transparency into career paths, and being treated as a human being. Google’s largest employee survey, Googlegeist, collects feedback on hundreds of issues. Once the results are in, employees volunteer to solve the biggest problems and work in teams across the entire company. One recent outcome is a new engineering to product management job rotation program. Another one is a company-wide pay raise. Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI), no. 69 on Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2014, uses company intranet software to get input and exchange ideas. Company campfire, launched in 2012, features blog posts by REI executives, employee awards, products and research. Employees can comment, ask questions, and debate issues. Listening to employees can be as simple as asking a few questions face-to-face. The Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp) recommends conducting stay interviews – an alternative to exit interviews – to discover what makes employees happy, productive, and loyal. Stay interviews also allow managers to resolve minor issues, demonstrate to employees that they are valued, and prevent unwanted turnover. Once you have your feedback, what will you do with it? Google, for one, believes it’s just as important to empower employees to find solutions as it is to encourage them to speak up. On top of Googlegeist and a host of other surveys, Google routinely reviews GUTS (Google Universal Ticketing Systems) – a place for employees to raise concerns about anything, similar to New York City’s 311 line. An urgent case may call for a FixIt, a 24-hour stretch when the entire company focuses on solving a specific problem. Is there a downside to openly discussing problems and solutions with employees? Google’s Laszlo Bock believes it’s a matter of managerial skill: If you want your people to fully engage in their work, leave room for their own voice and initiative. Let them take part in decision making. Be open to new ideas. Support employee-led programs. An inspiring mission and shared insights are only meaningful to those employees who can put their knowledge and beliefs into action. In the words of Laszlo Bock,

Say thank you

Looking for happy, hard-working people? Thank employees often for things big and small. Acknowledgement is the quickest way to restore trust, transform a strained relationship, or energize the whole workplace.

Great companies understand the power of a simple “thank you“. They also have their own special ways of expressing gratitude. Camden Trust likes to give hugs. Starbucks launched a special card collection from a mobile app Red Stamp, so that customers can thank their baristas by mail, email, or social media. LinkedIn bought 3,458 iPad Minis to thank all of its full-time employees for their hard work. While managers need to know and appreciate their people, research says that it’s even more important that team members appreciate each other. The 2013 TINYpulse Employee Engagement Survey reports that co-workers contribute more to employee happiness than do direct supervisors. The study found a 92% correlation between employee happiness and their rating of co-workers, as compared to a 74% correlation between employee happiness and how they rate their direct supervisor.

Let the walls help

The more companies rely on employees to innovate, to engage customers, to lead and inspire other employees, the more they must pay attention to the environment where all these activities take place.

SAS, an early pioneer of the workplace-as-a-perk movement has reaped the benefits hand over fist. Strong cash flows have allowed the company to remain private. Plus, in the industry where competition for talent is fierce, SAS employee loyalty is legendary. The annual turnover is only 2-3% compared to an industry average of 22%. Google, LinkedIn, and Facebook have all followed suit in creating office space utopia for their employees. But why stop at the office? Zappos is spending $350 million to develop the entire neighborhood in downtown Las Vegas where Tony Hsieh plans to relocate his company. Aside from the corporate headquarters, the “Downtown Project” includes apartment buildings, restaurants, daycare, a medical center, outdoor concert space, shops, yoga studios, a dog park, and even office space for other companies, to attract investors and revitalize the area. When funds are limited, pick the renovations that hold the most sway over your constituents. Cambridge, Mass. based HubSpot offers standing desks and a jam room full of musical equipment – to get over a mental block or relax with teammates. On a very basic level, access to natural sunlight, fresh air, and live plants are a few things that your employees will appreciate either consciously or subconsciously. When redesigning your workspace, look into green technologies that both add comfort and save you money in the long run. U.S. Green Building Council reports that green office buildings can increase employee productivity by as much as 16%!

Engage after work

True vision and character extend far beyond what we do for a living into all areas of our lives. Companies gain credibility when they pursue their vision where it does not directly boost their bottom line. And when the leaders help people make a contribution outside of work, they build character for the entire company.

Doing good for its own sake is admirable. However, if you believe that doing good is good business, you are in excellent – and growing – company. Engine maker Cummins Inc. (no 20 on Forbes’ 25 Best Places to Work in 2014) involves more than 27,000 employees in social service projects in the cities where it does business. Cummins believes that volunteering together strengthens relationships among managers and workers and leads to higher employee engagement and productivity at work. Management consultants at Boston Consulting Group (no. 3 on Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For in 2014) frequently donate their time to the U.N. World Food Program, Save the Children and other philanthropies. In the wake of the earthquake in Haiti, BCG took consultants off client projects so they could volunteer in disaster areas. Corporate volunteering may be especially important to the youngest generation of employees. A study by AMP Agency found that 61% of the Millennials feel personally responsible for making the world a better place, and over half would not take a job unless the employer shared their ethics. Start by volunteering locally or enlist services like Taproot or Catchafire to place corporate teams with organizations across the United States. During the warmer months, look into outdoor activities like cleaning up a park or helping a local organic farmer.

Play

What can be more engaging than fun? If you don’t believe your four-year old, ask Google, Zappos, Camden Trust, LinkedIn, and many other companies who believe that goofing off regularly amounts to a strategic advantage in the marketplace.

Zappos holds annual Bald and Blue days, when employees can shave their heads or dye their hair blue to earn between $50 and $300 for local charities. Zappos CEO, Tony Hsieh, owns a fleet of party busses, a party house, and a 40-foot-long praying mantis that shoots fire from its antennas, mounted on a truck. The busses and the house are available to employees and business associates for spur-of-the- moment trips and parties that help Zappos fulfill on its corporate goal to “create fun and a little weirdness.” And the mantis is a reminder of the scale on which the fun and creativity take place. Besides breaking up the routine, eccentric jokes may serve a business purpose. The famous advertizing executive David Ogilvy advised, “The best ideas come as jokes. Make your thinking as funny as possible.” Fun at work doesn’t need to be outrageous, nor should it be confined to after-hours. Google combines ground-breaking software development with scooter parking stalls, whimsical doodles, and public April Fool’s Day jokes. LinkedIn and other tech companies hold hackdays when employees can take a break from assigned projects to play with any products and any design features they choose and show off their creative gifts to the rest of the company.

Now it’s your turn!

The tide has turned on the Office Space culture. As pioneers like SAS, Google, and Zappos are adding new dimensions to employee happiness, companies everywhere are investing into employee morale and well-being.

Likewise, employees are less willing to accept pay in exchange for being pressured and stifled. The jury is in and the vote is unanimous:

If you intend to keep up with competitors, keep your best people, and attract new talent, you must do what it takes to help your employees thrive.

How engaged are your employees?

Surveys and interviews are great. If you are not in the habit of asking your people directly, there are also metrics that more or less speak for themselves:

• Employee turnover. Happy employees keep their jobs.
• Employee referrals. Happy employees bring their friends to work.
• Socializing outside of work. Happy employees make friends at work.

Where do you start?

Start with yourself and your own vision. Does the company – management, executives, HR – see employees as partners, contributors, and collaborators? If this is not yet a full-fledged reality, do you see it as a possibility? Next, ask employees what the company can do to remove barriers to your vision.

Go Social

These are exciting times for HR and IT! As companies are moving towards collaborative, transparent, self-motivated workplaces, office technology is undergoing a vast and rapid transformation. Static and centrally controlled intranets are making room for mobile- accessible, customizable social business networks. Connect your employees through employee engagement software to:

• Collaborate in real time
• De-clutter your email and voicemail
• Post self-help and self-training tools
• Encourage feedback and interaction, and …
• Increase employee engagement, happiness, and fulfillment.

Make a wish list and get started.