For example, some large businesses can afford to give their employees the moon and the stars when it comes to external rewards. According to a Harvard Business Review book called, HBR Guide to Motivating People, “Google is famous for its over-the-top perks which include lunches made by a professional chef, biweekly massages, yoga classes and haircuts. Twitter employees enjoy three catered meals per day, on site acupuncture and improv classes.” 

But if you’re a smaller organization, that’s impossible! It’s all right. It’s not a deal breaker by a long shot because pricey rewards like these alone are probably not enough to keep the best talent in your organization. But there are some basic gestures to unlock engagement. If an organization focuses on those, they’re more likely to strike gold and inspire members of their organization to do their best, no matter their size.

According to a Deloitte article titled, “Becoming Irresistible: A New Model for Employee Engagement,” written by Josh Bersin, “Companies need to expand their thinking about what “engagement” means today, giving managers and leaders specific practices they can adopt, and holding line leaders accountable.”

Here are the top six proven strategies that work to drive engagement time and again: 

1. Make sure the right people are in the right position
   • Seems like common sense, doesn’t it? But often, there can be a mismatch. Organizations need to watch what skills and personality traits deliver the best results in a specific position and only place those kinds of people in those kinds of jobs.
2. Don’t ever let an employee’s work turn into a job
   • When employees do great work, they need to know that their methods are seen and valued by management. They also need to know that their thoughts and ideas are welcomed, respected and appreciated. Without that, they start to feel like a machine in an assembly line.
3. Managers need to eat, drink and sleep, engagement
   • Managers need to be trained on engagement and how to consistently engage employees every day through their values, actions and words
4. Employees need to feel that they can be themselves at work 
   • Each hard-working employee needs to feel comfortable and accepted at work. They also need to know that their organization will respect their need to tend to personal responsibilities when necessary
5. Management needs to notice, state and actively encourage employee talent and growth
   • An employee should feel that their manager has their back. They should know that their manager supports their career growth by listening to their work preferences, acknowledging their strengths and giving them the work experiences, education and support to excel at the work they enjoy doing
6. The workspace and the people in it, need to be noticed and cared for – always
   • Surveys and management-employee conversations need to be the norm, not the exception, so that everyone knows the current state of the employees and their workplace at all times. This hits a few targets:
   • It keeps everyone informed so it builds trust and connection
   • It’ll help to spot new ideas and areas for improvement
   • It prevents small fires from turning into big explosions. 

In line with Brent Gleeson’s point in a Forbes.com article called, The Top 10 Ways to Improve Employee Engagement with Better Results, “As the saying goes,   anything important must be measured and managed.”

Gleeson adds that the solution for better employee engagement in organizations is clear. “Generally speaking, not enough leaders take the time to prioritize engagement, measure it, respond to the data and put formal programs in place to improve it. In my experience as Navy SEAL and entrepreneur, engagement is a direct result of leadership behaviors and culture – for better or worse.”

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According to a formula commonly used in the employee training industry, we obtain 70 percent of our knowledge from job-related experiences, 20 percent from interactions with others and 10 percent from formal educational events.

Most organizations have a professional development budget set aside for employees

In 2016, The State of the Industry Report found that organizations provided employees with an average of 32.4 learning hours per year.

Training Magazine’s 2015 training industry report pegged U.S. training expenditures—including payroll and spending on external products and services—at $70.6 billion.

Sadly though, employee development programs aren’t always used, chiefly because of heavy workloads. That’s an important issue when we know professional growth is a key engagement driver. Gallup has found that 87 percent of millennials rate “professional or career growth and development opportunities” as important to them in a job. A full 69 percent of non-millennials agree.

Returning to the 70:20:10 model used by employee training professionals, there are a lot of job-related experiences in-house to encourage employee development across our organizations.

9 Surprisingly Simple Ways to Support Employee Development

1. Find out what your employees want to learn.

Kevin Lunch, President and CEO at National Industries for the Blind (NIB) writes in a 2017 Forbes article that an excellent way to engage employees and grow your organizations “is through surveys that ask employees about professional development opportunities they’re interested in. Implementing feedback on learning and development opportunities can help….retain and grow high-performing employees, as well as attract new talent.”

2. Identify what your organization wants your employees to learn.

There’s always a new tool, process or policy change, right? And the desire to keep abreast of industry trends and best practices, correct?

3. Make professional development an intrinsic part of your overall culture.

When employee development is woven through the fabric of your organization and is supported by and for everyone, everyone will naturally gravitate towards training opportunities whether they’re sought out independently, recommended by peers or suggested by the boss.

4. Build time for professional development into everyone’s schedule

Dedicate a set number of hours per month or year and stick to it. Small frequent bursts of learning over extended periods of time can accommodate employees facing heavy workloads, demanding deadlines and other job pressures. Consider introducing performance benchmarks to measure employee development participation. Reward managers who encourage and support training among their teams. Celebrate educational achievements.

5. Commit to continuous learning.

Learning isn’t meant to be a one-time thing. Time, technology and trends wait for no one.

6. Unearth hidden talents.

Surely there are employees among your workforce who can share a valuable job-learning experience? Or who have expertise in an area that might be of benefit to others? Give employees opportunities to flex their muscles by doing what they do best. Maybe it’s a lunch n’ learn session, on-site demonstration, or mentoring assignment.

7. Speaking of mentoring – create a mentorship program.

Loads of studies confirm learning programs positively influence employee retention rates. Retention, says Clear Company, “is 25 percent higher for employees who have engaged in company sponsored mentoring.”  Best of all, the two-way exchange is beneficial to both mentor and mentee.

8. Transfer employees to other departments.

Just because someone’s been hired as a junior marketing coordinator doesn’t mean they’ll want to stay in that position forever and a day. Introduce role reassignment. Remember the Undercover Boss story line? Cross-training broadens skills, nurtures team camaraderie and develops a stronger understanding of the organization from different perspectives.

9. Take advantage of free resources

• Webinars
• White papers
• Sponsored events
• Online courses

Helping employees reach their full potential through professional development programs demonstrates a vested interest in their success. It’s a loud signal they’re valued. And a major motivator that may even reveal unexpected skills employees themselves didn’t realize they possess.

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