The key to any successful business is having a coherent team who knows each other’s strengths and are able to complete tasks in due time. However, that is easier said than done. For employees to effectively coordinate their combined efforts toward common goals, effective communication is primordial, and this can take time to take shape. Thankfully, team building activities accelerate and facilitate this arduous process.
Employee engagement and cultivating a positive work environment should be one of the top priorities any effective manager has on his agenda. The atmosphere and climate that you provide as an employer can encourage your team to do great things or do pitifully. In this article, we elaborate upon the importance of employee engagement and share 5 tips to inspire your team members.
Why does employee engagement matter?
Employee engagement matters as it increases profitability and productivity, as well as helps retain top talent. Organizations are now investing more of their time and resources into workplace culture, as it stimulates new employees just as it keeps old ones going.
When employees feel as though their job matters and feel passionate about it, they automatically put more effort in. When every single individual in your team has this attitude, you create a thriving working environment where effective communication reigns.
Employee engagement goes far beyond the individual employee and affects the business as a whole. Engaged employees create engaged teams, which improves the overall output of the business. More than just being a factor of growth and development, engagement makes your employees wear their heart on their sleeves while at work. This authentic energy can be felt in the quality of the work, by your customers, and your competitors alike.
Is team building even worth it?
5 tips to motivate and inspire your team
Here are 5 tips to motivate and inspire your teams and increase employee engagement:
- Know what you stand for
- Targeted hiring process
- Team building activities
- Effective leadership
- Open communication
1. Know what you stand for
You cannot expect your employees to be passionate about their job and the company they work for if you are not connected with the values of your company. To be an effective manager or business owner, you first need to work on yourself and your own understanding of what you are looking for from your employees. If you know what your business goals are, you will be able to convey clear and measurable goals to your team.
The main job of a leader is to communicate the mission clearly to everyone involved and to turn that mission into specific and measurable incremental goals. You want your team to grasp how their daily work fits into the bigger picture, since employees want to know that the work they do is relevant.
2. Targeted hiring process
You can get a head start on employee engagement by hiring people that you think will align with your firm’s core values. There are a few different ways you can arrange your hiring process to attract and retain interesting candidates.
During the recruiting process, before you even offer candidates an interview, you can send out surveys or questionnaires with the application which includes key questions about values and expectations. This way, you can narrow down those who are best suited to your company culture.
3. Team building activities
Although the recruiting process is a great way to identify who will work best as a team member in your company, team building activities are a must to maintain a positive work environment. An employer cannot simply delegate tasks to a group of strangers, he must play an active role in fostering rapport among team members to effectively lead the team.
Team building activities, such as those offered by KRONOS Experience, help to rejuvenate any type of work environment. There are a lot of key benefits to team building, from increasing employee motivation to helping employees understand how to practice effective communication.
Overall, team building will help your team feel like they’ve found all the pieces of the puzzle. This is the most important thing if you have been witnessing a lack of coherence and comradery between your team members. It is a fun and engaging way to give your team the boost they need to reconnect and start working as an effective team!
4. Effective leadership
Although your team members might have good intentions and want to do their best, without a competent team leader, they will ultimately fail to do their job to the best of their abilities. To delegate tasks comprehensively and clearly requires communication skills that not everyone possesses. Egos are easily hurt, and power dynamics quickly become hurdles to establishing common goals.
When you manage a team, you need to be able to accurately convey what you expect of them, set common goals and offer rewards. Just as it is important to communicate collective goals that you want your team to achieve, it is equally important to acknowledge the completion of personal goals. If an individual team member has surpassed themselves, it’s only natural to attribute merit. That’s what effective team management is all about.
5. Open communication
You learn from school age that communication is one of the most important skills to develop, and it is when you are in the workplace that this comes into play more than ever. It is essential to keep open communication with your employees for a number of different reasons.
Effective communication with your team allows you to convey exactly what you expect of them and allows you to help them achieve those goals as you talk through issues and solutions together. Communication is a two-way street, so you must ensure that your work environment invites employees to share their insights or opinions. By maintaining open communication, you promote a healthy work environment where everyone feels comfortable. This, in turn, increases employee engagement.
Organize a team building event
If you have noticed that your team is not as motivated as you would like, organizing a team building event will guarantee an improvement in employee engagement. Team building activities bring people together and encourage effective communication.
At Kronos, we recognize that not every business operates from the office anymore and that it can be more difficult to disseminate the desired work culture via Zoom calls. This is why we also organize virtual team building activities. Our activities are a sure way to break the alienation that often takes place when workers work remotely.
Our events build up over a couple of weeks, hence ensuring your employees’ anticipation slowly grows by the time the event arrives. This turnkey approach means that you do not have to worry about organizing the event, as we have everything covered. If you are looking for a way to shake up your team and boost employee engagement, motivation and success, organize a team building experience with us.