For businesses to remain competitive during times of uncertainty and transformation, understanding employee sentiment is critical. That¡¯s where employee engagement software gives you the edge.
Blaise Radley
Editorial Strategist
²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ
In the modern world of work, knowing what your employees think is more important than ever. According to , 75% of industries are showing an increase in high?potential voluntary turnover. To ensure your organization retains its top talent, you need to listen to your employees.
That¡¯s where an employee engagement solution is crucial.
The power of employee engagement software is in bridging the gap between people and data. As we continue to face changes to the way we work, the businesses that succeed will be those who listen to their employees¡ªand act on the findings.
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An employee engagement solution is a tool designed to track trends in engagement and gather employee sentiment from across an organization. That data is then used to drive business decisions, improve employee engagement and retention, and directly address employee concerns.
Here are the most critical functions employee engagement tools perform for HR teams:
Regardless of functionality, employee engagement solutions aim to create a positive work environment and develop a more connected workforce. In doing so, they contribute to increased productivity, retention, and employee satisfaction.
The power of employee engagement software is in bridging the gap between people and data.
Having a reliable method of measuring engagement is integral for promoting high team performance. But it's not enough to solely measure engagement¡ªyou need to empower managers to act on the insights you uncover. That's why you have to ensure that the engagement tool you select is well suited to your organizational needs.
Here are five tips to help you find the best engagement software to support your company¡¯s employee engagement strategy.
The major benefit of employee engagement software over traditional annual surveys is that you have access to real-time feedback and metrics. That means if your workplace culture sours or there¡¯s widespread discontent over pay, it¡¯s easy to identify the problem as it occurs. The ability to get a regular read on what your employees are thinking and why is invaluable¡ªmake sure your engagement solution is equipped for the job.
Another advantage employee engagement solutions have over traditional surveys is the reduction of HR admin work. Without artificial intelligence (AI) to surface relevant, actionable insights as and when your company needs them, sorting through large amounts of people data can be difficult. Make sure you understand how machine learning is integrated, both in terms of how the platform selects survey questions and how it presents employee data.
There are multiple theories about the best way to measure employee engagement. From the Likert scale to eNPS to text-based responses, there¡¯s not a definitive answer for which approach is best. What¡¯s important is that the data you gather is flexible, enabling managers to see multiple different viewpoints and categorizations, providing a rounded picture of their team.
An employee engagement survey is only as useful as the number of people who complete it, which is why meeting your employees in the natural course of their workday day is crucial. Providing feedback should be seamless, meaning that solutions should have easy integrations with other HR platforms and communication tools such as Slack or Microsoft Teams, as well as mobile access and consumer-grade interfaces.
By nature of the survey process and the close relationship between managers and their employees, true anonymity is near impossible. Though an employee may aim to remain anonymous, they may leave identifiable markers in their responses (purposely or accidentally), such as a reference to a specific project they worked on or referencing an in-person conversation. Instead, survey software should prioritize confidentiality, ensuring employee details are removed.
When management ensures that frontline employees feel a sense of ownership, transformations see a 70% success rate.
As businesses face pressure from competitors as well as increased turnover risk, employee engagement can¡¯t fall behind. In order to avoid turnover, business leaders must use engagement solutions to assess employee sentiment toward all aspects of the employee experience.
In this section we¡¯ll explain four common challenges businesses face, before outlining how employee engagement solutions can help you overcome them.
The shift to hybrid working environments has required many companies to rethink how they communicate their values to employees. As part of that process, organizations should take the opportunity to further redefine their values. If your values and culture are only clear at in-person locations, you risk alienating huge numbers of employees.
The Engagement Solution: Create Space for Regular Feedback
When trying to improve any aspect of employee experience, good internal communication is key. But communication doesn't just cover the information you share, such as all-employee meetings, internal newsletters, or Slack and Teams updates. If employees can't share their own thoughts back, that's a problem.
Here are three areas where an engagement solution can help create space for frequent employee feedback:
Across different industries, we¡¯re standing on the edge of an employee burnout crisis. According to ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ research, . Not only does that place a strain on individual team members, but it places a strain on their managers too. But how can businesses address employee wellbeing concerns and prevent employee burnout?
The Engagement Solution: Use Real-Time Data for Real-Time Responses
Fundamentally, you can¡¯t address a problem you don¡¯t know exists. As the pace of workplace change continues to rise, your ability to respond to employee concerns also has to improve. Having access to to-the-minute data insights ensures that your employees are heard before they're completely overwhelmed.
Here are three ways an engagement solutions can help address burnout risk:
According to ²ÝÝ®ÊÓƵ research, 27% of employees are currently at high risk of burnout.
Psychological safety refers to an employee¡¯s ability to share their thoughts without fear. That fear may stem from a concern that speaking up could impact their chance for progression, or that their ideas may be shot down and mocked. If your employees don¡¯t have space to raise contribute constructive feedback without negative consequences, you risk decreased engagement and increased turnover.
The Engagement Solution: Enable Confidential Two-Way Conversations
When employees feel heard, that recognition contributes to feelings of safety and engagement. That might be reflected in an opportunity to raise questions during an all-company meeting, or in having a regular 1:1 set up with their people leader. The role of employee engagement software in enabling psychological safety in those instances can¡¯t be overstated.
Here are three ways an engagement solution helps your organization improve psychological safety:
Tackling issues around growth can be difficult when budgets are tight and the future is unclear. But growth doesn¡¯t always have to manifest as a new promotion or a pay raise. Instead, businesses should look to create a culture of continuous learning across their company, encouraging smaller moments of growth and recognition.
The Engagement Solution: Create a Culture of Continuous Learning
shows that managers who received training focused on coaching and people development saw up to 22% increases in their own engagement and up to 18% higher engagement among their teams. That's why an engagement solution should be at the foundation of any performance management strategy.
Here are three ways to embed conversations around growth and development at every stage of the employee journey:
Managers who received training focused on coaching and people development saw up to 18% higher engagement among their teams.
Regardless of whether your company has had multiple engagement solutions before, or is about to trial one for the first time, a good implementation is key to success. If employees find the process frustrating or confusing, not only will they likely ignore the surveys, but their engagement might even decline as a result.
A successful implementation relies on three factors: education, consideration, and a trusted partner. Assess your needs as a company, look at the market leaders, and ensure you've done a full comparison of the available features. Only then can you begin your journey to improving engagement at an organizational talent.
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