By Alexandra Flores
Job engagement plays an important role in the workplace, for both the success of the business and employee performance.
In a study revealed by Indeed’s Work Happiness Score, the UK is ranked 12th in the world in terms of employee satisfaction, with 74% of employees feeling satisfied in their jobs. A business who keeps their staff content will see positive outcomes for the company’s success.
LaFawn Davis, Senior Vice President, Environmental, Social and Governance at In deed said: ‘’Happiness should not be a privilege but when it comes to work, it’s a fundamental right.’’
Since the start of Covid-19, employment dissatisfaction had reached a level that had never been seen before. In the beginning of 2022, at least 33% of UK employees were likely to resign because of an unhappy environment in their workplace.
That is why UK companies are starting to focus on improving employee happiness and maintain a healthy environment as a part of their business strategy.
Ayesha Ali, 27, data administrator at GS1 UK in London said: ‘’Working for this company can be both happy and stressful at times, it all depends on each day.’’
According to one of the latest statistics from Randstad Workmonitor, by 2022, around 34% of English employees would prefer to be unemployed than unhappy in their job.
Company incentives
After the pandemic, many employees have seen themselves asking for value and recognition from their employers or companies. This form of appreciation in a workplace can work successfully in lifting the morale of workers, bringing teams closer and improving the productivity that is going to be beneficial in the short or long term.
Kandy Rodrigues, 27, an HR assistant at GS1 UK in London, said: ‘’The way we engage our employees is mainly by providing them with the resources they need, and keeping open communication to identify any barrier productivity.
“In addition, we have yearly pay reviews to understand the workload and adjust pay to meet living standards for them and other incentives, which are a form of maintaining a good workplace environment.’’
One of the most common encouraging incentives businesses offer are perks to help physical wellbeing, such as free yoga classed or local gym discounts. This allows them to improve their employees’ lives by giving them a healthy lifestyle and helping reduce their workloads and stress levels, to make them feel happier.
Our “company offers £50 gym membership every month. […] sometimes it can be stressful to deal with the workload,” said Ali.
Working from home
Working from home is a more balanced way employees can balance their work lives, which is why many companies now offer a hybrid way of working, in order not to risk losing their workers.
‘’I do really like that the company can offer flexibility of being able to work from home – two days at home – and other days at the office – three days in the office.
“For me, this is a business wellness practice that is an incentive to keep us working in a good state of mind,’’ Ali added.
Staff recognition and feedback
Many companies work hard to retain their employees. Recognizing their employees’ performances can be a great indicator of motivation for them. Consider creating a formal employee recognition programme, as well as establishing a culture that could celebrate the ‘’wins’’, as would happen in real life.
‘’We recognize employees for their hard work and reward them through our staff recognition scheme where other staff can nominate who they think deserves to be praised or awarded for their hard work,’’ Rodrigues commented.
Another way to improve employee motivation is simply by asking for employee feedback. This important information can make work more meaningful, as workers feel their company listens to them.
‘’We set yearly goals and targets which are then reviewed every year to understand where staff are and what they have accomplished during the year and if they have met targets set. We provide feedback on things that could have been dealt with differently and how to go about doing things in their roles,’’ Rodrigues added.
Listening to staff is a good way to learn which strategies are not working, to keep workers happy and to change responsibilities or strategies to capitalize on what motivates them to engage with their role at the business.
By understanding the benefits of highly motivated employees and implementing different strategies to make sure the company values employee effort, any organization can contemplate keeping their staff being faithful to the company’s mission for a long period of time.
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