Employee Engagement Training for Managers

Employee engagement is all about a person’s emotional connection with their job. This link acts as a crucial indicator when it comes to establishing business loyalty, retention, and even commitment.

A great way managers can utilise this is through investing in employee engagement training and development. Not only does it encourage an employee’s personal work skills, it also helps build a steady growth of company success.

Let’s take a look at the different steps involved in employee engagement training. And what hurdles managers could face if they choose to neglect or ignore them.

How to establish employee engagement training for managers

Every business should aspire to invest in management who can represent them well. They should be able to fully acknowledge your company ethics, values, and overall objectives – all on a daily basis.

One area where this is crucial is employee engagement. With the right training, managers can establish solid work relationships with their peers. And ensure their teams are happy, unified, and fully engaged during work.

There are eight steps managers can use when establishing training activities for employee engagement. Let’s take a look at each on in more depth:

1.    Gratitude

Managers shouldn’t underestimate the power ‘appreciation’ holds in the workplace. Showing a little gratitude can be a deciding factor for growing (or hindering) engagement. If you don’t appreciate your employees’ hard work and efforts, it’ll deter them from working beyond their norms.

Acts of gratitude don’t have to involve expensive or grand gestures. A simple public announcement in the morning meeting will do; or even recommending someone for a potential bonus is enough. Acts like this motivate individuals and teams to keep working hard – aiming to reach shared business goals.

2.    Suggestions

Without its workforce, a business is just one person with an idea. Employees are at the crux of all companies; so, it’s important to listen to suggestions they may present.

Managers should only encourage feedback and constructive criticism. You never know what could be hindering your employees during work. Make employees feel confident to speak up about issues. This attitude will be reciprocated through retention and engagement.

3.    Effort

Again, all employees should feel like valuable members of their workplace. And they should be told that without their endless contributions, it’s impossible for a business to run successfully.

That’s why it’s important to praise them for their hard work and efforts. This could involve praising a new employee who’s finally reached their monthly goals. Or acknowledging someone who continuously goes beyond their expectations at work. When you recognise their hard efforts, they’re more likely going to work in happiness and content.

4.    Listening

One of the best employee engagement training activities you could utilise is the art of listening. This doesn’t just involve letting employees talk; you need to make them feel like they’re heard. Remember, there’s a reason why we have one mouth and two ears!

Employees will appreciate that you’ve invested time into their issues or queries. Even if you couldn’t resolve it straight away, they’ll respect and feel confident in sharing concerns in the near future.

5.    Inform

Continuing from the previous step – when employees aren’t listened to or are left in the dark about certain work issues, it never ends well. Relaying information is paramount in the workplace, especially when it directly concerns employees.

If you’re going through a workplace development, like financial losses or redundancies, you need to inform employees within a reasonable manner. It might be out of your control; but informing employees allows them to soften any impacts on their personal lives. They’ll respect being informed, even if they’re hit with the worst news.

6.    Relationship

Without solid work relationships, it’s hard to establish investable teams or collaborative attitudes. This doesn’t just involve managers being friendly or sociable to their peers. It’s about establishing professional work relationships that evokes mutual trust, loyalty, and respect.

It’s also important to build strong work relations with both new and existing employees. Over time, your efforts will manifest a strong-willed and dedicated workforce.

7.    Reward

There’s no denying, rewarding employees is probably one of the best methods to include in training and employee engagement sessions. Whether an employee has surpassed a personal goal, or an entire team has finalised a huge project, offering rewards is a must.

Managers can provide rewards that encourage continuous hard work and good performance at work. Make sure to ask employees what specific rewards would aspire them to work beyond their norms. It’s also wise to set a budget for rewards (just so your business isn’t left out of budget).

8.    Development

Arguably, the most important concept to include in employee engagement training is career development. Managers have a first hand in helping employees build up their experience, portfolios, and overall careers.

Whether it’s learning a new skill or aiming for a promotion – invest in their career progression. Not only does this benefit them, but it also develops steady business growth and success.

Utilise employee engagement through training and development with Love2shop

There are endless methods to consider when it comes to employee engagement training and development. It all comes back to what you want to attain from your employees and your business.

A sure-fire way utilise employee engagement is done through rewards at work. So, what better way to do this than by giving gift cards and vouchers!

Love2shop offers a gift cards and gift vouchers guaranteed to enhance employee engagement surveys to their fullest.

Whether you want to develop employee efforts or long-term retention, Love2shop has the perfect gift card for you.