Employee engagement is important in any business. Having effective strategies that boost employee engagement can bring positive impacts on staff turnover rate, work culture, customer relationships, productivity, as well as company profitability.
When your employees are engaged, according to Gallup (2020), it can lead to their overall productivity and efficiency. They revealed that companies with higher employee engagement had an increase of 21% in terms of productivity compared to those with lower ones.
Certainly, when workers are happy, they can be dependable, they are more likely to exceed expectations and excel in their work which brings their productivity level a notch higher. They are also likely to produce higher-quality outputs. Businesses invest in strategies for employee engagement so they can retain their employees and upscale their products or services while inexplicitly building their brand and reputation.
Engaged employees are usually the strongest performers and always walk the extra mile. They impress not only their superiors but also their customers by being proactive and always taking initiative. Workers who have these values are highly in demand in the hospitality industry. As we all know, the said industry is relied upon by people from all walks of life to provide an experience worth remembering and services that are worth their money.
Hence, you need happy and engaged employees so you can make other people happy, comfortable, and warm.
Remember the law of circulation?
You cannot give what you do not have, you cannot keep what you do not give and you cannot sustain what you do not receive. And the hospitality industry needs employees who practice a people-centered approach to address the needs of various individuals by providing a highly customized type of support.
The industry is customer-service driven and its employees are required to manifest the hospitality brands’ ethics, values, and principles since they are in the frontlines of every service. One misstep and the guest may never be likely to return.
Well-trained employees and those who boast of their extensive experience can provide great guest service easily. These employees should be on the top tier and the best way to secure them within your manpower roster is to keep them highly engaged. Here are a few ways:
1. Let your employees find fun at work
Perhaps you can dedicate a small room and make it an employee’s lounge, not in the stock room or at the “back of the building”. A lounge can be a place where they can take their breaks, have coffee, or simply recline for an energy replenishing 15-minute off work. Have a little selection of refreshments like a coffee and cookie bar. Spoil them a bit so that they can work for another leg of the shift with a huge smile on their face. This way, you can foster warm company culture and make being at work for everyone enjoyable, at least on their breaks.
2. Assist your employees
Maybe a portion of your employee population is having a hard time traveling to work each day because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since commuting comes before clocking in at work, their mood for the day may have gone low if going to work was a struggle. Arrange an employee shuttle service for them so you can lessen tardiness and absenteeism rates.
3. Recognize both small and big wins
Aside from the tips, employees deserve to be rewarded with gifts or any token for their hard work especially when the employee made an outstanding contribution or performance. This is a perfect way to let your employees know that you value them.
4. Take some bullets
Employee engagement also means you can consider their needs, be open to compromise, and practice flexibility — especially when they are going through a rough time. When one of your employees needs to attend to an emergency or is confronted with an irate or disrespectful customer, part of employee engagement is to actually step up for or cover them. Should there be an honest case of mental or physical exhaustion, accommodate their leaves for them to recharge.
5. Automate the employee experience
Digital transformation is important to keep everyone engaged. Automate their payroll, make applications and approvals of leaves done using their fingertips and create a work chat solely dedicated for your employees so you can do away with printouts for memos and announcements and save costs for paper.
Employees who are pampered by their companies will always be proud of their jobs and the company where they work for. This can, in turn, boost your employer branding and gain more applicants whenever you organize a recruitment drive. By now, you must know that a business’s success largely depends on its employees, too as they are your brand ambassadors, ensuring they are heard, attended to, and well-taken care of should also be on top of your operational priorities.
