Did you know that, according to a study published on Entrepreneur.com, enterprise workers only spend 45% of their time performing their primary job duties? Yes, even the most dedicated of employees can get bogged down by the frazzling effects of cumulative stress and workplace inefficiencies. But, the good news is that having a well-executed employee engagement program can make huge differences to your bottom line, no matter whether you’re a small business or an enterprise-level company?

The solution? An employee engagement program is a great way to boost employee retention, create new sales, and improve the overall happiness of your employees. We want to share 10 ways which, from our decade of experience, we’ve found work really well for boosting employee productivity.

STEP 1: CREATE & EMPHASIZE COMMUNITY

A strong sense of community empowers employees to bring their best to work. Boosting productivity can be as simple as giving public kudos, creating leaderboards of appreciation, or writing your employees private thank-you notes for jobs well done. A quick “posture of appreciation” adjustment can make an immediate impact on productivity.

STEP 2: MAKE IT FUN!

Create a fun and rewarding, but simple, gamification process to promote the feeling of team. Gamification modules such as leaderboards and badges, which tracks activities (kudos from teammates and leadership, years of service, training completion and the like are great places to start).

STEP 3: PROMOTE EVERYWHERE

A well-designed platform will grow organically but you can add “internal advertising” such as newsletters, emails, and even quick launch parties in the beginning to quickly boost growth. “Internal advertising” makes a great addition to your program’s structure while upper level employees (Managers, VP’s, etc.) begin promoting your program.

STEP 4: OFFER EMPLOYEES AN INCENTIVE TO JOIN.

Rewarding employees at the beginning just for enrolling in the program is a great way to build trust and excitement. Also, don’t ask for too much when they enroll, make the system easy from sign up to reward redemption. Otherwise, employees will see it as a burden vs. a fun addition.

STEP 5: USE ANALYTICS

Constantly reevaluate the program and what the best rewards are for your employees. One tip is to periodically survey users to ensure you are meeting their wants and needs. Then combine those answers with the data from your system to analyze things such as your reward program redemption rates to see who is redeeming, what activities are engaging them, and when they are engaging. Once you have compiled everything you can tweak triggers, activities and implement the user suggested rewards all of which builds stronger engagement, company loyalty and boosts productivity.

STEP 6: KILL “TIME SUCKERS”

Unproductive meetings cost employers more than $37 million annually. Cutting down meetings by just 20% can increase efficiency and project completion rates. Promote “heads down” time where employees are free to block out times on their days where they can deep dive on tasks and not be disturbed. Also, encourage rewards that have been shown to boost productivity such as offering music accounts (Spotify, iTunes, etc.) and working from home which studies have shown actually drives productivity despite middle management worries.

STEP 7: MAKE IT EASY TO COMMUNICATE

Make it easy for teams to communicate with each other and leadership. Part of maturing your program is creating ongoing interactions with your employees on a variety of channels, such as email, your website and even social media. If your platform has been integrated with a mobile app or has had one created then make sure to send your employees in-app messages, nudges, and text messages outlining new activities, kudos, and rewards.

STEP 8: DON’T JUST PUSH FOR PRODUCTION

If you only connect with your employees when you want them to work harder, you’ll have trouble keeping them around for the long haul. Consider hosting an employee appreciation event to show your gratitude, send them links to helpful training articles to show you’re invested in their growth or get teams involved with a local charity that your business supports. All of these create happy employees who are invested in the company overall, not just “punching a clock”

STEP 9: KEEP IT TIMELY

It should come as no surprise that people love immediate gratification. Reducing the time it takes between completing the program’s activities you’ve set up triggers for (i.e., a sale, generating a referral, sharing kudos, leaving a like or following on social media, etc.) and obtaining their reward, will make employee engagement and activity soar. Automatic fulfillment is not only easier on your company but creates immediate positive reinforcement for interacting and boosting productivity.

STEP 10: MAKE IT FLEXIBLE

Finally, when it comes to the program and the rewards, you have to remain nimble. For rewards, as mentioned above, get feedback and adapt so you’re offering rewards that motivate. For the program, build in regular assessment periods and adjust your program based on the data and feedback plus look for ways to tie everything into your employees’ lives—be it holidays, graduations, birthdays, back to school or the changing seasons.

CONCLUSION

Creating a program where employees are engaged and made to feel appreciated is a great way to drive productivity and keep employees for the long run. Having well-executed employee engagement programs doesn’t matter whether you’re a small business or an enterprise level company. The strategy works and will help your company grow because it focuses on creating a fun company culture. And, as said above, happy employees not only are more productive but they’re much more likely to become your greatest ambassadors and stay with your company longer, which can be a huge ROI for an employee engagement program in and of itself.

NextBee has 10 years of experience helping companies create full engagement programs that create loyalty, generate referrals and grow your brand’s ambassadors. Would you like to see real-world examples of companies using what I’ve discussed to increase their bottom line? Connect with us today!