Driving Employee Engagement: The Little Things Matter

AS LEADERS, it is our responsibility to market our company not only to our customers but also to our current and future employees. Employee engagement is one of the best ways to encourage a positive evolution of a company’s culture. Proactive employee communications can have an incredible impact on that evolution. At CNH Industrial Capital, we recognized it was time for our office environment to evolve. We wanted change but didn’t want to cause too much disruption. So we made small changes to keep our existing team engaged and to encourage the next generation of team members to join. Based on our experience, here are some ways to encourage and embrace the changes—even the small ones—that have a big impact on your company.

Open Up Communication

Opening up employee communication is the first step toward change.

Instead of having a very specific group of leaders address company challenges that arise, consider putting together cross-functional project teams for critical challenges. Bringing together employees from different areas, and different levels, with complementary strengths, helps foster an environment for open communication, maximum productivity and, in the end, produces results. We want to make our employees feel like they are a part of a greater team and they can have a material impact on the strategic direction of the company.

Another simple tool: Host a periodic lunch-and-learn with leaders and employees that promotes open, interactive discussions. These sessions give leaders valuable insight on employees’ thoughts and questions while demonstrating that the leadership team values the input of employees.

Encourage Recognition

Employees respond positively when successes are publicly recognized. Leadership’s role should be to provide easy-to-use tools to encourage employee recognition. We launched a website where all employees can post items recognizing peers and teammates who had recent success for the entire company to see—an impactful tool.

Companies need to make it easy for managers to reward successes. In our organization, a website is available for managers to access gift cards to reward deserving employees or teams. Additionally, employees can send non-monetary rewards, including eCards, acknowledging efforts, anniversaries or simply providing a birthday greeting.

In addition to recognizing project-related successes, consider giving small tokens to employees throughout the year, thanking them for their continued dedication and work. A small gift of a branded item can go a long way toward continued positive employee engagement.

Empower Employees

Maybe the most powerful changes for our company were those that empower employees. Some examples include flexible work schedules, paid time off for volunteer activities and relaxing the dress code.

Implementing a flexible work schedule or dissolving a strict dress code demonstrates that leaders trust their employees while volunteer time off shows employees that a company values the same things they do. The impact has been great—employees feel entrusted to balance their work and life on their own with marginal supervision.

Be proactive, listen to the marketplace and mold best practices to your company’s needs. This kind of evolution will drive employee retention, attract better talent and increase productivity. It’s a win-win for leaders and employees, and it is what you need to attract the next generation workforce to your organization.