Employee engagement has become the new goal of many companies, with the hope that improving morale can also boost productivity. But what is the best way to do this? That's a question that has left many business owners scratching their chins.
While there is no definitive way of bolstering engagement, members of the Young Entrepreneur Council recently shared some advice. For example, one strategy is holding individual meetings with employees to elicit feedback on a weekly basis. This shows first and foremost that workers are important enough for one-on-one meetings with company heads and also helps managers identify wasteful processes.
“When was the last time your employee came to you with a solution you didn't request?” Kelly Azevedo, a member of the council, asked American Express OPEN Forum. “Team members who problem-solve over the weekend, bring up new topics and are filled with passion for your business are the measurement. If solutions and ideas only come when scheduled, requested and assigned, then engagement is flat.”
The continuous improvement mindset only works if everyone in the company, ranging from management to employees, believes in it. Achieving engagement should be the first step in going Lean.