“Employee engagement” can mean a lot of things to a lot of people, including job satisfaction, personal investment in the business, willingness to go the extra mile, helping drive improvement or recommending the company as a great place to work. Having an engaged workforce can help to reduce turnover, increase productivity, promote better customer service, and enable creative problem-solving at your business. In addition, employee engagement supports discretionary effort—going the extra mile. Furthermore, better employee engagement is tied to increased customer engagement, which in turn helps to boost customer loyalty and retention—all of which reinforce your bottom line.
At small businesses, small changes and a commitment to employees can make a big impact on engagement. A number of factors determine how engaged employees feel, and the importance of each can vary from one business to another. Here, we’ve distilled key tactics to improve engagement, create a strong company culture, and boost your bottom line.