Employees typically perform better when they view their occupation as more than just a means to an end. When workers feel that the job they are performing is important, they are more likely to put in extra time and effort.
This goes beyond the call of duty. Emotional team engagement at work is better for everyone, from the employees themselves to the company at large. Work team engagement is critical to employee retention as well as work quality, and it really does matter. This article will explain why.
How can you tell if your team is engaged at work?
There are many signs of work team engagement. Here are a few examples.
- Communication: A good sign of emotional team engagement is open lines of productive communication. This means communication with multiple levels of leadership and having tough conversations constructively.
- Perspective: Team members who are engaged can zoom out and see the bigger picture. They’re not just focused on the short term—they are working toward lofty long-term goals with their teammates.
- Teamwork: The best teams in sports are willing to sacrifice individual accolades for the good of the team. This is true in business as well. If there’s genuine cohesion and everyone is pulling in the same direction, people are more engaged and will perform better.
- Excellence: If multiple members of the team are engaged, this will likely lead to them doing more than is required and see them exceeding expectations. This is a great indicator of an engaged team, as it demonstrates real pride in the team members’ work and performance.
How can you increase work team engagement?
While having the above characteristics shows high emotional team engagement, not all workplaces have that. Here are a few ways you can increase your team’s engagement at work:
- Set realistic short- and long-term goals.
- Build relationships and rapport with team members on an individual level.
- Show team members that you care about them as people, not just as employees.
- Accentuate the strengths of your team members, acknowledge those strengths and help them develop said strengths.
- Be as welcoming as possible with new team members.
- Work with employees to help them develop a sense of purpose within the company.
Why does employee engagement matter?
We’ve covered the characteristics of teams that are engaged and some ways to improve employee engagement, but why should you go through all that trouble? Does it make that big of a difference? In short, yes, it does.
Emotional team engagement is vital to the health of the business and its employees. A workplace of engaged employees is a positive, collaborative and productive environment. Engaged employees perform significantly better than disengaged employees, and are less frequently absent. As a whole, businesses with more engaged employees are substantially more productive than those with less engaged workers.
Call for HR services today
If you need HR services, give us a call at Windsor HR Services, Inc., where we understand how important it is for your employees to be invested and feel valued.