In recent years, we have seen the general workforce growing, changing, and evolving. With that comes new wants, needs, and values that organizations must adjust to.

About 20 million Americans quit their jobs in the first 5 months of the year. Although there have been many reasons for the increase in resignations, one of the top reasons is that employees are dissatisfied with their jobs, their work life balance, and are rethinking their professional lives. Employees want to feel invested in, appreciated, motivated, and shown that they have a future at an organization. In order to accomplish these things, it’s critical that organizations work on boosting your employee engagement; here are some ways to do just that.

Incentivize

Many in leadership positions might believe that financial compensation is the only way to incentivize a workforce. While that is undoubtedly a factor, employees also cite feeling more motivated and engaged when they feel valued and recognized. Consider installing incentive programs that provide rewards and recognition.

There are many ways to do this. You can create a public platform that allows members to express gratitude for one another and recognize exemplary work. You might also consider establishing a points-based system that lets workers redeem points for prizes. Any type of appreciation or award can do wonders in boosting worker motivation, engagement, and retention.

Career Path Visibility

Too often, employees become disengaged and become a flight risk when they feel they have hit their growth ceiling at an organization, or when their leaders aren’t invested in their futures. This can very quickly result in disengagement, a decline in productivity and of course turnover. But how exactly do you give employees an easy and effective way to create and follow a career path?

At Career Spark, we have career pathing software that accurately maps personalized career paths for all employees—empowering you to retain, engage, and inspire your talent. Our career pathing software identifies growth opportunities for employees and helps you give them a clear view of where they can go next at the organization and what they need to do to achieve it. By giving employees resources, support, and clear next steps in their career planning, you are showing them that you care and support their career journey.

Upskill

An employee that cannot grow within your organization will start to feel stunted within their role, which is why you must consider upskilling. Upskilling is the process of providing employees with the various tools and development opportunities required for them to be able to improve their skills and achieve their next role or growth milestone. This is one of the best ways to improve employee engagement as it shows you are ready and willing to invest in your team and overall workforce, and gives your employees a reason to grow with your company now and in the long term.

Wellness

Many of us can agree when we say that the pandemic brought attention to how we live our lives and what is important to us. The majority of workers who resigned from their job during the Great Resignation felt they were missing out on a healthy work-life balance. That is why you as a leader must acknowledge the importance of employee physical and mental wellness. When employees see that their leaders take their wellness seriously, and can provide flexibility to meet the their unique needs, it helps employees to create and maintain the balance they need for a healthy and engaged work environment.