How to Build a Strategic Employee Engagement Organizational Plan

Developing a sense of teamwork can help engender employee engagement.

Employee engagement or a lack thereof is a problem for some companies or organizations. Deborah Schroeder-Saulnier of Right Management notes that research of her organization has shown that more than half of all workers in organizations with more than 50 employees have reported themselves as being unengaged in their work. In order to deal with this lack of engagement, business owners and executives can develop organizational plans designed to strategically increase employee involvement. Developing such a plan requires extensive research and careful planning.

Instructions

1. Recruit your top management professionals to get them on board with your plan for employee engagement. David Zinger of the Employee Engagement Network suggests that this should be the starting point for putting together a sustainable plan for employee engagement. Without the support and belief of other leaders within your company, it will be nearly impossible to get employees to buy into your program.

2. Train essential human resources professionals in the art of engendering employee engagement. These will be the individuals involved in implementing your strategic plan by getting employees involved in various company activities.

3. Focus on bold yet attainable goals. David Zinger also suggests that this is key to being able to network and gaining the support of the rest of the business community as you move forward with your strategic planning. These people will be the ones who will be able to help you locate talented leadership and workers who can help you meet your company's employee engagement plant.

4. Communicate your goals with employees. Deborah Schroeder-Saulnier suggests that this is the key to developing an effective employee engagement plan. This was reiterated in a separate report by Right Management. The report indicates that less than half of all employees surveyed believed that senior management effectively communicated change within the organization. David Zinger suggests finding a clear measurable goal is one of the best starting points for putting together an employee engagement plan.

5. Put your plan into writing and share it with employees. Work through the leaders in your organization to implement goals. This will help build trust in the organization and its plans for change. Leaders and managers that are closer to employees and interact with them on a daily basis are the ones that employees are more likely to trust.

6. Develop strategies for awarding employees who participate in your plan for engagement. Providing both recognition and tangible awards, such as bonuses, can provide an effective way to get employees involved.

References

• The Linkage Leader: Employee Engagement: Drive Organizational Effectiveness by Building Trust
• David Zinger: The Top Tens of Employee Engagement
• Right Management: Ready, Get Set...Change!
• Organizational Effectiveness Strategies: Developing Stronger Corporate Brands Through Employee Engagement
• College and University Professional Association for Human Resources Journal: Talent Management Strategies for Attracting and Retaining the Best and the Brightest