An engaged team is one that works collaboratively, solves problems together, and is happier and more productive. Because of that, they're more likely to remain at the organization longer. An engaged team is better for everyone – including you. 

In order for your team members to be as engaged as possible, you need to have a few things in place. This includes trust in you as their manager as well as other leaders. They also need positive, healthy relationships with coworkers, opportunities for learning and development, company values that resonate with them, and opportunities to give and receive feedback.

How can you make sure your team has all of these in place? You must institute several employee engagement goals. 

Employee Engagement Goals: What They Are and Why You Need Them

There are a vast number of employee engagement goals. These goals align employees with your organization's core values. Beyond this, they also serve to increase productivity, enhance the wellbeing of everyone on the team, and improve workplace conditions.

While some of the employee engagement goals you have for your team may be somewhat defined by the experiences your employees or your organization as a whole have encountered recently, there are some to strive for no matter what your exact situation or industry is. Whether you're a higher education facility or a private recreational center, you’ll always need to take steps to see improvement in these five areas:

1. Nurture employee wellbeing and mental health

Employee wellbeing is more than just the absence of illness among your team members. Let's say Victoria is feeling a little, well, down. She's worked 48 hours this week, with little connection to her coworkers or her manager. She's not sick, not yet, but she's so tired she's not in the mood to take a shower, cook a healthy meal, or even brush her teeth after work. She has yet another shift tomorrow, but she's not coming in. Employees who say they often or always experience burnout at work are 63% more likely to take sick days.

Because she's feeling so tired so often, she is eating poorly and not taking care of herself. Now, she needs time off to visit a dentist. Victoria is also gaining weight, putting her at risk for diabetes and high blood pressure. She'll need yet another day off to visit her primary care physician. 

The mental health of your team is not something to push aside. It affects their entire wellbeing. You want to check in on your team members individually from time to time. Check on Victoria! We've all faced immense change over the past two years. Companies are releasing, and rightfully so, that employee wellbeing and mental health greatly impact employee engagement, productivity, performance, relationships, and just about everything else. 

Why not make it a goal to institute an employee wellness program? In fact, Virgin Pulse reports a full 85% of employers say that an employee wellbeing program greatly impacts employee engagement, recruitment, retention, and company culture. For example, Johnson & Johnson estimated that their wellness programs saved them $250 million on healthcare costs over the last decade. The ROI was $2.71 for every dollar spent on employee wellbeing! Wouldn't you like those kind of savings at your organization?

2. Create exciting opportunities and incentives to work towards

Grant comes to work on time every day. He never misses a shift. He helps out new hires. After a year, he's still working the same job for the same pay – the same pay as his coworker Larry who doesn't put in half as much effort. Within your organization, is there room for promotion and growth? If not, you’re going to struggle with employee engagement. What's the point of Grant trying his hardest if he'll never get a promotion or pay raise?

In addition to career-related opportunities, you could also incentivize your team in order to boost motivation. These incentives don’t always have to cost you money. Showing recognition to hard-working employees like Grant is an incentive in itself, and it is one that he genuinely appreciates.

3. Bridge the divide between management and the workforce

It's time to give your team a voice. When employees have opportunities to feel empowered, they’re more likely to develop a deeper emotional bond with the company and their work, leading to higher engagement and better performance.

One way to do this is through performance reviews. Performance reviews are your chance to provide strategic vision, establish organization-wide goals, clarify team objectives, set expectations, and help your individual employees improve.

Having opportunities to give and receive feedback empowers employees to share the truth of their work experiences. Direct feedback is a powerful driver of engagement, not only for those who give the feedback but also for those who receive it. This type of one-on-one conversation ultimately opens up new growth, challenges, and opportunities to get excited about their work.

4. Make retaining talent a priority 

You want to keep your team intact for as long as possible. A brand new employee will never be able to be as productive and handle problems that arise the way a seasoned veteran can. There are a variety of ways to set employee engagement goals to make your team happier — happy enough to stay at the organization for years to come.

One simple way to make your team happier is with the right schedule, one that is created efficiently and done correctly the first time. Let's go back to Larry. Perhaps the reason he doesn't put in much effort is because he was supposed to have this weekend off. You lost the note he wrote it on and scheduled him anyway. He had to cancel plans with his friends and that's why he's so disengaged. He wonders if a new job would care more about his time off requests.

When Grant, Larry, and Victoria know when they're working and all shifts match with the availability they provided their managers, they will be happier and will be excited to work for the organization for the foreseeable future.

5. Strive to connect your employees with one another

One research study found that when employees reported positive relationships with coworkers, they were more likely to be engaged. Feeling a strong sense of team and mutual respect can help someone feel more positive about being at work and encourage them to give their best effort. 

Embracing the importance of community and positive working relationships is a huge step forward to creating a fully-engaged workforce made up of happier, more productive people. Having a sense of camaraderie and teamwork helps people realize they’re not alone, even if a particular day was a bad one. It's called a team for a reason!

This can be done via Social Scheduling™. The benefits of introducing this scheduling software feature into your organization are two-fold. Not only does it better connect your team and encourage the camaraderie mentioned above, but it also takes something that is very time-consuming and somewhat frustrating off your plate at the same time. When your employees connect to swap shifts and ensure the entire schedule is covered, everyone wins!

SubItUp Can Help With a Variety of Employee Engagement Goals

When your team members are more engaged, the result is a more energized, productive workforce. This makes employee engagement goals essential to both the short- and long-term success of your team. The good news is that employee engagement is driven by a range of controllable factors. You don't have to just wish and hope your team members are engaged!

SubItUp offers a variety of software tools to help your organization achieve these goals. Our employee management software aids you in everything from creating the perfect schedule on the first try with the help of AI to conducting fantastic performance reviews to keeping track of time off requests and beyond. With SubItUp on your side, it is only a matter of time before your employee engagement goals are achieved!