When you want your business to excel and your employees to form a team, there are a few problems you may be facing. That is, the many challenges you come against in getting your employees engaged in the business and the company around them. Engaging your employees in the business may seem like an easy task, as that is what they are paid to do. However, it is not as easy as it seems. There are significant challenges that supervisors face in getting their employees of all generations actively engaged with each other and the company. Here are a few of the top challenges you might be facing in regards to employee engagement and how you as a supervisor can overcome them.
Generation Gaps
In a world where you have Baby Boomers and Millennials working together, it can be very hard for the employees to engage. You have the Boomer generation stating that the employees younger than them have a lack of experience, while your younger generation wants to have flexibility and excitement in their employment. Then there’s the generation in the middle that is generally trying to make sure the two generations around them are connecting. How can you overcome this challenge? Make sure that you find common ground on both sides of the coin to connect with. That common ground between all generations is what will help your employees to actively engage with one another.
Solution: A yearly, company-wide golf tournament is fun for all generations of workers. Make it a charitable endeavor, and you’ll see your Millennial engagement especially skyrocket. Even a 3 pm Happy Hour will work wonders in allowing your multigenerational team members to connect in a friendly setting.
Getting Employees to Put Down Their Phones
With the smartphone generation, addictions to screens have become a real problem. One of the top issues that supervisors share is getting their employees to put down their phone and become engaged with the company around them. Because smartphones can cross lines between work and personal life, it has become quite difficult to get workers to put them down and engage. One way to do that is to integrate their phones into the job or workplace.
Solution: Get everyone outside every once and while. Consider organizing a mobile scavenger hunt in your area (or other team-building activities) that will help them connect with each other without having to put down their phones.
New Employees and High Turnover Rates
When you constantly have new employees coming on board, it can be hard to engage your workforce. This generally is a problem in rural areas where finding that solid talent you’re after can be a challenge. How do you help the new employees connect with seasoned ones and vice versa? Be sure that when you’re interviewing new employees, you discuss what they can expect in the culture of your company. Make sure you give them reasons to stay on with the company and become creative with what they can expect and gain from working with you.
Solution: Establishing an employee incentive program as well as a culture of giving gives new employees a reason to invest themselves into your company for the long haul.
These are just a few of the challenges that you as an employer may face when it comes to actively engaging your staff. Keeping them happy and excited to work there is just part of the process. Make sure you offer plenty of opportunities for them to engage and think outside of the box. This is exactly where MTI Events can come in. We can assist you with offering fantastic employee engagement opportunities in the workplace and beyond.
