In part one of this three-part blog series, we addressed the overall power of employee engagement. In part two, we learned how transparency could be used to boost overall employee engagement. In a nutshell, workplace transparency helps set the stage for employee engagement — the essential element of a positive and productive workplace cult

In this final part of this series on how to improve your company culture in 90 days or less, you’re going to learn how to take your employees from feeling motivated about your company culture vision to acting on ideas that will increase employee engagement.

Within 90 Days: Going from Motivate to Activate

We know that employee engagement is based on trust, integrity, and a two-way commitment and communication between an organization and its people. A strong company culture means employees are engaged. In turn, there is:

• A reduction in regrettable turnover
• Increased productivity
• Increase in key customer retention

We also know the steps it takes to increase employee engagement and your overall company culture. But you can’t let your hard work stop there! A plan is only as good as its outcome, and without steps in place to take your plan from motivation to activation, your efforts will likely fall short of your goal.

3 Ways to Engage and Motivate Employees

1. Communicate your company’s mission, reason for being, and core values often

It’s not enough to post your company’s reason for being and core values in your lobby or on the landing page of your company’s website. You must live and breathe these words every day.

If one of your core values is integrity, recognize the employees who have illustrated integrity in the last month and share the story on what they did to showcase that core value. If part of your company’s reason for being includes serving the community, show photos of employees serving the community at your next company all-staff meeting.

Clearly define your vision and provide a roadmap for your employees; that way they know each twist and turn.

2. Ask leaders to select one specific action item they can execute within 7 days

Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Research shows that if you focus on quality over quantity, you are more likely to improve overall employee engagement.

The goal should always be not on the amount of time spent working, but rather on what do you accomplish during the time you are working. Longer hours don’t always yield better results.

3. Hold yourself and your team accountable

When asking leaders to commit to the one action item noted above, let them know you want everyone to share their own experience and outcome. Let everyone know what you plan to do for your won action item, as well. 

Provide reminders along the way and ask leaders to share their outcome on a group call or in a team meeting one week later. The sharing of ideas and outcomes is not only an accountability tactic, but it’s also a great way to learn from each other and spark ideas for additional action items that can increase employee engagement.

If you’d like more guidance on ways in which you can increase employee engagement, check out our self-inventory tool here.

Attract and Retain by Engaging Employees 

With talent becoming harder to attract and retain, it’s vital for companies to hold onto the stellar people they have. While money and benefits are important, numerous studies — including this Sales Report — find that they don’t top the list of motivating factors.

Just because an employee works eight hours a day doesn’t necessarily mean they’re productive the entire time. When employees aren’t engaged, they’ll work slower and less efficiently, resulting in lower productivity levels. So, take this three-part blog series and apply it to your business structure to help keep employees happy and motivated!