By Allan Alveyra 
In an ever-dynamic corporate environment, the value of employee engagement is undeniable. However, some say it’s easier to “satisfy” employees than invite them to participate. This might be true because notice how work engagement is different from job satisfaction.
Improving employee satisfaction doesn’t always guarantee efficiency and productivity. You can satisfy your staff by giving them a higher paycheck, but they may still lack enthusiasm. As Brad Federman once said:
“Paychecks can’t buy passion.”
Brad Federman, Chief Executive Officer of PerformancePoint, LLC
But is there any way to improve engagement among employees without denying them satisfaction, then? Luckily, there is! And it’s all about empowering your employees, recognizing their needs, and supporting their goals.
If you ask us how to do this, our answer is simple: Software as a Service (SaaS). In the following, we’re therefore sharing three fantastic ways to boost employee engagement with SaaS.
But before getting into this, we’ll briefly look at what employee engagement is.
Employee engagement – a measure of motivation and commitment
Leaders often speak of motivation and commitment to appeal to employees’ emotions and urge them to reach greatness.
While satisfaction indicates how happy your employees are, engagement tells you how much they care and how willing they are to help your company achieve its goals. You see, employee engagement is an “emotional commitment” that shows your employees’ level of motivation and involvement.
When employees are engaged, they understand their purpose and their role in helping the company succeed. No matter how arduous their tasks might be, highly involved employees thrive for excellence because they have this psychological and emotional connection with what they do.
Engaged vs. Disengaged Employees
According to Quantum Workplace, highly engaged employees are “brand advocates”, who speak favorably of the company. They often work overtime and put in extra effort to help the organization succeed.
On the other hand, disengaged employees have a negative perception of their workplace. They are disconnected from the organization’s mission and goals. Often marked by lack of commitment, disengaged employees work averagely, sometimes poorly.
Why is employee engagement important?
According to Harvard Business Review, engaged organizations have double the success rate compared to less involved organizations. Yet, this is no surprise when you have individuals who are willing to work their fingers to the bone.
Not only does employee engagement create a growth mindset in your company. It also fosters dedicated workers and a culture where people inspire each other to work harder and go the extra mile to reach business success. You can expect these people to embrace change, challenge the status quo, and promote accountability.
Ways to boost employee engagement with SaaS
Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace report indicates that 85 % of employees are not engaged in their work. Part of this problem is attributed to companies’ inability to empower their employees. When you empower people in your organization, they won’t feel anonymous, irrelevant, and invalidated which makes them more open to engagement.
To boost employee engagement, managers or executives must help their staff build a certain level of confidence and a sense of belongingness. Employees — especially new ones — must also establish autonomy and flexibility as they mature in their work. This might seem unmanageable, yet it is very much achievable – especially if you leverage the functions of cloud computing. Below we give you three simple ways to boost employee engagement with SaaS.
Conduct employee surveys
With deadlines, projects, and goals, employees can easily get lost in the workplace jungle — metaphorically speaking. In the hectic everyday life when tasks pile up and energy goes low, it can become challenging for employees to share thoughts, concerns, and ideas.
The best way to avoid this is to administer employee surveys.
Using a SaaS platform, you can conduct online surveys. A significant advantage of online surveys is that they are an excellent tool to measure engagement. They protect the anonymity of employees, which gives them greater freedom and courage to share thoughts, concerns, and feelings with the management.
Create a reward system
Different systematic appraisal systems exist. But how often do companies tie employee appraisal with actual rewards?
An employee reward system refers to a program designed to recognize performance and motivate employees.
Our SaaS platform has its own reward system feature, which we call Kudos. Users earn Kudos points when achieving certain milestones by completing courses and assessments. If chosen as a part of the setup, these points can then be converted into items, money, or even additional leave credits depending on the criteria set by the management.
While organizations use reward systems for a variety of reasons, the approach is known for influencing the following:
Nevertheless, always remember that in a reward system program, nothing matters more than recognition. Recognition is the core of any reward system. It helps employees see and celebrate their successes – no matter how big or small.
Design a formal corporate training program
If you want to drive employee engagement, you must help your employees achieve their personal goals which often link to professional development. And in order to support and help your new employee meet their development goals, you must have a concrete corporate training program.
Yet, sticking with the traditional classroom setup does not appeal to the younger generation anymore. However, doing the opposite or going completely digital might not interest the “seasoned” ones either. To minimize this conflict, you can choose to build your training program around a blended learning model.
When we say blended learning, we’re referring to the mix of two training environments: the traditional face-to-face classroom training and e-learning. This learning model entails delivering instructions inside a training room and in a remote setting. A Learning Management System – or simply an LMS – which is run via a SaaS platform can greatly benefit human resource managers and aid them in remote learning situations.
Key takeaways from this post
Does this have you feeling overwhelmed? Don’t worry, we’ve listed three main takeaways for you.
First, if you want to grow engagement among your employees, empower them. Empower your workforce by enabling them to share their thoughts on improving work and optimizing company processes. Even though it’s an old-school method, surveys are a great means to better communication and collaboration. Always keep in mind that your workers’ voice matters.
Second, acknowledge the efforts and achievements of your employees to keep them motivated and involved. Reward systems, such as our Kudos feature, are not “cheat codes” that you can use to trigger their passion and dedication. That’s why the focus of this type of compensation mechanism is not the reward but the recognition. People need to feel validated and appreciated for their hard work.
Third, you must help your employees achieve their personal goals. Many employees are after professional growth. Building a corporate training program should promote a learning culture and encourage active participation. And in a modern workplace, the best way to run a training program is through blended learning.
Build your Saas with Cursum
Knowing that high employee engagement is possible using a SaaS platform is your first step towards boosting your organization from the inside out. In essence, a SaaS platform can be your number one go-to solution in everything you do – from creating online courses to developing a rewards system.
If you’re a company looking for someone to help you build a smart SaaS solution, reach out to Cursum.
