Employees choose how much extra time and effort they will spend on work after fulfilling their minimum performance expectations. When companies foster engaging environments where workers feel connected to their work and co-workers, employees will put in more effort to produce outstanding work. As such, creating a feeling of community among workers is key to increasing employee engagement and productivity.
Additionally, community in the workplace is directly tied to retention. If employees enjoy their work environment, and feel accepted and respected by their peers, they are more likely to be loyal, long-term workers.
Here are a few techniques for increasing community in the workplace.
1) Gather Input. You may choose to hold a meeting or distribute a questionnaire, but be sure to ask employees to consider what community means to them, and what kind of community they would like to see at work. Implementing your employees’ community-building ideas will increase buy-in and enthusiasm.
2) Communicate Company Values. Your employees may already feel connected to their particular department or division, but their bonds will be even stronger if they believe they’re working toward the common values and goals of the entire organization. Communicating company values motivates and allows employees to assign more meaning to their work. Certain values should be included to encourage community-building. When workers see values such as empathy, respect, and teamwork demonstrated throughout an organization, they will feel more connected to the organization and the people.
3) Arrange Mentorships. New hires often feel lonely and isolated from employees who have worked together for years. One way to officially welcome new employees into the fold is to provide each individual a mentor. Mentors can help ensure that new employees are not overwhelmed, that they have enough time to master new procedures, and that they are beginning to feel as though they are a part of the community. Mentorships are a great way to help new employees build friendships in the workplace.
Once your new community-building program is in place, continue to use on-going feedback to monitor and adjust your system. Solutions are available that will track and display feedback from employees to allow management to continue to increase employee engagement, a key to long-term growth.
~Monica Nolan, Account Manager
PeopleMetrics
Tags: community, employee loyalty, Monica Nolan, real-time feedback, retention, ways to build community
Hi, cool post. I have been wondering about this topic,so thanks for writing.