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If your organisation is suffering from moderate to high turnover, it’s important to look at your team dynamics critically and understand what is and isn’t working. When you can get to the root cause of high turnover, you can begin to understand and address it.
Amongst other things, employee engagement has a direct influence on staff turnover. One way to boost employee engagement is through team building activities and efforts within your organisation. Below are just a few ways you can work towards reducing your turnover through team building and employee engagement activities.
Workplaces are communities, just like anywhere else. So, creating a sense of community within the office is important to help individuals connect and feel part of something bigger. Work environments that promote an ‘every man for themselves’ culture are often quite toxic and, left unchecked, too much competitive spirit can soon lead to burn out. Which, you guessed it, results in high turnover.
Hold Regular Meetings
Team building doesn’t have to mean an all singing, all dancing activity (although these are effective). It can be as simple as regular team meetings to keep everyone in the loop. All employees should be 100% in the know about what is expected of them in their role and how their contributions feed into the success of the business. So, make a point of being clear about this at every opportunity, and regularly touch base with staff to reaffirm this and listen to their fears, apprehensions and challenges.
Organise Team Building Activities
Team building and team bonding activities are a fantastic way to foster employee engagement. Getting everyone from the top down involved in team building activities can help everyone feel better connected, understand one another and learn how to work effectively.
Team building and team bonding can be arranged on a scale that works for your teams too. From quick, 10-minute ice breaker games to full on day-long activities in or outside of the office. Similarly, team bonding, such as going out for after-work drinks or getting together for a meal, can encourage employees to connect and get to know each other outside of the workplace, leading to stronger, more stable relationships.
Let People Shine
If a person has a passion that can be utilised within their role, let them do it! When people feel like their skills and contributions are valued and nurtured, they’re more likely to stick around and give more of themselves to a company. This may not always be possible at every turn, but where possible give employees the freedom to unleash their creativity and be themselves. You never know where it could lead for the team they are working in, or the organisation as a whole!
Offer Opportunities for Development
As well as nurturing individual talents and letting creativity shine, offer regular opportunities for development through staff. Each employee should have a personal development plan that works to develop any gaps in knowledge and help them flourish within their role. Ensure you put ample time into this part of your employee retention strategy. Listen when an employee tells you they need support and action this swiftly.
You might also offer informal opportunities for development. This could mean giving someone a little more responsibility by delegating tasks to them or asking them to train up a new member of staff. Things like this can go a huge way to making staff feel valued and supported, rather than left at sea in their own little bubble.
Recognise & Reward
Everyone loves to be recognised for the work they are doing, especially if they’re trying their hardest. Having a structured, consistent method of recognising and rewarding effort and performance is fantastic for employee engagement. For some workplaces, it may be par for the course to offer monthly, quarterly or annual bonuses as recognition for hard work. Alternatively, you may consider other incentives like a benefits program where employees can work towards a reward through reaching certain targets.
However you choose to recognise and reward staff, make sure the method of doing so is consistent and fair. While it may not always be possible to measure everyone’s performance by the same benchmark, finding a way to do so that’s on a par with other departments and job roles will ensure that no one gets left out or feels as though their particular incentives are unobtainable.
Team building is effective for many reasons. One of these is boosting employee engagement. When you invite employees to get involved in team building sessions you are giving them an opportunity to showcase their skills, get hands on and communicate with their fellow team members. Team building also extends to different aspects of the workplace too. Team building happens when you get your employees together for a meeting, offer training opportunities, or hand out rewards and recognition based on performance.
In short, employee engagement and team building go hand in hand. But it doesn’t always mean you have to go all out. Smaller, less grand gestures can still feed into employee morale and bring turnover down. Never forget that little things can mean a lot!
