The basics of employee engagement haven’t changed. Brands still need to build trust, encourage collaboration and recognition to motivate employees and a productive workforce. But the tools and tech used to deliver those employee engagement efforts change constantly. So processes and workflows need to evolve.
And in the last few years the principles of work have changed. Work cultures even in big companies and corporations are changing. This makes employee engagement harder for companies. In this article we’ll look at how modern businesses can use the latest tech to engage with employees in different ways.
1. Training and Education: AI Assistants
Brands show they care about employee growth by creating an environment where professionals can upskill. Training and education programs help companies value their employees and invest in their future.
Organizations have used different methods to share knowledge across teams and individuals, webinars, live sessions and knowledge bases. While these work they do have challenges like lack of personalization. In today’s busy workplace searching through loads of articles to find the right guide or checklist can slow you down.
Real-time agent assist powered by AI fixes this by giving you instant, task specific support. These advanced tools can understand your employee questions in natural language and give you exact, concise answers to their needs.
No more searching through multiple knowledge base articles or help videos. Just chat with AI agents and get instant support, faster and less downtime. This will speed up many processes within the company, such as onboarding new hires and training existing employees on a new software tool (or platform).
2. Feedback and Appreciation: Real-Time Recognition
Feedback helps employees know their areas of improvement, recognize their strengths and keep their morale high. Appreciation makes them feel valued and respected at work. Both are crucial for productivity and loyalty. Annual reviews, written reports and one-on-one meetings are some of the ways to share feedback and appreciation across the company. But they are slow and the value can depreciate due to the delay.
Matter, a real-time employee recognition and rewards solution, fixes this by allowing teams to celebrate each other’s achievements in real-time. And features like Feedback Friday automate these initiatives so productivity doesn’t suffer. Companies can also build a custom reward system where points or coins can be redeemed as gift cards or charitable donations. This tangible reward method can boost engagement even more.
Team members can get more involved with each other in a positive way. Giving kudos to a colleague for example can bring teams together, boosting productivity even more.
3. Flexible Work Environments: SaaS Tools
Giving employees the option to work from home or office based on their preference shows trust which boosts employee engagement. Professionals across departments will have higher job satisfaction and will be more committed to their roles. But collaboration is a big challenge especially for big companies and corporations using traditional on-premises software.
Moving to SaaS tools also known as cloud-based software can fix this. Teams can share and get updates in real-time, increasing agility and responsiveness. And modern SaaS solutions for B2B use cases brings collaboration into the workspace. Google Docs for example allows stakeholders to review text documents right in the editor. This also simplifies the process because professionals won’t have to juggle multiple tools to get things done.
In short, providing flexible work environments by using SaaS tools engages remote employees in many ways. Team members will feel respected and departments will be more connected than ever, focusing on deep work.
4. Wellness Programs: EAPs
Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) provides resources to help team members make better financial decisions, achieve work-life balance and improve their mental health. Common EAP initiatives include stress-relieving workshops, therapy and financial consultations. Companies have to invest a lot of resources to make these initiatives work.
Stress-relieving workshops for example requires companies to schedule these events carefully to minimize workflow disruption. And the scheduling for these sessions has to be done ahead of time so all team members are available.
Luckily, many emerging technologies has made it easier for companies to support their employees. BetterHelp and Talkspace allows users to talk to licensed therapists, while BrightPlan and SmartDollar connects users to personal finance experts. These solutions provides on-demand access to EAP resources, personalization. Employees can get more personalized insights to their well-being and will be more engaged in the workplace. And companies can track how their EAP initiatives are working so they can improve over time.
5. Diversity and Inclusion: Employee Analytics
Diversity and inclusion (D&I) motivates employees by engaging with them at a deeper level. Team members appreciate the work culture more when they get equal opportunities at work and are valued based on merit. This means more collaboration and teamwork among employees who believe in the company goals. But since D&I is a sensitive topic, it’s hard to identify gaps in the initiatives and address them. A workaround would be to use employee analytics solutions to aggregate various data points such as demographics, engagement metrics and individual performance to see if their D&I initiatives are working.
Modern AI-powered employee analytics platform goes beyond that to monitor unconscious bias in hiring, spot patterns in promotions and employee sentiment from feedback. This allows companies to move beyond surface level metrics such as deals closed or tasks completed to see if their employees feel valued.
Final thoughts
Employee engagement is key to a motivated and loyal workforce. Companies that prioritize employee engagement wins short and long term. While the principles remain the same, the tools teams use to execute changes. So companies need to audit and improve their employee engagement efforts iteratively.
Here are 5 ways emerging technologies brings employees closer to the company:
- AI-powered assistants: Employee training and knowledge transfer.
- Real-time recognition apps: Recognize achievements in real-time.
- SaaS tools: Asynchronous collaboration in remote workspaces.
- EAP software: Personalized and on-demand support for employees.
- Employee analytics: Promote D&I efforts across the organization.
