Everything You Need to Know About Cross-Training
No matter what we do to streamline, circumstances often throw a wrench in the works. Cross-training staff to cover others can be the answer.
A business attains greater heights through the achievement of company goals - that is, if a leader can motivate a team towards a common goal and – also an important (really important) part of the equation – keep the employees engaged.
Employee engagement is a vital part of a company’s success since it involves job satisfaction and employee morale. In this article, employee engagement describes the level of enthusiasm and dedication the employees feel towards their jobs.
It’s obvious that engaged employees are more likely to have a high performance and are more productive than those who are disengaged, but if you’re still wondering why engaged employees are high performers – well, it has something to do with their emotional connection to their jobs.
If you need more discussion on why you should care about Emotional Intelligence, check out our post here.
Engaged employees are aware of their job details and have no problems in acting upon them. They are also more likely to focus on achieving goals and stay loyal to the company. You should also know that employee engagement has different levels with engaged and disengaged as its extremes.
However, recent statistics show that employee engagement in 2022 declined to 32% from 34% in 2021 with 17% of employees being “actively disengaged.” According to Gallup, actively disengaged employees are “disgruntled and disloyal because most of their workplace needs are unmet.”
For more statistics, you can check out our article on employee engagement.
Now, you might be racking your brain to find ways to keep your employees engaged – look no further, here are some of our handpicked ways you can try to keep them happy in the workplace. However, if you’ve given it your best to keep your employees engaged yet they seem to show the opposite, well then, let’s talk about the power of recognition.
I know you already know this, but let’s recall what recognition is – according to the dictionary, recognition is the state of being recognized – words like acknowledgement and praise will always be related to recognition. Recognizing your employees, whether through promotion or a simple compliment on their achievement or output, is an important approach that will, 99.9% of the time, make their day.
Remember, kind words are free and will take you less than a minute to say!
The culture of recognition goes a long way – some simple praise of your employee or a warm welcome to a newbie can make a huge difference on how they view – and even how they feel about - the company.
The power of recognition greatly affects your employees’ happiness in the workplace as well as their decision on staying in your company. Many businesses identify recognition as having the greatest impact on employee engagement. Research shows that companies with recognition programs are highly effective at improving employee engagement with a lower voluntary turnover.
According to research, employees who receive recognition only a few times a year from their superiors are five times as likely to be actively disengaged, 74% more likely to say they do not plan to be at the company in one year, and 27% more likely to be struggling.
There are a lot of ways to recognize your employees, but the key here is to get to know them personally and by doing that your acknowledgement of their work will feel fulfilling and sincere because they will feel seen and appreciated.
As a leader, managing a team can be very stressful; you might be thinking that there is no time for recognition. Let me stop you right there and remind you that communication is what gets us going – your employees need to hear how they’re doing in your company. Give them what they deserve and this small step can lead you to bigger opportunities.
There are a number of ways to acknowledge your employees’ achievements, however, you need to be consistent in doing so – what we recommend you do is create an employee recognition program.
Let’s say you have a number of employees doing so well in their specific fields. They’re working hard and are really creating a difference in your company and while a simple compliment would make them feel seen, you should create a program that will be consistent and fair to every employee who has achieved certain goals.
Your employees will surely feel appreciated especially if monetary rewards or gifts are part of your company’s recognition system – they’ve worked hard and they’ve earned it! By doing so, many of your employees will be inspired to double their efforts because they know their company cares for them.
However, if you think monetary rewards can financially hurt your company, you can still try other ways to employ a recognition system such as throwing a party when a big achievement has been attained, mentioning employees in daily announcements or meetings, highlighting accomplishments through work alerts, creating a points system that they can cash in on days off or redeem against discounts in retail stores.
Or even doing the good ol’ employees (yes, plural) of the month!
Best believe that implementing an employee recognition program will lead to more employee satisfaction and that will lead to better employee engagement and higher levels of productivity.
Fun fact – companies with good employee recognition strategies are 48% more likely to have high employee engagement rates!
The world changes quickly and disengaged employees are as quick to look for another company if they feel unhappy and unappreciated. Keep in mind levels of employee engagement and use them to inspire your employees to stay and achieve company goals with you.
Read more: How to Increase Your Retention Rates Through Employee Recognition
No matter what we do to streamline, circumstances often throw a wrench in the works. Cross-training staff to cover others can be the answer.
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