Google is famous for its human capital investment. Employees spend 20% of their weekly time on passion projects. They choose the projects where they want to work.   

These employee engagement strategies help workers to spark better and more creative ideas.   

Similarly, most modern US-based companies now focus beyond recruitment and selection.   

To improve the strength of human capital, you need innovative employee engagement strategies. The immediate benefits of employee engagement are as follows:  

• More loyal employees, willing to stay and grow with the company   
• Employees are driven to perform better and achieve higher limits   

In the long run, these benefits accumulate. Then, you start getting better ROI.   

Employee engagement refers to a stage of emotional commitment of employees. Above all, the employee engagement strategies help the workers to achieve this level of emotional commitment.   

Experts say that you can measure the employee engagement level, too.   

Employee Engagement Strategy #1 – Sketch a Success Roadmap  

Forbes found that 52% of the employees are focused more on career growth. However, their ambition is not associated with their position in their current organizations.   

So, you must give a meaningful ambition and growth plan to employees. Otherwise, even if you are a global brand, they won’t stay in your organization.   

After that, let’s see how you can sketch a success roadmap for your employees through employee engagement strategies.   

Career counseling sessions and career advancement paths.  

The career counseling sessions offer valuable insights into the individual growth of employees. In the US, companies like Amazon, Accenture, and others provide career coaching to their employees.  

Amazon partners with professional career consultants like Beyond 12 and Kaplan to help employees. To sum up, such sessions allow employees to access their best possible career sessions.  

Employee Engagement Strategy (Bonus) #1 – Introduce Team Building Activities  

While discussing the success roadmap, I am not only discussing getting better jobs.   

Employees want to know about the soft skills they can learn from their current company. I have discussed some soft skills training you must provide your employees.   

Trust-building exercises.  

Such exercises are everyday human development activities in many US companies now. The most common trust-building exercises I know are Human Knot and Trust Fall.   

Both these are team bonding activities. These employee engagement strategies allow you to find how much employees depend on each other psychologically.   

Communication challenges.  

A recent survey found that 12% of companies lost their top talents due to communication issues in 2024. Therefore, a good employee engagement strategy can only boost communication.   

I suggest that all companies must have proper SHRM software for communication. As a result, employees can communicate their issues or challenges immediately. At the same time, they can communicate with any member of the hierarchy.   

Problem-solving activities.  

These are game-based activities that increase team bonding. Common problem-solving employee engagement strategies like “Escape the Room” are popular in US companies.   

I think it’s a good staff engagement strategy when employees face internal conflicts and discord.   

Outdoor activities.  

I am a great fan of outdoor activities. I suggest an annual hiking trip or other adventure allows your employees to bond personally.   

Experts say that mutual respect grows when you interact with someone at a personal level.  

Creative activities.  

You can organize out-of-the-box activities for your team, like singing or flash mobs. Guessing, why do you need these?  

A survey finds that 46% of employees found stress relief from such activities in the US.   

Employee Engagement Strategy (Bonus) #2 – Provide Incentives for Hard Work  

Have you heard of McGregor’s theory X and Y?   

The Theory X says that no employees want to work hard. You must influence them with guidance and a higher salary to work harder. However, theory Y says that employees want to achieve. They want excellence and recognition, which drives them.   

Well, you will find both types of employees in an organization.   

Monetary rewards.  

Most US-based companies provide competitive salaries and industry-standard growth opportunities. However, small additional bonuses or frequent incentives are the silver lining. Your employees will feel motivated when you give such small rewards.   

Bloomberg research finds that the bonus was cut short by 21% annually in 2024. It was due to turbulent market returns. However, the average employee’s motivation took a blow as a result. So, you can feel how crucial monetary rewards are.   

Time off.  

Experts say that you must check employees’ work-life balance before implementing employment engagement strategies. In the US, 94% of employees suffer from a lack of work-life balance.   

However, many companies offer flexible leaves or rotational working hours to employees. Google is such a company. Yes, employees handle bulk loads, but they can work flexible shifts, take breaks of their own free will, and work again.   

Recognition.  

Experts say that if your employees perform well, say it out loud. You can host meetings or parties to announce whose effort was exceptional.   

As a result, more employees will feel motivated.   

Professional development opportunities.  

I have already discussed that the dynamics of workplace loyalty have shifted.   

Employees now think about how they can make their careers scalable. They want their current companies to help them in their career growth.   

Consequently, companies like Amazon provide employees training, mentorship, and professional certifications. The documents help them to get a higher salary or better promotions quickly.  

Special perks.  

I don’t believe employees need anything else if you do the above right. However, some employees enjoy free parking, lunch coupons, etc. So, if you have the budget, give these benefits to motivate employees.   

Employee Engagement Strategy (Bonus) #3 – Encourage Collaboration  

HBR found that 55% of employees approach their peers first and then the seniors. So, it’s essential to encourage collaboration. It is one of the best employment engagement strategies.   

Importance of collaboration for employee engagement.  

Collaboration helps in improving job clarity. It avoids delays and increases employees’ awareness. That’s why American companies use various internal communication tools.   

Employees can collaborate with whomever they want using these collaboration tools. Slack, Google Hangouts, and MS Teams are the most used collaboration tools in the US.  

Source: https://nectarhr.com/blog/employee-engagement-strategies  

Table: most used collaboration tools in the US  

Strategies to encourage collaboration 

Debates, cross-functioning teams, and suggestion boxes are some of the best strategies for employee engagement.   

These strategies help employees to bring out their debates and dilemmas.   

Tips for Developing Employee Engagement Strategy  

Your colleague engagement strategy depends on a range of miscellaneous factors. I discussed some crucial factors here.   

Asking questions   

Your employees must be reflective. So, you can request them to ask two critical questions:  

• What are my unique abilities?  
• What are the things that I enjoy doing?   

Transparency and realism  

I believe that transparency motivates employees like nothing else. If I know that my colleague will get the goodwill of my CEO by default, it will not inspire me.   

So, I recommend that all companies should have a transparent goal-setting policy.   

You can use simple tools to set SMART goals for employees. Also, I recommend that the goals and achievement rates be publicly posted and accessible.   

As a result, employees will also have better bonding.   

Flexibility  

I have already talked about workplace flexibility. However, you need to be flexible in policymaking as well. Invite suggestions from employees. Hold meetings.   

Clear communication  

If you are sidelining an employee, give clear reasons. I request all companies to be careful about this. This way, employees know where they can improve.   

People-focused approach  

Don’t have policies for their sake. Also, check if people enjoy such policies.   

You may force employees to play games, taking time off work. However, employees do not have the time to enjoy themselves due to high work pressure.   

Here, your focus should be on distributing and managing the workload first. Then, ask employees to play games.   

Data Recording  

 Most US companies use ERP software to record employee performance data. This data will be used for evaluation or later appraisal.   

It motivates employees to perform better.   

Employee Engagement Roles: Who Should be Involved  

Employee engagement is a simple thing. You must just ensure that employees enjoy what they do.   

Managers 

Managers can focus on the individual learning and development goals of employees.   

HR 

The HR managers can cater to the grievances and queries of employees. As a result, the quick resolution motivates them.   

Senior leaders and the C-suite 

You must plan how your company can benefit from employee engagement. Invite the C suite to recommend strategies to leverage employee engagement.   

IT team 

It is a crucial factor in employee engagement strategies. Your IT team maintains the digital communication channels and assists employees to work smoothly.   

Employee leaders  

Maybe you cannot raise your issues in your workplace. So, you need a senior representative to listen to and address your issues.   

Employee leaders cater to common problems that a team faces.   

You must have some employee leaders. They can undoubtedly boost employee motivation.   

Measure and Iterate on Employee Engagement Strategy  

Do you check if your staff engagement strategies still work occasionally? You may need new strategies for employee engagement or modifications to existing team engagement strategies.  

Research shows that some of the most iterative employee engagement interventions are:  

• Regular 1:1s between managers and employees.  
• Annual employee engagement surveys.  
• Short, targeted custom pulse surveys.  

Conclusion  

You already know why you need employee engagement strategies. If you don’t have one, you must put together a robust plan.   

However, I recommend that the involvement of employees is essential in employee engagement strategies. In other words, you can call for a meeting, use your suggestion box, or invite suggestions through email.  

I believe that your organizational health depends a lot on your employee engagement strategies. As a result, you will have more efficient and motivated employees if you plan effective employee engagement strategies.