Employee engagement is a hot topic. Gallup got everyone’s attention with their workplace poll that showed the impact of employee engagement on profitability, productivity, and safety. But sometimes it seems too big to tackle. So, let’s break employee engagement down. In its simplest form, engagement means ‘I know what to do, I really want to do it and I know why it matters’.

But how do we get there? There are 3 critical factors.

The 3 C’s of Employee Engagement: Clarity, Context and Communication

Clarity starts by ensuring that every employee knows what their job is and has the proper tools and training to do it. And they need to understand how their success is measured. Think about your new hires. On-boarding is an important “engage-able moment” that tells the new hire just how committed you are to creating a culture of engagement.

Context answers the question of why what I’m being asked to do matters. Whether it’s developing new products, delivering the best customer care, or managing safety training, it’s easy to get caught up in your own work and not have any understanding of how it ties to the big picture. How does my job fit into the company goals? How is what I do impacting our customers, the bottom line, the community, etc.

Workplace Communication is the glue that ties everything together and shows your ongoing commitment to engagement. When it comes to workplace communication, It’s not enough to cover the basics with new hires and rely on performance reviews for the rest. While management plays a critical role in fostering engagement with their direct reports, it needs to go beyond that to the organization as a whole.

Many companies use workplace digital signage to communicate with their employees. Because it’s a visual communication tool, it grabs your employees’ attention and delivers your messages with impact. Take advantage of this powerful channel to show your commitment to employee engagement.

7 Tips on how to use digital signage to build employee engagement

1. Let’s hear from leadership. Whether streaming a live town hall or posting frequent informal video clips, workplace digital signage is a great way for leaders to reinforce company goals and objectives, provide updates on industry trends and inspire employees by communicating openly and often.
2. Make goals meaningful and visible. Translate your workplace goals into easy-to-understand charts and graphs so that the data makes sense to everyone. If your screens are in the cafeteria, post high-level company metrics. For additional workplace led signs on the production floor, the warehouse, or the call center, be sure to display KPIs that tie to those functions.
3. What are we recognizing? Employee recognition is a key component to build employee engagement. Tie your recognition programs to your core objectives e.g., improved customer service, accident prevention, quality, etc., by showcasing those employees who are making a difference.
4. Promote and communicate survey results. Do you conduct an annual employee engagement survey? First, use your electronic message boards to promote it. Then post the results and most importantly, communicate any changes you make as a result of the findings.
5. Celebrate collaboration. Work models are changing rapidly as we turn to cross-team collaboration and project teams for greater efficiency. Use your digital signage screens to introduce project teams highlighting their work and why it’s important. Have the team produce a short video clip on the results.
6. Welcome and “position” new hires. With every new hire there’s an opportunity to welcome the employee, introduce them to everyone and reinforce how their role or experience ties to company goals. Create a simple welcome piece with the employee’s picture, their title and a short message. Whether they are in sales, quality control, engineering or the warehouse, new hires signify additional investment and new skills, all of which will improve performance.
7. Who are our customers? Every company wants to attract and keep customers. Yet many employees do not know much about them. Generate pride and enthusiasm by showcasing your customers on screens throughout the facility. Create a logo wall, show social media feeds with customer feedback, or post images of your products being used.

Start to build employee engagement today

By employing these tips, your employees will know that employee engagement is alive and well and a big part of your culture.