10 expert small

business tips to boost

employee engagement

“Having opportunities to progress, a chance to

contribute and being able to extend skills with training and career

development is a big motivating factor for

employees.1”

Simon Jones, Director of HR consultancy

Ariadne Associates

“Never directly criticise or correct. This doesn’t mean you can’t look for improvement, just try an indirect approach to help people learn

from their mistakes and work out how to do it

better next time.2”

Jonathan Richards, Founder of Breathe HR

“A good leader needs to lead by example, by role-modelling the behaviours

that are expected of staff. Be excited by new challenges, show real

enthusiasm for projects and demonstrate your

love of the job. Positivity breeds positivity.3”

Adrian Moorhouse, Managing Director of

Lane4

“Benefits have to be suitable to each

employee’s personal circumstances. The use of flexible benefits can help

to address this need, provided employees

thoroughly understand their benefit options and

the value of their total reward.”

Jonathan Underwood, Director of JLT

Employee Benefits

“It sounds so simple, but something as basic as hearing 'great work on

that report' can be a real boost to an employee’s

confidence and deliver a sense of pride and

satisfaction.5”

Charles Elvin, Chief Executive of the Institute of Leadership

and Management

“Try not to micromanage your employees, allow them the opportunity to be able to perform the

job and make decisions themselves;

empowerment can make a difference.6”

David Price, Managing Director of

Health Assured

“Some of the most successful organisations encourage their

staff to volunteer. Allowing employees to help those less fortunate than themselves will

surely improve employee morale, while also allowing

your staff to build teams and work towards a common goal

that is non-work-related.7”

Mark Williams,Head of Training for

the MTD Training Group

“Ask your staff what they think could be done to improve the working

environment, systems and processes. By encouraging them to get involved and by making them feel part of the

decision making process, staff will feel recognised and

more valued.8”

Gary Cattermole, Co-founder of

The Survey Initiative

“People also really value being allowed to have flexible

working arrangements and being given time off, and these

can be far better motivators than a bit more money in their

pay packet. Even small gestures such as giving

employees the day off on their birthday can go a very long

way.9”

Rachel Bridge, Small Business Journalist

for the Telegraph

“From experience, taking the time to

ensure all employees understand your goals and the direction of the business is a great way of building a healthy and

positive culture.10”

Guy Mucklow, Co-founder of

Postcode Anywhere

Sources1. http://bit.ly/EmployeeEngagem

entAriadne

2. http://bit.ly/EmployeeEngagementBreatheHR

3. http://bit.ly/EmployeeEngagementLane4

4. http://bit.ly/EmployeeEngagementJLT

5. http://bit.ly/EmployeeEngagementILM

6. http://bit.ly/EmployeeEngagementHealthAssured

7. http://bit.ly/EmployeeEngagementMDTraining

8. http://bit.ly/EmployeeEngagementSurveyInitiative

9. http://bit.ly/EmployeeEngagementRachelBridge

10.http://bit.ly/EmployeeEngagementPostcodeAnywhere