21 Ways to Keep Employees Engaged and Motivated

Keeping employees engaged and motivated is crucial. Despite this, many companies don’t invest enough time and effort in tactics that increase staff engagement and motivation. 

While many don’t think it’s worth investing the time in engagement strategies, doing so will bring amazing results and decrease your employee turnover rate. 

Employees that are satisfied, motivated, and engaged are an asset to your company. Productivity and work quality will improve, and innovation and positivity will be at a peak. 

If you want your employees to be satisfied and performing their best, try these 21 ways to keep employees engaged and motivated. 

What is Employee Engagement?

Employee engagement relates to how committed employees are to their role and the business and its success and growth. Motivation plays a major role in engagement, and the two tend to go hand in hand; unmotivated employees are never going to be engaged! 

While very similar, employee motivation is more about employees being excited to come to work and feeling like they’re achieving something. Engagement focuses more on professional development and reaching their career goals and needs while enjoying helping the company succeed too. 

Of course, management plays a big part in employee satisfaction and must find ways to keep employees engaged and motivated.

Employee engagement and motivation are also tied to how much employees relate to your company’s goals, values, missions, and ethics.

Motivation and engagement go hand in hand; unmotivated employees are never going to be engaged! 

Why is Employee Engagement and Motivation So Important?

Before discussing ways to keep employees engaged and motivated, let’s cover the importance of having satisfied, motivated, and engaged staff. 

You want your employees to be giving their all to their job. This means that productivity is at its highest level, and employees are not simply completing tasks but innovating and accomplishing them to the highest level. 

Motivated and engaged employees are satisfied employees. You need employees to be happy in their roles and have a strong level of employee satisfaction.  If employees are not satisfied, motivation drops. This lack of motivation comes through negatively in their work and productivity. 

Engaged and satisfied employees also promote a positive environment and pass that positivity onto each other. This shared enthusiasm helps boost individual motivation and productivity and helps improve collaboration and team building. 

In the end, satisfaction leads to motivation which leads to high levels of employee engagement. Therefore, you must ensure that employees feel great about their tasks, the overall work environment, and their future and career progression. 

Keeping employees engaged and motivated is not achievable with infrequent tactics; you must focus on this every day as a manager. 

21 Top Tips to Keep Employees Engaged and Motivated

The following are 21 top ways to keep employees engaged and motivated. By implementing these tactics, you'll benefit from satisfied employees that are always ready to be their most productive and help the company succeed and grow.

1. Aid with Professional Development

Helping employees with professional development and meeting career goals is crucial to keeping them engaged and motivated. Employees that don't feel like they’re learning, growing, and moving forward in their career will likely be unmotivated and unengaged. 

Ways to help with professional development include allowing employees to do more of what they love and giving them tasks that constantly improve their experience. You can also offer access to courses and other further education resources. Both of these methods are discussed below. 

Think about employee personal development too. Encourage them to take time for themselves to do what they enjoy. You could allow employees to leave an hour or two early once a week to do an activity they love. 

Discovering their interests can also help in determining if those passions could be used within the business.

Actively helping employees to develop professionally and reach career goals will boost engagement and motivation.

2. Offer Access to Continuing Education

Offering access to continued education can be a good way to keep employees engaged and motivated and help their development. This doesn’t mean paying for a three or four-year degree (although if that’s in your budget and would benefit an employee, that’s your choice.) 

Providing access to continuing education relates more to short-term classes and courses, plus seminars, conferences, and coaching that can grow their skillset and allow them to develop within the company.

Education can be position-specific or teach them ways to be more efficient. For example, Offering access to technology courses can help many employees and keep them up to date, no matter what their field. 

Giving access to one and one coaching and mentoring can be a great educator too. That could include connecting employees with outside parties or having higher-up internal employees mentor others.

3. Encourage Teamwork and Team Building

Having team events, no matter how informal, can help build personal relationships. These strong relationships make working together easier and more fun. This in itself can boost employee motivation and engagement. 

You want employees that love what they do and the people they do it with. Even if an employee loves their role and the company, having a team that’s difficult to work with or you don’t know well hampers productivity, motivation, and engagement. 

Hosting happy hours or going out to an event such as a sports game, movie, or exhibition allows your team to connect and build relationships in a fun and laid-back environment.

Team Collaboration

Additionally, set up ways for your team to collaborate and work together during the day. Try pairing up people that don’t usually work together so that they can tackle a project together.   

Also, make sure you set up a great space to collaborate in, ideally closed off from other employees. The sound of co-workers discussing ideas back and forth as other people are trying to work can isolate and annoy those employees, creating problems instead of improving the work environment. 

This is actually a very important component of employee engagement but is often overlooked. Working together and getting praise from other colleagues is very beneficial.  Plus, idea generation increases and problems can get tackled in a new way, and co-workers can grow and learn from each other.

4. Allow for Innovation and Creativity

Employees that feel they can come up with creative solutions, innovate, and put their mark on their work are often the most satisfied. 

Be sure to allow staff to approach tasks in their way and encourage a culture of innovation at all levels. 

Teamwork can come into this as well; setting up weekly brainstorming sessions allows employees to bounce ideas off each other and develop new solutions, processes, and products or services that can push your company ahead of the competition. 

Plus, seeing their innovative ideas in action at the business will boost motivation and engagement.

5. Appreciate and Reward Hard Work

The easiest way to keep employees engaged and motivated is to always recognize their efforts and appreciate them. Doing so publicly can also help, as long as you don’t consistently favor certain employees. 

What’s great is that doing this is free, but it can have a big impact! 

This appreciation can get shown in a range of ways; from having an employee of the month award to simply congratulating employees on achievements. Even saying “thank you, I appreciate that” can add a boost to employee morale. Recognize efforts both big and small, to show that every little thing they do is helping the business succeed. 

Problems Relating to Lack of Employee Appreciation

Not recognizing achievements and the work being done by employees is how employee engagement and motivation drop. They won’t want to put extra effort in or excel if they get no thanks in return. 

This lack of appreciation also makes employees feel like they just don’t matter and that you don’t think they contribute sufficiently. Along with reducing motivation, they’re likely to end up leaving for a company that sees their value. 

This situation then leads to a vacancy that needs to get filled, which takes time and often money. Plus, if you don't fix the issue, you’ll be in a vicious circle of this happening.

Do note, that this is not enough on its own! Appreciating work when employees still feel undervalued in other ways and like they aren’t growing or being compensated appropriately through new opportunities and salary will come off as insincere. That result can have an increased negative effect on engagement.

Recognizing employee achievements and successes is an easy way to increase engagement and motivation.

6. Promote a Flat(ish) Hierarchy and Lateral Movement

Not every company can have a completely flat hierarchy. But having a cookie-cutter job with the same tasks and no room to suggest ideas, take control of their role, and contribute to other team member’s tasks is not a great model for employee engagement.

Allowing creative freedom and the ability to take initiative helps employees feel like they own their tasks and processes. Repetitive tasks with no chance for innovation or development will bring any employee down. So give some freedom for them to mix up their tasks and collaborate.

The result is what matters, so be flexible in the ways your employees get there.

You may also consider allowing employees to move laterally within the company, working across a few sectors and departments. This can help employees, especially entry-level employees, find out exactly what area they thrive in.

Finding the work they love can help retain employees too, even if they move into an area that’s different from what they were originally hired to do.

7. Offer Flexibility

Offering flexible schedules is a big bonus to employees and a proven way to keep them engaged.

The demand for work flexibility has become even more pronounced since the pandemic and the flexibility it forced companies to give employees. 

This flexibility could include allowing employees to: 

• Work at home, even for just a few days a week

• Choose the time they start their workday

• Work reduced hours, for example, allowing them to go home early on Friday or come in late on Monday

8. Don’t Give Special Privileges to a Select Few!

A major demotivator is allowing employees to see you giving special treatment to other employees. Try not to play favorites and give certain staff members a better deal.

For example, if you assign employees an office chore, make sure every employee gets one and completes it, no matter what their level.

Of course, there may be a few scenarios where this won’t work. For example, if one employee needs to leave early once a week for a personal matter. 

If a situation like this occurs, make sure other employees understand there is a good reason (without divulging sensitive information) and that the employee is not just being allowed to go home for “fun.”

9. Provide Non-Monetary Incentives

Offering bonuses for reaching goals and using salary as a motivator can help to keep employees engaged and motivated. However, non-monetary incentives can work great too.

These types of incentives could include giving extra time off or some other perk or bonus, such as allowing the employee you’re rewarding to choose what your next team event will be.  

If you need some help thinking of non-monetary incentives, talk to your team! Ask them to decide on a list of perks that they can choose from if they meet goals.

Offering flexibility, like allowing employees to work from home or set their schedule, can help with motivation and engagement.

10. Get Feedback

When trying to keep employees engaged and motivated, communication is key! Employee feedback is part of this communication and is incredibly helpful in increasing engagement.

Having monthly one-on-one meetings is an effective way to gain this feedback. Talk about challenges the employee faces, successes, and priorities. Plus, get a general feeling of if they’re progressing and what they would like to happen between now and the next meeting. 

These check-ins can pick up on issues and what is going well. Ask for constructive feedback on your management too. Or have a way for employees to submit constructive feedback anonymously. 

These meetings will build trust and also allow you to set goals for the employee. You can additionally inform them as to how they can contribute to company goals going forward.

After initiating this tactic, always act on feedback! Hearing concerns and not doing anything about them is worse than not knowing about issues at all. 

If you can’t provide the fix an employee would like, come up with a compromise. Then discuss with them the issues with implementing what they’d like instead of just ignoring their feedback.

11. Be Transparent

The feeling that they don’t know about things going on or knowing that decisions involving them get made without them are big employee demotivators. Overhearing something that involves them or one of their projects is not good either! 

Keep employees up to date with goings-on and changes within the company. If something will involve an employee, discuss it with them before making a final decision.

12. Provide All the Necessary Tools

Not having the best tools for the job is another frustration that can affect motivation and ultimately engagement. 

Make sure you provide the most up-to-date tools. Frequently ask your staff if any others tools could make doing their job easier and more efficient.

13. Ensure Employees Work on Tasks They Love

Of course, all jobs come with mundane and administrative tasks that must get done. But if the majority of an employee's tasks are repetitive and not helping with career progression, the employee won’t be engaged. 

Ensure they are working on tasks and projects that relate to their career goals and that they just love undertaking. 

Frequently ask about what they enjoy doing and what tasks they think are not appropriate for them. In asking all employees this, you’re likely to find one employee longing to do a task that another employee has been assigned but doesn’t enjoy.

Avoid employee frustration by providing staff with all the tools they need to do their job.

14. Match Employee Goals with Company Goals

Understanding your employees’ long-term career goals and showing them how those goals match with the company’s long-term goals is a great motivator. 

Explaining what you can do to learn and move forward together will make them feel like they have a future with the company, that you want them included in long-term plans, and that they can achieve career growth with you. 

This realization that there’s room to grow in a company helps a lot! Employees start losing motivation drastically when they feel they can’t grow anymore in a role and have gotten everything out of the job and the company that they can. 

Work with each employee to build a roadmap of short and slightly longer-term goals to achieve this growth together.

15. Give Staff Extra Responsibility

A common mistake is thinking that more responsibility means more tasks. That’s not necessarily the case. 

Providing employees with additional responsibilities involves things like giving them ownership of or letting them lead a project. Or, it could be allowing an employee to overlook others in their department.

By giving extra responsibilities to your staff, without drastically increasing their workload, they can grow and feel like they are constantly learning and improving their professional selves. This feeling alone is an incredible motivation booster! 

Try to set goals with employees on the types of responsibilities they want, and keep pushing those goals as they get achieved. 

If an employee’s responsibilities grow dramatically, remember to back up this enhanced role with a salary increase.

16. Have a Strong Health and Wellness Program

Providing as many health and wellness perks as you can is an often overlooked way to keep employees engaged and motivated. 

Doing so means employees can feel as good about themselves as possible, and they feel like you care about them and their overall wellbeing. Physically and mentally healthy employees are going to be able to give one-hundred-percent. 

Additionally, have an open door policy about personal issues if employees want to discuss these. Or, hire an external party that employees can discuss problems with if they feel they need to.  Also, provide a reasonable number of paid sick days and think about things like filling the kitchen with healthy snacks.

Creating a culture of all-around wellbeing will bring out the best in employees and is worth the investment.

17. Promote a Healthy Work-Life Balance

Along with offering a comprehensive health care program, promote a healthy work-life balance. Overworked employees with an unhealthy work-life balance will be unmotivated and burned out, affecting productivity and even leading to them quitting.

Encourage employees to leave on time at the end of their day and avoid approving overtime unless it’s crucial. If employees need to do overtime, for example, near a deadline, let them take time off on the next workday.

Again, communicating about how employees feel is a good move. Some employees can happily do a bit of overtime or extra work at home and still fit in their personal life. Others may be giving up more or find it difficult to separate their life from work and feel like they have to choose between doing overtime or having a life - you don’t want that!

Also, offer incentives for employees to take all their vacation days and have a good lunch break. Even provide a bit of paid time off so they can do an activity they love once a week or month.

Flexible schedules come into this as well, as discussed above.

Put emphasis on a healthy work-life balance and providing employees with great health benefits.

18. Promote a Culture of Fun!

Just because it’s work, doesn’t mean you can’t have fun! The more enjoyable the overall work experience is, the more motivated and engaged employees will be.

This includes promoting a fun and friendly atmosphere in the office and frequently running team-building and social events, like days out, happy hours, staff quizzes, and the like.

19. Create a Great Onboarding Program

Being a new employee is daunting, no matter what your experience level. Implementing a top-class onboarding plan means that new employees feel part of the team and hopefully motivated and engaged from day one.

This plan would include things like the new employee getting to know the whole team and making it clear they can ask questions and communicate with anyone.

Try to also plan a fun team-building event around the time a new hire joins.

20. Try an Open Plan Layout

Let’s be honest, cubicles or individual offices can be depressing! Having the feeling of being isolated all day can affect engagement and employee mood. 

If possible, try an open plan layout. The sense of community this layout brings can help employees feel happy and motivated. It’s also super easy to ask coworkers questions and bounce ideas back and forth. 

When changing office design, consider a layout with a few closed-off offices and a meeting room. Employees can book those if they need quiet to focus on a task, to make a call, or want to have a meeting without disturbing those around them.

21. Get Rid of the “Sunday Scaries”

If your employees dread Sunday evenings and the thought of going back to work on Monday, your engagement strategies are not working. 

By implementing the above, your employees should be looking forward to Monday and going back to a rewarding job where they feel valued. 

To minimize these “Sunday scaries” even more, organize a fun Monday morning event. 

For example, have a team breakfast where employees can sit and discuss their weekend and the week ahead for the first 30 minutes of their day. Or, they can grab breakfast you provide to enjoy at their desk if they need to get on with work straight away.

In Conclusion

Having a team that’s motivated and engaged in their work and the company doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive. At its core, employee engagement centers around valuing employees and allowing them to thrive by doing their work in a way that suits their style.

While there are many tactics to try, these 21 ways to keep employees engaged and motivated are great ones to implement. 

Remember that communication is also key.  Frequently discuss with your team what you can implement to improve satisfaction, motivation, and ultimately engagement.