Leaders must listen to employees to foster greater engagement
LISTENING AND COMMUNICATING WITH EMPLOYEES HELPS BUILD PILLARS OF TRUST
Companies today are rewarding their employees better than before, considering they are the ones driving growth. Unfortunately, these rewards are limited to annual increments.
Employees also prefer working for companies that can offer them a culture beyond increments. According to a survey, millennials prefer to work in companies that offer benefits like training and development, vacation allowances, flexible work opportunities, and healthcare and wellness programmes over financial benefits.
The 40th edition of The Hindustan Times Shine HR Conclave held in Gurgaon had experts discussing the benefits that millennials require to keep them motivated and engaged – apart from increments. The conclave focussed on the need to redefine these benefits.
On the need to have better employee-employer relations, Calvin Lyngdoh, chief human resource officer, Lenskart.com, says, “Research has shown that every 5% increase in engagement in an organisation results in 3% increase in revenue in the subsequent year. Therefore, it becomes all the more important to find ways to have a more engaged workforce.”
Sameer Khanna, VP and head, human resources, India region, Ericsson, says, “It is crucial to listen, hear and be involved with your employees and be a part of their journey.”
“Active listening means involvement and giving them the freedom to work. The manager has a bigger role to play as he manifests the company’s values, which consequently results in more trustworthy and engaging employees. And this can happen if the company acknowledges employees’ changing expectations which are beyond compensation benefits,” he says.
Creating a culture of engagement, says Amit Malik, chief people officer, Aviva Life Insurance India, helps build trust among employees.
“At Aviva, the first imperative for us is to build a ‘listening organisation’ and following it up with the value system Care More. The system not only calls for being empathetic towards employees, it is more about acting on what we hear from employees and communicating with them. If you build these pillars, that’s when engagement starts happening and the trust is built among employees.”
Dr Bibek Banerjee, dean and head of academics, Bridge School of Management, says, “To have an engagement with employees, organisations have to give enough freedom to their employees to choose, to co-exist in an organisation and yet do things they are passionate about.”
“This strategy will help employees establish a connection with the organisation and at the same time maintain their self and give their best to the organisation,” he says.