The top 12 employee engagement mistakes and how to fix them

What is employee engagement?

Employee engagement relates to the mental and emotional connection employees feel towards the organisation they work for. 

Whilst there is no set definition, it is agreed that employee engagement covers factors including an employees’ emotional commitment, enthusiasm, and dedication to their role. Employee engagement affects every aspect of your organiastion including profitability, revenue, customer satisfaction, and employee turnover. Engaged employees are typically more committed, more productive, have higher levels of resilience and energy, and will bring enthusiasm and creativity to their to-do list. They are genuinely invested in their work and motivated to contribute to the organisation’s success which results in higher job satisfaction, team culture, and loyalty. 

Why is employee engagement important?

Employee engagement is one of the main ways you can understand if your workplace and culture is healthy and thriving. If you have high employee engagement you can be sure that your employees feel valued, included, and connected to their roles, their teams, and the wider organisation. 

Building on that, research shows that organisations that prioritise high employee engagement experience 17% higher productivity, 20% higher sales, and 21% higher profitability. As much as 92% of business leaders believe engaged employees perform better and boost the success of their teams and their organisation. 

What causes poor employee engagement?

It’s important to remember, poor employee engagement can be caused by a variety of factors rather than one single factor. Some of the common causes of poor employee engagement are:

• Lack of clear communication
• Poor leadership
• Limited opportunities for employee growth and personal development
• Lack of recognition and rewards
• Poor work-life balance
• A poor workplace culture
• Job insecurity
• No access to the right tools and resources
• Exclusion from decision making
• No clear understand of organisation’s goals or vision

Because of how intertwined these factors are, addressing poor employee engagement often requires a thorough and holistic approach and is most successful with employee buy-in. That’s why regular feedback mechanisms such as employee surveys are a popular tool. They are a great way to create a supportive work environment that contributes to improving employee engagement over time. 

How can you tell if an employee is disengaged?

No two disengaged employees will ever look the same. Disengagement comes in various forms, and whilst fully disengaged employees are easy to identify, there are also subtle signs you can look out for to spot employees that are beginning to become disengaged. 

• Low or decreased productivity
• Frequent absences
• A negative attitude
• Resistance to change
• No interest in professional development
• Decreased innovation and creativity
• Limited communication
• A lack of initiative
• Intentions to leave

Recognising these indicators early will allow you to address issues and create strategies to improve employee engagement and satisfaction. Regular communication, feedback, and a positive work environment are key.

The 12 most common employee engagement mistakes and how to fix them

Employee engagement mistakes can harm employee motivation, performance, and satisfaction. If you want to achieve a thriving company culture and foster better employee engagement, avoiding the common employee engagement mistakes is essential. Here is a list of the most common mistakes that organisations make when creating their employee engagement strategies. 

1. 1. Underestimating the importance of employee engagement: Many senior leaders aren’t able to identify or track when team engagement decreases, whilst others are unaware of how important it is for the overall health of the organisation. Leaders and HR teams must ensure they have the correct methods to measure and manage employee engagement to make it easy for them to track and prioritise it within their team. 
   2. Being inconsistent with engagement initiatives: Inconsistency introduces doubt into your employees’ minds about how committed you are to the employee engagement strategy. Ultimately this impacts employee engagement more and can impact your employee retention. It’s important you stay consistent with initiatives, utilising effective communication and feedback to enhance your efforts. 
   3. Lack of quality communication: One of the biggest employee engagement mistakes – and the easiest to fix – is lack of communication. When communication is poor employees feel disconnected, undervalued and unengaged. Open and honest communication is the foundation of employee engagement. Having regular communication with employees enhances their sense of belonging and commitment to the company.
   4. Micromanaging your team: By creating a work environment build on excessive micromanagement you will stifle morale and productivity, and introduce self-doubt in your team members. To combat this focus on recognising ther value and the asset they are to your team. Show trust in their judgement and give them space to use their skillset to bring their projects to life. 
   5. Being too generic with your approach: Different demographics of employees have different needs, which in turn should be reflected in the differentiated approach you take to your employee engagement strategy. Ensure you have a range of activities and benefits employees can engage with, and allow them to connect and engage in their own time. 
   6. Lack of recognition and rewards: When employees feel that their hard work goes unnoticed, they can quickly become disengaged. Acknowledging and appreciating employee contributions boosts morale and creates a culture of appreciation and recognition. Celebrating employee achievements through public recognition, rewards, bonuses, and career progression will always positively impact employee engagement. 
   7. No training or development for employees: A lack of training and development for employees can lead to them feeling undervalued and unsure of their long term future within your team. Investing in employee training and development improves employee engagement and benefits the individual employee and the organisation. When employees have opportunities for professional growth and skills development, they not only improve their own performance but can also see that the organisation values their long-term success.
   8. A poor workplace culture: A poor work culture can reduce motivation, create a sense of disconnection and cause low morale, ultimately leading to decreased productivity and increased employee turnover. Encouraging a positive workplace culture involves open communication, support employee wellbeing, and actively addressing issues such as inadequate management and lack of recognition
   9. No employee wellbeing support: A huge driver of higher levels of employee engagement is to implement employee wellbeing initiatives. Promoting physical, mental and emotional health impacts productivity and absenteeism which in turn improves employee engagement. See our latest blog for 80+ ideas for employee wellbeing and benefits perks
   10. Ignoring demographic differences in yourr team: It is important to ensure that you personalise your employee engagement strategies to the characteristics within your team e.g age, parental status, and religion. For example, an employee in their early twenties will respond differently to activities than an employee in their 50s. Whilst an employee with children may have different priorities than an employee without children. If employees don’t feel that your employee engagement activities are suited to their needs, it can hinder your progress towards improved employee engagement. Using employee feedback to tailor activities to your employees will bring higher engagement rates to your teams. 
   11. Not using employee feedback: To improve employee engagement you have to have a thorough understand of how your employees think about feel about their place of work. Gathering feedback using tools such as surveys, and making changes based on that feedback will help employees feel heard and show them they’re valued. Ensure you create regular opportunities for employees to share feedback so you can understand changes in employee engagement in each of your teams and get ahead of any issues. Learn more about how to use surveys to measure employee engagement here.
   12. Not practicing what you preach: Employees look to their managers for cues on how to behave. If leadership aren’t displaying good engagement and wellbeing behaviours, your employees probably won’t do it either. Make sure managers – especially your leadership team – aren’t showing employees that the only way to be successful is to get burnt out. 

What are the biggest barriers to improving employee engagement? 

Before you jump into fixing your employee engagement mistakes it is important to understand the barriers that will hinder your efforts. There can be a range of things that will impact your efforts to improve employee engagement, along with the challenges we mentioned already, others can include:

Ineffective communication

Poor communication will hinder your progress towards improving your employee engagement by creating confusion, misalignment, and a lack of understanding amongst employees. This lack of clarity leads to a disconnect between your efforts and your overarching goals. It also deprives employees of the information they need to feel connected, informed and valued. Hurting your employee engagement further.

Not having a clear employee engagement strategy

If you don’t have a clear employee engagement strategy you will struggle to create a structured plan that enhances key factors such as productivity, belonging, and wellbeing. This will make it difficult for you to identify and address these areas and will diminish the overall impact of your engagement efforts. 

Not adapting your approach if needed

Failing to adapt your strategy in line with employee feedback, changing organisational dynamics or employee needs will result in a strategy that is less effective over time. Employee engagement is constantly evolving, and your approach to supporting it must be able to evolve at the same pace. 

Not having buy-in from senior leaders and managers

Without buy-in from senior leaders and managers, your employee engagement strategy and related initiatives may lack the necessary resource and direction needed to succeed.

Insufficient training

If employee and managers aren’t properly trained on the areas of your employee engagement strategy they are working on it will lead to misunderstandings and poor quality work, which will impact your overall effectiveness. For example, if they are unaware of how to correctly use your survey tool, it could lead to data collection errors and a lack of confidence in the results.

Inflexible culture 

If your organisation has cultivated a rigid culture that is resistant to change it can impede efforts to adapt and evolve, particularly when it comes to the engagement strategies you put in place in response to shifting employee needs and external factors. 

Choosing the wrong survey tools & technology

Introducing the wrong survey tools can lead to unreliable data collection and inaccurate measurements of employee engagement. This will hinder your ability to address specific issues and improve overall employee engagement. Interested in learning more? Read Stribe’s buyer’s guide to employee engagement software.

How do you improve employee engagement? 

To ensure your initiatives improve employee engagement, it is important you use employee feedback to monitor and tailor them to your team’s specific needs. The list below gives you some examples of how to improve employee engagement in your organisation:

• Employee engagement surveys
• Regular feedback and recognition
• Employee development opportunities
• Flexible working arrangements
• Employee wellbeing programmes
• Effective communication
• Team building
• Clear expectations, goals, and objectives
• Empower employees with autonomy
• Foster social connections

Let Stribe guide you through

We aren’t just employee survey software.

Here at Stribe we also have a team of people scientists that work with you every step of the way.

Our experts are an extension of your team, guiding you through every twist and turn of your workplace engagement journey. 

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About the author

Lucy Harvey

Lucy Harvey, COO at Stribe, has 11+ years’ experience in purpose-driven leadership roles across health, wellbeing, internal communications, employee engagement, and marketing. She is passionate about creating workplaces where people are happy, fulfilled, and feel comfortable and safe to talk.