Why Employee Engagement Matters to SME’s

It can be tough being an owner of an SME; constantly competing against larger corporations who have access to services and resources that you could only dream of.

Of course, there are multiple benefits to running an SME: more customer involvement, having the ability to offer a more unique service or product and being able to adapt to a changing marketplace much faster than your bigger counterparts (to name but a select few!).

However, as a SME, there are certain aspects of your business that you need to make sure you take more care with, or you may risk losing the edge that you have over larger businesses.

The most important aspect of this is your employees, and more specifically, their engagement and commitment to your business. Because without loyal and invested employees, an SME will rarely succeed.

How do you ensure your employees remain engaged in your business? Keep reading to find out.

What is employee engagement?

Not to be confused with employee satisfaction, employee engagement is the level of commitment, passion and effort that your employees are willing to put into their job and your business.

Without employee engagement, you will be unable to retain talented employees and in turn, your business will suffer.

Do you really want to be wasting your valuable time and money on constant recruitment when you could have simply put more effort into keeping your current employees happy and motivated?

What are the key components of employee engagement?

There are many aspects to successful employee engagement, and to truly support and motivate your employees, you really need to be focusing on each individual.

Good management

If you want your employees to show commitment and enthusiasm, then they need a leader who already shows these traits in abundance. A good leader should also focus on effective praise and strong communication with their employees.

Proactive listening

If you wait until an employee comes to you with a grievance, then you may already be too late. Instead, invest in regular employee surveys that will determine the needs and feelings of your employees. This means you can act before an employee becomes disillusioned with your business.

Positive working culture

Ensuring that you have a positive corporate culture is vital when it comes to the happiness of your employees, which in turn leads to higher levels of employee engagement.

Recognising employee efforts

Whether that be for a particular success or from being a member of the team for X amounts of years; recognising and rewarding your employees for their achievements is vital if you want to keep them committed to your business.

Encouraging growth

Both professional and personal growth play an important role in keeping an employee engaged; because without the opportunity to better oneself, employees can easily become bored and lose interest in making your business a success. Ensure you offer training opportunities as well as focusing on internal rather than external promotions.

Share your vision

As an SME, you will inevitably have a smaller team of staff, meaning you are in the lucky position of being able to share your goals and vision for the future of your company with your employees. Not only will this make them feel more involved in your business, but it also offers a platform for them to share their ideas and unique perspective on how to help the business grow.

Remember, it is the employees who are on the front line. They are the ones personally interacting with your customers day in and day out; their insight is invaluable.