GiftCard Partners Blog

Employee development is an underutilized human resources tool. Putting an emphasis on manager coaching and development at all levels of an organization can be the best way to build a great culture and make your organization a great place to work. Employee development begins with clear and open communication, giving employees the resources they need and giving employee autonomy where possible. Avoiding micro-managing in favor of long-term employee development not only makes your workforce stronger as individuals, but it breeds a culture of loyalty, trust and advancement. As you can see below,
only 46% of employees feel that their managers communicate openly and clearly. Ensuring that employees are getting honest feedback and that expectations are being set and communicated appropriately are two of the most important things a manager can give an employee to help further develop their careers. A solid foundation will lead to a long future for your employees and your organization. When employees are happy, satisfied and feel like they not only work each day, but learn and improve, productivity and job satisfaction also improve.

Social media has become and integral part of all of our lives, whether we like it or not. Using social media to engage employees can be a great tool, it's become a staple for many Americans in their day to day routine and requires voluntary participation by definition. Here are four great ways to use social media to stimulate employee engagement, no matter your organizations size.

A company's most valuable asset is their top performing employees. Employee engagement and keeping those employees happy are the easiest way to retain those top performers. Most companies focus on finding and hiring the best talent, but the goal shouldn't stop there.  Employee engagement, keeping employees motivated and invested in the company culture, and the strategy behind it all is equally important.  Management must do more than just the "given" benefits, such as compensations, vacation, and paid lunches.

We talk a lot about employee engagement, but today let’s focus our attention on customer engagement (and as you may know, customer engagement and employee engagement correlate with each other).  The best companies know that acquiring new customers and customer retention are key to real sustainable growth, no matter what industry your company is in.  Jobs follow customers. Without your customers there would be no company. Over the last 5 years, gaining and retaining customer has been difficult and the customer base has changed dramatically.  Customers are more cautious about spending and demanding more in return. Over the next 30 years, roughly
$140 trillion in new customer spending will be up for grabs! The best companies set out to win their customers over for life. They also understand that customer engagement is not something that happens overnight. Each encounter with a customer has a chance to strengthen and even undermine a customer/company relationship. Strong customer engagement creates customers that spend more, visit more, and promote your company, all while resisting competitors and forgiving mistakes. The economic landscape has improved over the last year and companies can make significant progress in growing their customer base. Last year the greatest percentage of customers were fully engaged based on global data analysis – more than at any other point in the last 5 years.  Companies should focus on optimizing every customer interaction, create emotional connections with their customer, and constantly measure customer engagement (a good method is surveying customers either online or in-store). With meaningful data, companies can easily spot positive trends to build on and eliminate negative issues before they become problematic. Want more insight into your customers?  Download the State of the American Consumer:
Insight for Business Leaders from Gallup, Inc.
here!

When it comes to employee engagement the best companies strive to not only lead but also inspire their employees. They create a vision for their company that allows them to grow by valuing their employees and giving them a voice within the company. Here are some best practices that company leaders can use to help engage their employees: