INTERVIEW 58 Engaging a distributed workforce To accommodate remote and hybrid work practices, business leaders need to provide employees with the ability to monitor and manage their own performance, says isolved’s Lisa Tonk Employee engagement is key to building a successful business, according to human capital management software company isolved. The firm monitors HR trends each year and revealed in its 2023 report HR Trends of 2023: Pause, Pivot or Plan that 49 per cent of the surveyed 981 full-time US-based employees are looking for new jobs in 2023, while 59 per cent of them feel their employers could do more to enhance their career. With more than half of employees unhappy with their current work situation, isolved is encouraging firms to empower their teams to work more efficiently and together with engaging solutions. “It’s important to nurture peer relations, map career growth and create better candidate experiences for employees,” says Lina Tonk, chief marketing officer at isolved “Engagement is everything. Engaged employees do their best work, support other employees and contribute positively to both their team and company culture.” Conversely, disengaged employees could become a burden to businesses by performing poorly or having a negative impact on work culture. “Not all disengaged employees are at fault, however,” says Tonk. “They could potentially be disengaged because they lack a sense of belonging or believe their manager does not care for their success.” As more workforces have shifted to remote and hybrid working practices since 2020, it has become increasingly clear that managers who check in with their team members regularly are more likely to keep employees engaged and reduce the risk of them applying elsewhere. “Regular check-ins with employees are critical, especially when workforce culture has become an employee’s market over the last few years,” says Tonk. “Significant workforce disruptors like the pandemic and the ensuing ‘Great Resignation’ created a talent shortage that gave employees far more autonomy over where they work and for whom. This meant that business leaders and frontline managers had to rethink how to engage employees.” The 2023 survey also showed isolved that employee engagement isn’t always driven by perks or nontraditional benefits but is instead related to best practices. For example, the top ways that employees want to be engaged is through learning opportunities, team meetings and the ability to monitor and manage their own performance. BY ALICE CHAMBERS “ Engaged employees do their best work, support other employees and contribute positively to both their team and company culture”
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