Are you feeling the pressure to keep your talent engaged and connected? Will your employees flourish? If you have a big budget there’s no problem launching a host of great HR and development programs. If not, download our “Ultimate Guide to Employee Engagement" and learn a few simple, budget-friendly things you can do to help take your employees and organization to new heights.

1. 15 Ways to
Take Your Employees
Further in 2016

2. Fifteen tips to get the most out of your
employees without breaking the bank.

3. Will your employees flourish in
2016? If you have a big budget
there’s no problem launching a host
of great HR or training and
development programs.
If not, here are a few simple things
you can do for your employees that
will help them, and your
organization, reach new heights in
the year ahead.
Let’s get started with Tip No. 1. . .
Big budget or no budget, try these tips.

4. Do talent reviews for everyone.
Find at least one meaningful development activity for everyone—a new
assignment, responsibility, or training program will stretch them and
demonstrate the company isn’t taking them for granted.

5. Gaining new skills and developing talent can revitalize an
employee who feels stagnant in their career.

6. Enable employees to learn from each other.
Casual lunch and learns can be a nice opportunity for employees to share a tip,
a skill, or some knowledge. Try a “knowledge café,” where small groups
converse about a business issue or something they have recently learned.

7. Make space by (temporarily) killing programs.
You can’t do new stuff without getting rid of old stuff. Try giving up a stale program
just for the year. If it is a worthwhile program, add it back. If no one misses it, then
it stays gone.

8. Implement the
secret that sits at
the core of
continuous
improvement.
Empower people to make
suggestions for improvements
they can implement in their own
department. It is not just the
improvements that matter,
implementing suggestions gives
employees a sense of ownership
of their workplace.

9. Empower people to make suggestions so
they can gain a sense of ownership.

10. Nothing brings more energy to a
process than new blood. Shifting
responsibilities around can be a
good tactic for creating interesting
projects people can take on.
You will be surprised how even
junior people will step up with hard
work and good ideas when
challenged to take responsibility for
a meaningful project.
Shift around responsibility for programs.

11. Get your
executives on the
front lines.
Employees love to see the
executives spending a day doing
front line work. It helps employees
feel connected to the mission of
the business and helps executives
understand the issues that stand
in the way of workers achieving
peak performance.

12. Let them blog!
In HR we know how important and motivating it can be to have a chance to
express yourself. Encourage employees to blog and then get out of their way. If
you have concerns, all you need is a policy that says HR will remove any blogs
that are offensive. That is it. Experience shows offensive postings are rare. Try it
and you will find the benefits far outweigh the occasional hiccup.

13. Down the Ultimate Guide to Employee Engagement here!

14. Tap the fountain of wellness.
Wellness initiatives have the unusual property of being good for employees while
saving the company money. Where organizations fall down is that they create
programs without figuring out how to get employees enthused about them. Focus
on making participation fun and the program will pay off.

15. Often, the best thing is just to ask
employees what they need and what
they would like. You do not need
surveys, focus groups or a task force.
Just talk to people.
Talk in the elevator, on the way to the
parking lot, over a coffee, or in the
hallway. Asking people what they think
in casual, everyday chats will generate
all the insights you need.
Ask employees what they need.

16. Introduce a “buddy”
program for new hires.
The onboarding process can be
greatly enhanced by pairing new hires
up with an established (not their
manager) employee.
Having a resource for information on
office procedures, culture quirks, or
even the best places to grab lunch
can make the first months of a new
job much easier.
Not only does this sort of program
help the new hire, but can provide an
opportunity to re-engage the “buddy”
by reaffirming their knowledge of the
organization and reminding them of
their first days on the job.
And while you’re at it…

17. Consider developing
a mentor program.
Pairing up individuals at different
stages in their careers, in different
departments, and different
backgrounds and can be a
valuable two-way street of
knowledge transfer.
Whether it is a seasoned
employee providing advice on
career development or a younger
employee providing insight into
new technology or techniques,
breaking down silos and
hierarchies can have a profound
effect on an organization and help
your employees establish and
reach goals.

18. Provide opportunities to be
social both on- and offline.
Employee groups on social networks or within
company intranets can give employees a way to ask
questions, share knowledge, have their voices heard,
and develop connections. These forums and
networks give employees access to colleagues and
information through a familiar tool.
But don’t limit socializing to online activity! Give your
employees a chance to mingle in real time as well.
Encouraging open, face-to-face communication can
help your employees build relationships that can help
them overcome challenges.

19. Get creative and give time to
employees to do the same.
Set aside a day a quarter or a few hours every month for
teams to brainstorm innovative ideas or share a creative
endeavor. Infusing outside interests or injecting much
needed creativity can break up the work monotony, build
team trust, and bring new ideas to the table.

20. Develop your employees as brand ambassadors
Refresh training on products, reaffirm the company mission, and empower
employees to spread the word on company milestones and achievements. Send out
an email detailing a big win or the release of a new product, with a sharable
message can instill a sense of pride in your workforce and an easy way to get the
word out to the rest of the world.

21. Start an employee “kudos” program.
A sincere acknowledgement, a small reward, an email, or even a post-it
note thanking employees for a job well done can go a long way to making
employees feel valued and appreciated.

22. Building a culture of learning, engagement, and continuous improvement
takes a whole lot of little initiatives. These simple ideas can help ensure
your employees go further in 2016.

23. Down the Ultimate Guide to Employee Engagement here!

24. About SilkRoad
SilkRoad® is a leading global provider of
cloud-based, end-to-end talent
management solutions that enable
customers to find, attract, develop, and
retain the best talent. The award-winning
SilkRoad® Life Suite® includes Talent
Acquisition, Talent Development, and
HRMS solutions that are delivered through
a Talent Portal to drive greater
engagement, collaboration, and user
adoption. The suite is easy to deploy, easy
to use, and affordable for businesses of
every size. Visit www.silkroad.com for
more information.
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25. Take Your Employees Further in 2016
Thank you!