Best practices for employee engagement
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Unlimited gourmet food, lunchtime massages
and an on-site gym may be nice perks, but they often have little direct effect on employee engagement. Often companies only think of giving employees more tangible objects in an effort to retain top-notch talent. But a majority of the time what employees are looking for isn’t an increased salary or more company benefits — they want a sense of community, opportunity to grow in their field and a culture that inspires them to shoot for the stars. It’s time for companies to think creatively about how to engage employees. Best practices for employee engagement page 2

page 3 Best practices for
employee engagement According to a Gallup poll, 70 percent of employees feel disengaged at work. “The war for talent is over, and the talent has won. Essentially people are looking for a different experience at work.” — Josh Bersin, principal at Bersin by Deloitte 70% LEARN MORE

Best practices for employee engagement
page 4 Let’s flip the switch and take a stand to make employees feel more captivated at work. Here are 8 strategies:

page 5 Best practices for
employee engagement one-on-one with employees Employees feel more engaged when managers care about an employee’s work performance and personal life. Plus by talking to an employee on a regular basis, a manager can better understand an employee’s interests values and talents.

Best practices for employee engagement
page 6 When employees feel empowered to think outside the box, they have an increased sense of control, power and ownership of their work. Take Google’s intrapreneurship program: The tech company lets employees spend 20 percent of their time on personal projects that advance the company’s mission.20%

page 7 Best practices for
employee engagement employees to spearhead a project Employees that are given the responsibility to own a project are more likely to put more effort into it and rally all resources at their disposal to make it the best possible. Bonus: Managers can discover an employee’s hidden talents that aren’t used in the current day-to-day job.

Best practices for employee engagement
page 8 Don’t whisper — scream about successes Big wins inspire and motivate employees to perform well. Don’t wait until a scheduled review to talk about a success — make it known right then and there, and say it loud!

page 9 Best practices for
employee engagement Help employees Using skills that they’re best at makes employees feel more capable, competent and confident. But doing the same thing over and over can get redundant and tedious, so offer continuous opportunities for employees to develop new skills. In 2008, 55 percent of U.S. companies invested in cross-training employees to develop new skills. In 2011, only 43 percent. In 2013, 38 percent, according to the Society for Human Resource Management.

Best practices for employee engagement
page 10 to what employees prioritize Show employees that their thoughts are valued by listening to what matters most to them and putting those ideas into action, whether it’s being able to work from home on Fridays or having a company softball team.

page 11 Best practices for
employee engagement back to the community Volunteering makes employees feel more invested in their workplace, gives them a positive view of the company and helps recruit younger generations. Plus, employees can develop both soft and technical skills by volunteering their expertise. Need inspiration for where to start? Look to these 3 companies.

Best practices for employee engagement
page 12 a culture of feedback Discuss where employees are excelling, as well as opportunities for improvement or contributions — they’ll likely need training and resources to expand their skills. Encourage them to always come to you with questions.

page 13 Best practices for
employee engagement employees are . . . likely to do something good for the company that is unexpected of them more likely to make a recommendation for an improvement more likely to recommend a friend or relative apply for a job with their employer 2x’s 3x’s 6x’s according to recent research from the Temkin Group

Cornerstone OnDemand is a leader
in cloud-based applications for talent management. The company’s solutions help organizations recruit, train, manage and engage their employees, empowering their people and increasing workforce productivity. Based in Santa Monica, California, the company’s solutions are used by over 1,700 clients worldwide, spanning more than 14.5 million users across 191 countries and 41 languages. For more information about Cornerstone, visit csod.com. Read Cornerstone’s blog at csod.com/blog. Follow Cornerstone on Twitter at twitter.com/CornerstoneInc. Like Cornerstone on Facebook at facebook.com/CSODcommunity. Learn more at www.csod.com