Employee engagement is highly valued by top-performing companies for a good reason: Engaged employees demonstrate their commitment to company goals through exceptional effort and results.
Research shows that engaged teams are more profitable, have lower turnover, and yield more satisfied customers than less engaged teams.
A great way to improve your employee engagement is to actively involve your team in professional development opportunities. Hey! Why stop there? Give your team (and yourself) the tools necessary to plan and work toward those professional development goals.
Employees who are engaged and see a future at their current company seek out ways to go above and beyond what is expected and work to achieve the best that is possible.
The key to building workforce engagement is providing growth opportunities that keep employees challenged and focused on learning. A Udemy study found that the top reason employees feel bored or disengaged at work is a lack of opportunities to grow and learn.
When employees have opportunities to build skills and undertake activities that help them meet their career goals, their work has extra meaning.
Moreover, performing meaningful work helps employees develop a deeper connection to the company. Music to your ears, right? Less employee turnover and a more productive workforce probably mean you are more likely to hit your business goals, too.
One study found that when employees find meaning in their work, they produce more, work more, and stay at companies longer. Some examples of experiences that enable employee growth and engagement include:
Training that teaches new skills
Rotations through different business units
Stretch assignments
Promotions to leadership positions
This is not an initiative that happens overnight. You and your leadership team need tools to plan and manage this program, and your workforce needs transparency and empowerment to really buy in.
Although building and sustaining employee engagement through professional development is a challenge, it’s not impossible, and org chart planning can help.
You can build an engaged workforce by using the company org chart to plan career paths, identify team leaders, and build individual development plans.
Taking a proactive approach to staffing and employee development energizes employees and provides them with the ongoing support they need to become more committed to the company. It’s a total win-win!
Equipped with an understanding of how opportunities for growth fuel employee engagement, you can incorporate org chart software in workplace planning to keep employees energized long term.
Workforce planning with org charts supports engagement by encouraging more frequent conversations about employees’ opportunities for promotions, lateral moves, or expanded responsibilities. It also ensures that each team has the right leader at the right time, and it doesn’t leave decisions about team structure and leadership to chance.
When employees see that the company is committed to taking a proactive approach to employee growth and advancement, they’re more likely to become committed as well. Workforce planning with org charts supports engagement by:
Adding transparency in the workplace by showing employees different career paths that might not have been apparent otherwise
Identifying talent gaps early to avoid overwhelming employees with extra work created by vacant positions
Supporting organizational alignment so each individual has a clearly defined role to play in achieving company goals
Creating opportunities to recognize strong performers who are ready for the next step in their career
Involving key leaders in talent planning to empower more invested team stakeholders
An engaged workforce enables future organizational growth.
Providing professional growth opportunities through org chart planning helps you achieve company goals that would be unattainable if your employees were disengaged, bored, or unmotivated.
An org chart is more than a tool that illustrates the current organizational structure.
It can be configured in various planning scenarios, opening up new ways to look at career paths, promotional opportunities, and team leadership.
It can be dynamic and shared in different configurations with different team members.
It can be interactive and mobile for your on-the-move team.
It can be linear or complex to show more than just direct reports, like mentors or peer advisers.
When you use an automated organization chart to plan for the company’s future, employees have more clarity about their options for learning and growth, and more opportunities to grow in engagement.