Most of us spend a lot of time at work. Unfortunately, feeling engaged while at the office isn’t always easy. If you’re trying to perform at high levels, you need encouragement and a strong sense of morale/camaraderie with your team. Sometimes management doesn’t understand that. That can be a big problem and lead to high turnover or other issues across the organization, especially with morale and productivity. So what can organizations do to keep employees engaged at work? And now can employees help ensure they’re staying engaged, productive, and active within their offices. There are a few advantageous activities that can help. In this article, we’ll offer a few suggestions for both employees and employers alike.

Set Goals

Sometimes, the easiest way to feel engaged in the workplace is to set and manage goals. This is a double-edged sword, however, because it requires working directly with management and fulfilling your goals while seeking a path to more development. For employees, setting goals at work is a critical practice. For one, it can help you stay focused and motivated. It’s pretty important when it comes to succeeding and thriving in a business. If you’re looking to improve productivity and increase efficiency, it’s good to have goals dedicated to that task. For employers, goals can help measure performance and identify improvement areas. It can also help with the concept of performance management, which is a system that relies on technology to continuously coach, train, and develop employee talent. For employees, it’s important to meet their goals and for employers, it’s just as important to measure how well those goals are being met. Good performance management system should include regular check-ins between managers and employees, providing a platform for feedback, and help employees learn new skills while providing direction for where they’re professionally.

Align Work With Personal Values

When it comes to being productive at work, you should make sure the work you’re doing is aligned with your personal values. It’s important to know what you are good at, where you might need improvements, and what direction you want to take for your life and career. Take some time to do a self assessment and determine your strengths and weaknesses. If you feel disengaged, this might be just the shot in the arm you need to get back into the working mode. The first step is to figure out what your strengths are—they may be different from the skills or traits that have helped you succeed in the past. Strengths come from within and can’t be taught or learned. They’re personal, unique, and often buried deep inside of us. That’s just how it is. Consider your past accomplishments and use them to inform current commitments. Solicit feedback from family and friends and be sure to make your goals with these in mind. Employers can use self evaluations or pulse surveys to help employees with their own self-assessment and find ways to align their personal values with your company values in order to create a wonderful comment engaging environment at your office.

Learn New Skills

Another way to cultivate better engagement at work is to take full advantage of opportunities to learn new skills and advance your career as much as possible. When you’re feeling disengaged at work, it’s crucial to ensure you’re working on the right things. That means learning from your mistakes and taking advantage of opportunities to learn new skills. No matter what position you’re in or how long you’ve been there, you can always learn something new and beneficial. Consider finding a mentor or taking an online class. There are also plenty of manuals and online learning platforms that can help you learn the new skills you need to thrive. It might be something that can streamline your work, help others, or make the job easier. Part of learning new skills is to ask for feedback and keep tabs on potential opportunities. Get involved with other departments or projects within their company.  By making your mark and demonstrating an interest in learning, you can increase engagement and perform better overall.

Get To Know Your Coworkers and Clients

When you’re establishing relationships with your coworkers, keep in mind that they’re people too. You might be working together or on a team, but it doesn’t mean you can’t be friendly and approachable with them. The same goes for clients. Never let their status as customers intimidate you into treating them like royalty. They deserve the same level of respect as anyone else and it’s better to have a client relationship that’s conducive to improving productivity and morale instead of making employees feel overwhelmed. If there is conflict between coworkers or clients, try to resolve issues as quickly as possible. Staying on track with your work is critical to remaining engaged. Remember that an HR can provide options for resolving disputes. Establishing a positive relationship and good rapport with your coworkers (the same goes for employers building rapport with their employees) will ultimately make the workplace a better one for everyone.

Use Employee Recognition Programs

Everyone wants to know that they’re valuable at work. It’s part of the human condition. We want to be valued for our previous work and define a sense of purpose for ourselves moving forward. It’s also integral to ensure that we’re all part of the same team. A significant aspect of ensuring that you are able to perform well and remain highly engaged is to be recognized at work. That’s where employee recognition platforms come into play. Comprehensive employee recognition programs are going to be helpful to any employees seeking recognition or looking to provide it for others. It’s a good way to celebrate milestones, anniversaries, and other accomplishments quickly and easily. Furthermore, it can provide a platform for rewards to give employees that little extra bit of power to lead them to hire achievement. At the end of the day, using employee recognition is beneficial to both the organization and the employees because it provides a sense of camaraderie, uses technology to render communication easier, and provides a platform for positive change in the workplace. And that’s one of the best ways to keep engagement high and turnover low.