Hiring great employees is just the first step in building a solid team to drive your business. After you’ve found a great team, you’ll need to focus on ways to improve employee engagement to create lasting success in field services.
Stick with these tips and you’ll likely start seeing benefits like:
- A Boost in Morale
- Increased Staff Retention
- A More Supportive Work Environment
- Satisfied Customers Leaving More Five-Star Reviews
Satisfied and engaged staff members rely on their company to fill their work with meaning. Also, a more engaged team means a higher chance they will be productive. That’s why it’s important to find ways to sustain and improve employee engagement within your field service business.
We’ve compiled five of the top engagement techniques that you can begin to incorporate into your business today.
What Is Employee Engagement?
Before we dive into the top five techniques to improve employee engagement, let’s talk about what employee engagement means for your field service business.
In short, employee engagement is measured by a person’s commitment to their role and their emotional connection towards their team and company.
Depending on the employee’s connection to their work, they may love what they do and plan to stay with their employer long-term. On the other hand, they may hold negative views towards their company and could be planning their exit.
Engagement is not simply measured by an employee’s level of day-to-day happiness. A team member may appear happy with their compensation and teammates, but they may begin to lose interest if their work is not professionally challenging or personally fulfilling. When properly implemented, staff engagement also measures overall dedication towards their role within the organization.
Always remember it’s a two-way street to improve employee engagement. Employers must consistently create opportunities for employees to succeed. If employers foster an engaging environment, staff members are more likely to thrive in their jobs – resulting in a more successful field service business.
Now, let’s discuss the top 5 steps to improve employee engagement:
1. Consistent Communication
Open lines of communication are key for engaging with your staff. Begin by clearly outlining roles and job expectations. Your staff must understand what a job well done looks like in their specific role.
Make sure employees know how their contributions align with your overall business goals. Employees should also be briefed regularly on how the business is doing and how any upcoming changes might affect operations.
Consider scheduling a short team meeting each week to check in and discuss any company updates. Managers or owners may also schedule one-on-one meetings to talk individually with employees. During these meetings, allow staff the opportunity to ask questions or voice concerns.
By following these steps, employees will feel that their voices are heard and that they are in the know.
2. Show Team Appreciation
Nobody wants a thankless job. Engaged employees are more likely to feel valued and appreciated in their work. Consider offering incentives or bonuses for hard-working employees. Gift cards and extra days off can provide additional motivation for a busy team. Sales spiffs are also helpful in achieving a short-term team goal.
During team meetings, plan time for shoutouts to recognize employees for their accomplishments. Finally, don’t forget to give frequent written or spoken encouragement. A well-timed “thank you so much” or “you did a great job” can go a long way!
3. Equip Field Service Employees
Make sure employees have all the tools they need to execute their job quickly and effectively. Employees that feel effective are often more successful and engaged.
In one-on-one meetings, ask if there are any workflow issues hindering progress in the field or office. When barriers arise, explore tools or solutions that would help staff complete jobs more efficiently. Perform regular inventory and truck checks to make sure techs can safely travel and complete jobs on time.
If your team uses a field service management software, make sure that your employees are comfortable using its features and latest updates. If you use FieldEdge, your team has access to FieldEdge Academy. This training tool helps employees master different software functions and features with bite-sized lessons, videos and quizzes.
Help everyone on your team succeed by using the best field service software available. Book your FREE personalized demo of FieldEdge today!
4. Encourage a Team Mentality
Each member of a company’s team strives to meet common goals – even if some work independently at times. In this case, it helps to be upfront about how each member’s contributions align with the work of the entire team. Also encourage a team mindset by making sure everyone, including yourself, lives up to the company’s mission and vision.
In addition, it’s important to share the success of your field service business with the team. For example, the best field service businesses provide set bonuses or wage increases for their team when a profit goal is met.
Remember the phrase teamwork makes the dream work? Share the business’ success with the team to set an example that shows how working together as a team towards a common goal leads to great things. Sharing the fruits of the team’s labor with everyone encourages cooperation and creates a team mentality.
Also, help engagement by holding regular team meetings and planning informal group gatherings or virtual events. Team lunches, happy hours or occasional outings can all help employees get to know each other outside of a work environment.
5. Plan for Growth
During one-on-one meetings, make sure employees are feeling motivated and appropriately challenged in their role. Nobody likes to be bored at work!
Also, set aside time to help staff members identify strengths and skills that they want to grow. Then help find ways for employees to improve their strengths – classes, conferences and books are all helpful resources.
You might also outline career paths or growth opportunities within your organization. This shows employees that there is opportunity for upward mobility in their career with your company.
For example, perhaps a receptionist could work towards becoming a dispatcher, or a newer tech could strive to become a senior technician or crew leader. Opportunities for growth allow employees to see a future with your field service business.
In addition, field service employees need to be properly compensated to feel valued. Annual wage increases and bonuses are a necessity for encouraging employee retention.
Use These Top 5 Strategies to Improve Employee Engagement Today!
Once you’ve decided to invest time to improve employee engagement at your company, you’ll see the benefits everywhere you look:
- Happier, more productive employees
- Increased customer satisfaction
- Resulting in bottomline growth
- And higher staff retention
It is worth your time and attention to focus on employee engagement within your organization. There is no one surefire approach that fits all companies, but we’re confident you can start one of these five tips today and see immediate results.
