Tech tips to increase the engagement of your employees

Maintaining the engagement of your employees has never been more important since due to COVID-19 the working conditions in most companies are completely different than it was before.

In the current work climate, maintaining the motivation of your workforce has never been more critical - and complicated. Fortunately, there are great tools on the market that can make team life human resources easier and enhance employee engagement.

Amy MacGregor from global company HR, Manulife and speaker at the upcoming HR conference in Toronto, shares some of the ways she tries to keep company employees loyal.

1. Mobile - make it easy, simple and accessible

HR professionals need easy and effective ways to communicate quickly with them employees, which means mobile is really the key, says MacGregor. Mobile interfaces allow HR teams and employees to handle things related to their work immediately.

2. Peer-to-peer recognition

Nothing can motivate an employee better than acknowledging his efforts.

"Employees feel good when their efforts are recognized," says MacGregor, adding that leaders and employees can earn points by participating in Podium, a global recognition program.

3. Cooperation

Manulife uses a tool called Mural for collaboration. Groups can use it to create for example diagrams in collaboration with their colleagues.

"The tool can be used to bring different teams together to solve real business problems," says MacGregor.

4. Ongoing and regular feedback

"Continuous feedback is very important for employee evaluation," says MacGregor. Manulife has many channels for collecting feedback, either via email or through the HRIS tool.

5. Data

Human resources teams can use data to support human decision-making and understand the current state of their workforce - data is the key to really know your employees and understand their needs, says MacGregor.

6. Stay in touch with your co-workers while working from home

Finding a way to stay connected to the workforce is one of the biggest invitations faced by employers in the current climate. Since Manulife like most Companies works remotely, MacGregor says they use technology like Microsoft Teams and regularly have virtual meetings, regular "ask me anythings" (AMAs) with senior leadership teams, happy hours and driving talks. Opportunities to interact with colleagues outside of everyday life work is the key to maintaining a strong corporate culture.