Even after being such a covered topic all over the WWW, employment engagement with technology is still a buzz for many of you. Which means if you think that statistics in this particular area would be booming- unfortunately, it’s not the case!

A couple of years ago, a global decrease was witnessed in context to employee productivity. This gave a rise in the phenomenon of employee engagement, and it soon became a buzz phase which was seen adopted by more and more businesses showing no signs of slowing down. According to several studies, only 30% of employees say that they are engaged in their job where as remaining ones revealed that they were actively disengaged due to certain reasons. This is a significant issue; one shouldn’t take it lightly! However, if there is a will, there is always a way out! But before we delve deeper, let us brush up with the basics.

Defining employee engagement

As the name implies, it is the way through which you can measure how emotionally attached your staff is within the organization. I mean a well-engaged employee will always look for the success of the company instead of worrying about their next paycheck. According to Forbes, employee engagement is the emotional connect, or should I use the word commitment the employee has to the organization and its goals. Like I said before, if your employee is dedicated or engaged enough to your organization that he won't be the one bothering just about his or her huge salary and swanky benefits. He will consider things way beyond as if the company is his responsibility.

Now I have come across many of you who crib or keep nagging about their bosses. And why that's the case? Because business owners many times forget the fact that employees are even humans featuring a plethora of emotions. And trust me a lot that happens when you’re spending eight hours a day in an office! So understand this, your employees do wish to have a say in the business, they need to feel like they are part of a team that’s working towards a common goal. By disgracing or completely ignoring their emotions you won't ever be able to make them feel as a valued member of the company. According to maximum employees, their bosses always sees them as just a tool to generate profit. And that's the reason why people keep switching their jobs like nomads. So, how come technology comes into play? Now every business these days inherit tools or new dangly gadgets, such as mobile phones, smart devices, tablets, and so forth. Unfortunately, employers consider such as things that sink productivity by taking up people’s time with games about candy and farms and pirates, which is absolutely not true! In case a worker doesn’t want to be productive in your company trust me, he will find one way or the other. Technology has nothing to do with that!

On the contrary, leveraging Employee Engagement with Technology results in:

#1 Encourage collaborative working

Flexibility has become a must whether you are dealing with professional or personal life. It's high time to realize flexibility and virtual are gaining momentum across the world. According to sources, 82% of workers who ‘telecommute’ experience less stress, while 80% have higher morale, and 69% missed fewer days of work. If simply put, companies must come up with something and make the most of technology to engage employee with the organization. They must feel the same passion to work as you do. Come up with ways to make them happier, more motivated, and productive while working. You know what is the biggest fear holding owners back? Trust issues! What if the employee doesn't work on time? What if he or she is productive enough while working virtually? No matter how difficult it is but one must have faith on their co-workers. Besides, other perks of a virtual workforce includes that it highly cuts overhead costs.

The keyword is communication! Now to keep up-to-date on projects instantaneously, you will find a plethora of professional social media and collaboration tools. Communicating on a frequent basis will definitely aid you while you are dealing with your trust issues. And of course, without a shadow of doubt using remote work can definitely boost employee engagement, irrespective of their location.  Specific tools to take into account include:

1. File sharing- Fret not I am not talking about the torrent way. Instead focus on using Dropbox, Google drive, or anything else. These tools features a straightforward interface, and a vast mass storage fees at cost effective rates. File sharing offers a great piece of mind especially when everything seems to be safe and well-communicated. Also, one shouldn't forget that everything stored here is backed up on the cloud!

2. Wikis- Much like Wikipedia, this tool in particular allows your employees to find all the information they require without asking anyone for help. For example, self-access center for training and development purpose. Using such tools can get everyone on the same page. In addition to this, you can keep all your employees updated on the right way of doing things. 

3. Org and Project management tools- Have you known regarding Asana, Jira, and Basecamp? Right from creating to organizing, and delegating tasks, sharing some aspects into shared projects, the tool offers it all. With such tools, you can also have conversations and necessary chats while working on the given tasks. I must say by using such hacks and tools, life becomes way easier and help increase engagement and productivity.

4. Shared whiteboards and forums- The tool allows business owners to assist their colleagues or even share ideas and collaborate work like never before. The collaboration tool can pass files, brainstorm, float questions and ideas, and compare notes. According to Hubspot, Slack is team post-it-note board on steroids.

#2 Allow personal tools at work

Again smartphones come into action. Millennial and Gen Z being the largest group love to stick to their smartphone devices while at work. Let them be! The key is to give an employee the autonomy to work the way they want when they want.

#3 Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Recognition

Last but certainly not the least, Using tools such as Salesforce chatter can help you in making your workforce feel valued and comfortable. Let the teammate encourage their teams by becoming cheerleaders and create stronger support networks. The method turns out as a bliss for those who have trouble with authorship. I am talking about the ones who don’t wish to get along with their superiors. By creating a culture of recognition, you can simply do wonders. Also, it gives rise to a whole new level of attitude and outlook in the work environment.