Engaged employees bring a sackful of benefits. Better attitudes. Stronger teams. Higher productivity. Improved retention rates. All are in reach – if you can nail down effective employee engagement strategies from the get-go.

But how do you know what’s going to work? The key is to try different approaches and iterate as you go. Don’t overthink things. It doesn’t have to be hard to implement employee engagement strategies. Just start small and take your time to work up to the more adventurous stuff.

And with every step, examine the data to understand what success looks like for your organization. Here’s our five-point plan for getting things going!

1. Start with a survey

Perfect for those who’ve never tried employee engagement strategies, a simple survey can find out how employees feel, how engaged they are, the values they hold – and whether they believe your company aligns with those values.

Don’t overburden your respondents. Keep the survey short and snappy, giving you the overall pulse of your employee engagement levels. Roll them out every six months and promote honest, transparent answers. The safer your employees feel, the more engaged they’ll be.

2. Reinforce and demonstrate your values

If you haven’t already, get your company’s values documented and circulated among all your employees. Then do everything you can to reinforce them in team meetings, internal emails, and day-to-day behaviors.

If you’ve yet to formalize your company’s values, use your data responses to shape your principles. Showing that you’ve listened like this is a great way to engage employees and make them feel like they have a say in your company’s direction of travel.

3. Ensure internal mobility

Who’s most likely to stick around? The employee that can see opportunities for growth in a company that promotes from within and recognizes top performers? Or the employee that sees no reason to stay, work hard, and achieve their goals?

Use video to create content that focuses on employee highlights and successes to spread the word, build engagement, and act as a great add-on for employer branding strategies.

4. Foster a community

This can be done in several ways: for a start, consider setting up business resource groups, sports teams, or company events. The common factor is they all build camaraderie, helping employees to feel more engaged within the organization. Check out Celonis for how it uses video to highlight its efforts.

5. Make things fun

Wherever possible, remember that work doesn’t have to be boring. Look for opportunities to surprise and delight: unexpected days off, planned lunches, or collaborative and creative projects are all ways to brighten people’s day.

Small steps, big results

With the right employee engagement strategies, your business can quickly reach the next stage of its development and both recruit and retain higher-quality team members. There’s no reason to hold back – and every reason to get started!