Your company is your people.

Sure, you may produce a product, have a great service, or provide something else to consumers or businesses. But without your employees, you’re dead in the water. And guess what? Most of them are “checked out.”

A recent study put together by OfficeVibe revealed some shocking statistics about employee engagement, including:

· 70% of U.S. workers are not engaged with their employer
· 89% of companies think employees leave for more money; only 12% actually do
· Disengaged employees cost businesses up to $550 billion annually
· 60% of employees don’t even know their company’s goals
· 90% of leaders think an engagement strategy would help; less than 1 in 4 have one

That last point is the real kicker. When it comes to how to keep employees engaged and motivated, many organizations struggle to find effective strategies. However, Cinebody’s User-Directed Content® (UDC) can be a game-changer. By empowering your employees to capture authentic content, you can easily ignite their enthusiasm for contributing to your brand and mission. This approach not only fosters a sense of ownership and pride but also comes at a minimal cost to implement.

Three Easy Ways To Engage Employees Using Authentic Video.

Obviously the first step to solving a problem is knowing you have one, and if you’ve read this far you want solutions. While engaging employees through video content isn’t the “one and done” answer, it can go a long way to turning the tide to create an energetic, loyal, and engaged workforce.

1: Start small for big results

It can be tempting to shoot for the moon and ask everyone and their dog to start filming. That’s not a good idea. Spray and pray methods don’t work in this environment; you’ll be overwhelmed, the project will be harder to manage, and you may end up creating more animosity than good will.

Instead, focus on your key people who have something to say. That doesn’t mean the most senior people, but those who can really get into video creation and share their enthusiasm and outlook to the rest of the staff.

What do you choose to film? Well that’s your call, but it could be as simple as a Q&A session with 4-5 key people, or individual stories that inspire others (selfie videos are proven to be effective in improving engagement and morale). And as Cinebody can be used around the world, you don’t have to limit it to staff in one location. In fact, a global perspective can be even more of an engagement strategy.

2: Next, ignite the fire

You’ve got some content under your belt, and it’s great. Now it’s time to use that content to really help your engagement strategy grow.

Again, focus on your key people (you may want to branch out to a few more employees, but always keep it manageable) and rally them around a company-wide initiative or event. Do you have an all-hands meeting coming up with an after party? Is there an annual picnic or off-site team-building exercise coming up? UDC is perfect for these activities.

Your key people can capture the shot list you put together, and can also engage other employees to speak on camera and share their enthusiasm and opinions. And as more people engage with others, the campaign gets even stronger. Pretty soon, it’s spreading like wildfire.

3: Now, fan the flames

It’s time to build on the buzz you have created. Your employees will not only be aware of the video content that’s being created, they’ll want to get in on the act. One of the biggest drivers of this is FOMO (fear of missing out). When people see their peers in fun videos being shared around, they want to be part of it. And with UDC it’s easy to let them in.

This is where you can harness the power of the Cinebody platform to spread engaging content around the company. If you’re in a huge multinational organization, your employees may feel disconnected or even in the dark about what is going on around them. Let your employees enlighten each other with authentic content that you can curate and distribute in offices around the world.

You can have your employees make content suggestions, too. The more they are driving the footage, the more likely it is to be genuine and shareable. Before you know it, your content videos have boosted morale, elevated the culture, and reduced turnover.

It really is that simple, and that quick, to turn a disengaged workforce into a thriving community. And all because you let the employees get behind the camera…for you.