Status Check: How Well Are You Engaging Your Employees?
By Christopher A. Pajak
While we are still dealing with difficult economic times, we’re certainly seeing some positive signs of recovery.
In particular, we’re seeing signs that credit unions are beginning to consider hiring for new and/or replacement positions that had previously been put on hold. This begs the question: Has your credit union done a good job of keeping employees engaged so they won’t think about jumping ship as the economy turns around? If the answer is no, it’s never too late. Let’s take a moment to review some tips from one of my previous articles to see where you stand on your employee engagement efforts.
1. Have you been leveraging internal resources to help with staff professional development?
While it is likely that you have cut back on your training budget, hopefully you haven’t cut back on opportunities to utilize your more senior, experienced staff to help with initiatives such as mentoring, job shadowing or conducting internal training. A lot of employee growth can come from on-the-job opportunities, and these initiatives won’t cost you a dime.
More importantly, it’s a win-win scenario. It helps provide development for more junior employees while also reinforcing your confidence in senior staff with regard to their knowledge and skills. This also shows how much you value them and results in higher engagement for all parties involved.