(Guest post by Steven Stone)

Your organizational culture plays a very important role in employee engagement and motivation. A positive culture helps to foster trust among your employees, making them more passionate and dedicated towards their work. This, in turn, fosters an environment in which employees are productive and enthusiastic.

Indirectly, all this means that investing some time, effort and money in your organizational culture can translate into higher productivity and higher profits. Take a look at the following 6 tips that can help you in achieving your targets better by promoting employee engagement:

1. Respect Your Employees

The world is not as closed as it once used to be. Thanks to the power of social media and the Internet, your employees now have more information regarding the job opportunities anywhere in the world; and there are no laws to prevent them from applying to new job openings and accepting them. It is, therefore, important that you make your employees feel valued and wanted, otherwise you will end up losing them.

2. Understand Their Motivations

Today’s employee is no longer motivated by just money. In a world where power is measured not just by bank balance but also by recognition (Facebook likes, Twitter followers, YouTube views, etc.), you can no longer expect that a pay raise will motivate your employees to give you everything they got. You have to do a little bit more than offering them a raise in their salary; learn more about them and what motivates them to work harder and perform better.

3. Encourage Your Employees To Voice Their Concerns

You can only develop an environment in which your employees feel comfortable if they know that they will not be penalized for speaking their mind. Encourage them to speak up when something is bothering them, and come up with a fair way to address their problems.

4. Give Your Employees The Authority To Do Their Job

It is only natural for an employee to lose interest when every little thing requires approval. They learn to pass the buck and shy away from responsibility and accountability. Giving them the authority to make decisions will make them take ownership, and it will also help to keep them more engaged with their job.

5. Provide Opportunities For Growth And Make Sure Your Employees Are Aware Of Them

The best way to lose an employee is to provide a haphazard or unclear career path. Let your employees know where their career is headed with you so that they can know where and how to direct their efforts. Make sure they know what the next step in the corporate ladder is, and how they can climb it. Not only it keeps them motivated to work hard but it also helps them to grow professionally.

6. Provide Your Employees A Secure Environment

Employees will be constantly ill at ease in an environment in which they feel insecure and harassed. Not only it would make them feel uncomfortable at the workplace but it would also negatively affect their work. Provide a safe work environment to your employees, and institute a zero tolerance policy for harassment in any form. Make sure your employees know that you take complaints seriously and are willing to take even a strict action if required.

Last but not the least; engage your employees in meaningful work in which they truly feel utilized. Focus on training and coaching to get the best out of them, and give them the right feedback at the right time. Highlight the positives for the employees and work with them to solve the negatives.

Author Bio: A keen observer of corporates’ culture and ethics, Steven Stone has always been fond of the workings and values of different corporates. In fact, he also loves to blog about it. When not blogging, he works for an online service that offers assignment help.