Employee engagement is at its lowest point in a decade—less than one-third of employees in the U.S. say they feel engaged at work.
This is according to the latest annual reporting from Gallup, which cites several key contributing factors—including rapid organizational change, inadequate performance management, and the transition to an increasingly hybrid working world.
As a result of this concerning downtrend, some business leaders have reflexively pointed to technology as the cause of employee disconnect. There is some reason to believe that, as employees have admitted that virtual meetings, presentations, and training are where they’re most likely to mentally tune out at work.
However, it’s clear that technology nor digital communication itself makes people feel disengaged. After all, employees who are bored during meetings often switch to other screens—whether to check their email, catch up on other work, or scroll through social media.
The real question is: how can organizations harness technology to keep employees energized and engaged throughout the flow of work?
To get started building a tech-integrated workplace that engages, consider these three tips:
1. Use Technology to Help Human Talent Shine
While new technologies can be exciting, the star of the show should always be employees themselves, with technology drawing out each person’s unique perspectives and skills. Technology can achieve this by creating opportunities to easily interact—with leaders, with ideas, and with peers.
For example, a manager could make an interactive presentation by weaving in polls, quick brainstorming sessions, and Q&As. This allows everyone to be actively involved and have a voice, rather than sitting silently in a traditional lecture-style presentation. Now with AI, interactive questions are easier than ever to generate and add throughout meetings, training sessions, and events.
Alessandro Ferrario, Candidate Engagement Specialist at The Adecco Group, spoke of how adding interactive elements transformed their virtual gatherings: “it’s the moment that everyone wakes up, so we get this non-verbal feedback that it’s really working.”
2. Build a Culture of Active Learning & Development
Learning opportunities are a top priority for professionals, especially as many employees experience FOBO (Fear Of Being Obsolete), with 46% of professionals worrying their skills will be outdated within 5 years. Likewise, research from LinkedIn has shown that 94% of employees say they would stay at their organization longer if it invested in their career development and growth.
With the right technology, companies can build the architecture for a culture of learning, enabling them to weave learning throughout the employee experience, and to ensure that the learning process is truly engaging.
One of the most popular ways to do this is game based learning. This approach creates experiences that are intrinsically motivating and engaging, tapping into fundamental human instincts of curiosity and friendly competition.
Gamified challenges are also one of the best ways to quickly build camaraderie and connection, as well as provide employee recognition, all essential ingredients for employee engagement. As Killian Clancy, Financial Controller at Crowne Plaza London Docklands, said, “That little bit of competition makes people pay attention and get involved. And it brings people together — they talk, collaborate, and have fun.”
3. Inform, Empower, Engage
As Gallup’s reporting confirms, a critically important but often overlooked factor in employee engagement is clarity. When employees understand what is expected of them and how to execute it, they’re empowered to confidently act.
Organizations can use technology to support this goal in numerous ways, including using more efficient tools to document and organize information, even offering an on-demand knowledge platform employees can access whenever they need.
For example, Marianne Hestenes Håkonsen, Senior Advisor at DNB Corporate Banking, shared that their creation of a unified digital training portal helps them boost employees’ engagement from their first day: “By consolidating and simplifying information, we make the onboarding process efficient and engaging.” This platform also supported them in, “fostering a unified direction among the workforce.”
At the same time, managers can ensure that they’re providing clarity by using technology to create more of a two-way street in internal communications. Instead of simply relaying information and hoping for the best, interactive technology can turn communication into a conversation, such as with quiz questions, surveys, or feedback boxes.
This allows leaders to assess employees’ understanding and fill in knowledge gaps, while also sparking engagement by giving employees an opportunity to actively participate and share their thoughts. As Alessandro said, “We want to get a sense if people were listening and have understood the information. If we see something hasn’t been understood, we go back and teach it again.”
By using interactive technology thoughtfully to help human talent and potential flourish, businesses can unlock a whole new level of engagement across their workforce, empowering employees to do their best work, grow their skills, and bring excellence to their organization.
Sean D’Arcy is Chief Solutions Officer at global learning and engagement platform company Kahoot!.