6 Human Resource Skills that Boost Employee Engagement

A modern business relies on the commitment and engagement of its human resources to thrive. Human resource skills are essential for creating engaged employees who perform better, contribute to a positive workplace environment, and stay longer with the company. Over time, these factors directly impact what matters most—your bottom line.

Don’t believe me? Look at the statistics.

Disengaged and unmotivated employees cost businesses anywhere between $450 and $550 billion each year! That statistic alone should motivate any organization to take employee engagement seriously. 

HR departments should, therefore, have an employee engagement strategy as a core pillar. Understanding the components of employee engagement is crucial for developing successful employee engagement programs. Besides, without employee engagement, there's no unity of purpose. Without purpose, it's difficult to achieve set business goals.

This article will discuss a few ways to boost employee engagement and provide engagement ideas for employees. Let’s dive in!

Paying Attention to the Little Things

HR managers need to pay attention to the surrounding details. Knowing what is happening within the workspace can help them plan and avoid unfavorable working conditions. Paying attention to detail extends to areas such as the recruitment process and employee onboarding.

When hiring for a position, it should be more than just about the qualifications. Let’s say you’ve found the perfect candidate who can help implement your SaaS marketing plan to a T - nice! But, does the prospect really complement your company culture?

You see, a wrong hire can negatively affect the morale and productivity of the whole team. Knowing hiring skills will help HR managers bring in the right talent. This will lead to higher long-term employee engagement. But, it would be even better if they bring in qualified candidates who also align with the corporate values and company mission.

Human resource skills in relationship management between employees and supervisors are also critical. Every workplace relies on collaboration. Therefore, it's important to pay attention to how these relationships are formed and maintained. Employees (as peers) should be able to complement each other. Supervisors and subordinates should have a respectful working relationship.

When a human resource manager knows the different dynamics within the organization, they can help maintain healthy relationships between different hierarchy levels. As a result, team members will be happy, motivated, and more engaged with their colleagues. 

Employee appreciation plays a crucial role in fostering engagement. HR managers should implement recognition programs that acknowledge and celebrate employees' contributions, further enhancing their connection to the company and their work.

Improving the Onboarding Experience

One of the biggest challenges companies face today is retaining their top talent after hiring them. That could be attributed partly to the mindset that a signed contract guarantees a new employee’s loyalty to the company—failure to retain top talent results in higher hiring and training costs.

A positive employee onboarding experience is needed in every workplace. More so nowadays, when we have hybrid working environments. New employees need to adjust and settle in. It's important to have human resource skills that make new hires feel comfortable in the workplace. That will improve their confidence and encourage them to be more productive.

HR managers should be continuously looking to improve the onboarding experience. The company's onboarding process should be a strategic process. Effective onboarding training should ensure that the new hire has all the tools to perform their job correctly. They should confirm that they can operate the CRM, shift management software, and other tools used by the organization. But of course, the onboarding experience is more than just initial training.

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The basic foundation of a positive onboarding experience includes regular, extensive training, relationship building, and hands-on support. It also involves day-to-day check-ins with new hires to determine how they adjust to their working environment. A business that takes good care of its new hires this way will attract and retain top talent.

It’s a win-win. There’s a clear business and employee benefit. That’s why it’s worth going the extra mile in developing successful strategic onboarding strategies.

A negative onboarding process, or none at all, will make an employee feel lost. They will also lack motivation or feel unprepared to perform in their new role. HR managers should ensure that a new hire gets a positive experience from day one. That’s essential if you’re serious about improving employee engagement and productivity. 

To enhance the onboarding experience, consider implementing creative onboarding activities for new hires. These can include team-building exercises, mentorship programs, and interactive workshops that introduce company culture and values.

Redesigning the Compensation and Benefits Strategy

Money is why most people wake up to go to work, but it is not everything. Good human resource skills understand that it takes more than salaries and bonuses to retain your top talent. The best HR managers are always considering new ways to compensate employees better. It is important to show employees how valuable they are to maintain high employee performance. 

HR managers should consider rewarding employees for applying their skills in areas beyond their job descriptions. Over the years, employees have gradually realized their leverage on compensation. This has led to more prospective employees researching a company's benefits and perks before making important career choices. 

HR managers with requisite human resources skills will drive their companies towards offering appealing and modern benefits and perks. This way, they not only attract top talent, but they retain it as well.

Employee well-being programs have also become an integral part of compensation strategies. For example, given the changes that came with the pandemic, companies are moving towards helping their employees cope with these changes and have adjusted their benefits strategies accordingly. For example, more companies now offer remote mental health services and wellness programs to their employees.

HR managers should ask for input from the employees to craft a tailored compensation strategy that also considers the work-life balance. It's essential to have such conversations in the workplace. When done well, the compensation strategy is a way of nurturing trust in the workplace. It will boost employee performance and job satisfaction. 

If a top-performing employee is into photography as a hobby, for instance, you can reward them with a gift card from Shotkit. Such a personalized reward shows that the HR manager knows the team well. Employees will want to stay on if they know they are valued within the company. 

To remain competitive, HR managers should also consider market trends on compensation and flexible work arrangements.

Promoting Professional Development

Any company will grow as far as its employees are willing to grow. If employees are not motivated to learn and develop, then the business will stagnate. Professional growth helps employees find new ways of doing things and opens them up to new opportunities within your business.

Companies can build tailored learning and development models to enhance human resources skills. By analyzing and addressing training needs, they can create new business capabilities and foster continuous learning. 

HR managers should be invested in the professional development of employees. Career development is essential, and it gives employees a sense of community and progression. If employees feel stuck in a dead-end job, your learning and development team should help them identify skills that will help them proceed to the next level.

By promoting professional development, HR managers can keep employees engaged. That creates a win-win situation. That can also lead to new opportunities for the business or increased credibility among clients. You can ensure professional development through mentorship opportunities and seminars. Companies may also bring in external providers for training or reimburse employees for completing certification courses.

While an HR manager can take care of the professional development needs of a small company, larger businesses require a more focused approach to learning by creating dedicated learning and development teams. These teams create standardized training modules for soft skills or new hire orientation and partner with internal or outside experts in developing more technical learning content. Avoid the latest buzzwords and focus on developing resources that benefit the long-term development of the team.

Ask the employees what professional development programs they are interested in. Build on that employee feedback to deliver opportunities for employees that will motivate instead of burden them.

Also, consider employees' schedules to avoid burnout and distractions. The learning process should be exciting and contribute to overall employee engagement.

To further support professional growth, consider establishing employee resource groups. These groups can provide networking opportunities, skill-sharing sessions, and a platform for employees to voice their ideas and concerns.

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Demonstrating Strong Leadership Qualities

Leaders should be able to motivate and inspire instead of causing fear or stifling growth. Not everyone can lead, but those chosen to lead should do a great job. Good HR managers should show strong leadership qualities that promote growth and development.

There is no set template on how to be a leader, but the overarching mission is to make good decisions for both the employees and the business. Strong leaders show empathy. They make rational decisions and listen.

HR professionals act as mediators within a company. Therefore, they have to attend to everyone, ensuring that all grievances are addressed. That requires strong leadership qualities such as empathy, active listening, and conflict resolution.

Employees should be confident that managers have their best interests at heart. These human resource skills go a long way in keeping employees engaged at work. Employees will also want to be associated with leaders who inspire them to do better.

HR managers must constantly work on the leadership styles they want to adopt. They should demonstrate the company's mission and vision in their interactions with employees. This approach helps in creating a positive workplace culture and fostering employee engagement initiatives.

Effective leaders also understand the importance of feedback. They should create channels for both giving and receiving feedback, ensuring that communication flows freely between management and employees.

They Establish Trust

Trust is knowing that someone will deliver what they promised. Employees won't want to be part of the company vision if they cannot trust the management. If there is no trust between employees and managers, nothing gets done. Lack of trust generally leads to a toxic work environment.

A good starting point in building trust in the company is to employ an open-door policy. This policy means that the door to senior management is always open for employees to talk. This policy builds communication between managers and employees. Ultimately, this leads to trust within the company. HR managers should train the executive staff on how the open-door policy works. 

An open-door policy provides: 

• The platform for managers to appreciate what is happening between employees. 

• Any early warning system for any issues lurking on the surface within the company.

• Space to have healthy discussions and criticism.

• A channel where information does not only move one way (top to bottom). 

Without trust, employees will become afraid to execute their duties. They will be afraid to share ideas, make mistakes, or air out their opinions. Such a crippling work environment will lead to employees wanting to leave.

HR managers should build and maintain trust. They should guard against rumors and bias, which can break trust. They should be aware that trust is easy to break and hard to build. Managers should be able to trust employees to do their job well without micromanaging. Employees should be able to trust managers to make the right decisions for the business.

Lack of trust also hampers innovation and overall company growth. To combat this, HR can implement peer-to-peer recognition programs and encourage team-building activities to foster a more trusting environment.

To further strengthen trust and create a more inclusive workplace, HR managers should prioritize diversity and inclusion initiatives. These efforts can help create a more welcoming environment where all employees feel valued and respected, regardless of their background or identity.

Bottom Line

Employee engagement is one of the major contributing factors to a company's success. High engagement matters. Without employee engagement, employees will leave. Without the right talent, no company can achieve its performance goals. A well-executed employee engagement plan will ensure a company stays ahead of its competitors.

Your company can only nurture employee engagement if HR managers put the required building blocks in place. They should be equipped with the right human resource skills to create workplaces that attract and retain talent. The ability to retain talent will lead to less turnover. That means that HR managers can help their companies save money and help them on the road to success.

FAQs

1. What is employee engagement and why is it important in HR?
Employee engagement refers to the emotional commitment an employee has to their organization and its goals. It leads to higher productivity, reduced turnover, and improved morale—making it a key focus area for HR professionals.

2. How can HR skills impact employee engagement?
HR professionals with strong interpersonal, communication, and leadership skills can directly influence how employees feel about their work, teams, and workplace—leading to greater engagement.

3. What are the most important HR skills for improving workplace culture?
Relationship management, empathy, leadership, conflict resolution, and trust-building are crucial HR skills that foster a healthy and engaged workplace culture.

4. Why is onboarding critical for employee engagement?
Effective onboarding sets the tone for a new employee’s journey. It increases early engagement, reduces turnover, and helps employees feel connected and supported from day one.

5. How does compensation strategy influence employee motivation and retention?
Modern compensation strategies go beyond salary—benefits like wellness programs, personalized rewards, and growth opportunities signal value and increase employee loyalty.

6. What role does trust play in employee engagement?
Trust builds psychological safety, improves communication, and encourages innovation. Without trust, engagement declines and toxic work environments can develop.

7. What are some employee engagement strategies HR can implement today?
Peer recognition programs, flexible work options, regular check-ins, tailored training, and leadership development programs are proven strategies that boost engagement.

8. How can companies measure the success of their engagement efforts?
Using tools like engagement surveys, turnover metrics, feedback loops, and performance tracking can help HR teams assess and improve their engagement strategies.

About Author:

Nico is the founder of Crunch Marketing. The company works with enterprise SaaS clients, helping them scale lead generation globally across EMEA, APAC, and other regions.

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Other HR Teams made the switch from Workplace
and save upwards of 60%

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