Today on TLNT Radio: Employee Engagement is About the Simple Stuff

Regular TLNT contributor Ron Thomas joins hosts Lance Haun and John Hollon for a discussion on engagement in the workplace. We talk about the little things employers can do as well as the idea behind "Thank God It's Monday."

Employee engagement is a topic fresh on everyone’s mind. While there may be some best practices out there, nobody is really sure how to do it the right way for their organization.

Our guest this week, former Martha Stewart Living Vice President for HR & Organizational Development Ron Thomas, told TLNT Radio there are two simple ways to keep a pulse on employee engagement and some easy ways to get the most out of informal engagement exercises.

Simple Employee Engagement

Thomas pointed to a recent piece he did for TLNT in which he talked about the effectiveness of small things that help boost employee engagement. A couple of the things he mentioned (like giving people a day off on Friday) are things that were easy to implement immediately without the need for complicated analysis. Another, like pizza every Friday, might take some time to get momentum and support behind but can be another simple and inexpensive way to get people engaged and thinking positively about work.

We also talked about the principle of TGIM or “Thank God It’s Monday.” If people are generally excited to come into work versus dreading it, that’s a simple barometer to measure the level of engagement in an organization. While occasional tough weeks may have employees ready to go for the weekend, if every week is like that, you can have some serious issues.

Thomas also talked about his own experiences with how much executives really pay attention to engagement, his tips for going from a TGIF to a TGIM culture and more.

Listen to the interview