Workplace engagement

Build a positive culture to be proud of.

Foster positive organisational values, beliefs, behaviours, goals, attitudes and work practices.

• Do you communicate your expectations and encourage collaborative relationships?
• How do you recognise employees who show positive behaviours in line with your culture?
• Do you provide wellbeing activities to boost employee engagement and create meaningful connections?
• Are you promoting healthy practices so employees can pursue better physical and mental health at work and in their own time?

What you can do

Understand the dynamics of your team by talking about recent events or challenges. Manage change well by listening, refining and empowering new ways of thinking.

1. Communication and consultation

Offer clear and ongoing collaborative communication with workers at all levels.

• Tell your team about how and why decisions are made
• Consult with employees when planning change
• Encourage feedback and participation during consultations

2. Recognition

Provide recognition to those employees who demonstrate positive behaviours.

• Formally or informally congratulate employees and/or teams when tasks are done well
• Implement a rewards program
• Recognise or celebrate exceptional efforts of those supporting a healthier work environment

3. Relationships

Encourage a culture of collaboration, respect and support.

• Encourage honest, open communication at all levels to embed trust
• Give information and/or training to promote positive workplace relationships
• Ask employees to check in with each other – in person or virtually

4. Fairness and equity

Manage change transparently and ask employees to provide input. Offer conflict resolution options.

• Give all employees equal and fair access to rewards, recognition, development and advancement opportunities
• Create a confidential complaint handling process
• Give employees options to appeal when a decision doesn’t go their way

4. Wellbeing

Build trust and loyalty through social team interactions. Encourage healthy individual behaviours.

• Create a yearly wellbeing calendar of events and activities – get employee input
• Offer optional presentations on mental health and wellbeing topics
• Include time for social interactions or personal updates at staff meetings

Resources

Please note: These are only suggested resources. Organisations should consider their own needs when selecting resources to use.

Communication and consultation

• WorkSafe ACT: Worker representation and consultation – Information on when and how to consult. 
• SafeWork Australia: How to consult with workers – Information on how to consult with workers and supporting resources. 
• SafeWork Australia: WHS duties – Consultation – Information on WHS duties around consultation including sharing information and keeping records. 
• Fair Work Ombudsman: Communication in the workplace – Information on the importance of communication and consultation between employees and employers, and supporting tools,  resources and related information. 
• Indeed: 11 Tips for Communicating Effectively With Employees – Including a video offering tips and tricks to help you find your confidence in situations where confident communication is essential.

Recognition

• Comcare: Inadequate reward and recognition – Information on inadequate rewards and recognition.  
• Harvard Business Review: Why Employees Need Both Recognition and Appreciation – Article on the difference between recognition and appreciation and why the distinction matters. 
• Quantum Workplace: The Importance of Employee Recognition: Statistics and Research – This article provides research-based advice on how to give the kind of employee recognition that will make a difference in employee engagement, performance, and retention.
• Great Place to Work:  Creating a Culture of Recognition – Article on recognition, why it’s important and how to do it with supporting statistics. 

Relationships

• Respect@Work: Creating safe, inclusive and respectful workplaces – The Respect@Work website provides a set of resources to support individuals and organisations to better understand, prevent and address workplace sexual harassment.
• SafeWork NSW: Support from supervisors and/or co-workers regarding work-related stress – Strategies on how to support staff in relation to work-related-stress including possible solutions, organisational structure, practical support, emotional support and further resources. 
• Comcare: Conflict or poor workplace relationships or interactions – Information on what can increase poor workplace relationships and suggested training and resources.
• SafeWork Australia: Managing the relationship with an injured or ill worker during return to work – This guide focuses on the relationship between the supervisor and the injured or ill worker across four key stages of the return to work process: when the worker is first injured or falls ill, while they are away from work, as they prepare to return to work and when they return to work.
• Harvard Business Review: Eight Ways to Build Collaborative Teams – Article discusses the top 8 ways that showed effective collaboration from a study of 55 businesses. 

Fairness and equity

• Australian Human Rights Commission: Toolkits, guidelines and other resources – These resources are designed to help promote diversity and prevent discrimination in workplaces. They provide support to develop effective policies and practices in areas including gender equality, sexual harassment, recruitment and retention of older workers, managing employees with family and carer responsibilities, workplace cultural diversity and employment of people with disabilities.
• Australian Human Rights Commission: Ten steps you can take to create a fair and productive workplace –  Word and PDF factsheet to download.
• SafeWork Australia: Poor organisational justice – Information on what poor organisational justice is, and how to identify, assess and control it. 
• Australian Government Department of Employment and Workplace Relations: The case for equity and inclusion – This resource provides information on four categories for investing in changes to address equity, diversity and inclusion. Word and PDF download of the information available. 
• Comcare: Health and safety representatives (HSRs) – The HSR role explained, HSR elections, operating as a HSR and HSR training. 

Wellbeing

• Safe Work Australia: Differences between WHS and wellbeing – Details the difference between WHS and wellbeing and includes further resources and reading. 
• ACT Government: Office for Mental Health and Wellbeing –  Information and resources on mental health and wellbeing including suicide prevention.   
• Comcare: Benefits of safe and healthy work – Lists the benefits of a safe and healthy workplace and ways to create it.  
• Black Dog Institute: Workplace wellbeing fact sheet – PDF factsheet including information on: workplace mental health and wellbeing, the top ten factors involved with workplace mental health and strategies to increase workplace wellbeing .
• Action for Happiness: Monthly Wellbeing Calendars –  Monthly wellbeing calendars to download. Webpage also offers a range of other resources around happiness.