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5 Tried and Tested Ways to Keep Employees Engaged
By Andrew Bourne, Regional Manager – Africa, Zoho Corp.
Employee engagement, when done right, nurtures long-term relationships and contributes to an organisation’s sustainability. Engaged employees commit themselves to their employer’s goals, find satisfaction and meaning in the work they do, and have the potential to enhance business profitability. Here are five simple yet effective ways to keep your workforce engaged:
Andrew Bourne, Regional Manager – Africa, Zoho Corp
Uphold two-way communication
Two-way communication keeps employees informed about work-related developments and gives them a platform to offer their suggestions and feedback. A lack of communication can lead to information silos and in some cases, may also lead to employees perceiving it as mushroom management. To break silos and establish two-way communication, a flat organisational structure is a good place to start. Next, consider using different communication channels that allow free flow of information for all parties at various levels, i.e., between peers, managers, and the organisation. Apart from face-to-face and emails, introduce internal chat mediums, social intranet, and frequent business outlook updates. For instance, organizations can make use of virtual town hall meetings to enable their employees to communicate with their top leaders.
Facilitate employee development
For employees to work dedicatedly towards company goals, the first show of commitment has to always be the employer’s. An employer has to be ready to make long-term investments in human capital development and provide opportunities for employees to expand their skill sets or be redeployed to new roles that fit their interests. Moreover, for individuals to learn and perfect their work, it takes time. So there needs to be a culture of acceptance that encourages employees to learn from their mistakes without fear of being criticised. Similarly, experienced employees can be brought on board to mentor new employees. They can help interns understand what it takes to excel in their new roles and overcome work challenges.
Empower employees with trust
A culture built on trust empowers workers to become the best version of their work selves. Trust provides the mental space that every employee needs to hone their capabilities and deliver to their full potential. On the other hand, micromanagement introduces work fatigue and even the most spirited employees can lose interest when constantly monitored and badgered for updates. Today, we continue to hear about how more and more companies are deploying digital surveillance and key logging software to make sure that their remote workers put in the necessary hours while working from home. These are just different forms of micromanagement and practices like these will not be sustainable in the long run. They can affect workplace dynamics and destroy trust relationships, the effects of which will reflect eventually in the attrition rate.
Put the human back into human resources
Trying times like the present call for employee engagement approaches that prioritise individual well-being above all else. During such unprecedented circumstances, it’s critical to allow employees the space to adapt to the new normal and regain balance between their professional and personal lives. Flexible work arrangements that allow employees to develop their own work schedules will come in useful. Also, acknowledge and act on concerns that hold back employees from doing their work. For instance, poor ergonomics while working from home can increase stress and affect productivity. A one-time allowance towards enabling employees to set-up a dedicated home office can help solve this.
To better help employees who are battling anxiety and mental health issues, consider bringing a psychologist on-board to enable them to navigate their overwhelming emotions under guidance. Wellness webinars can be organized to help employees maintain a healthier lifestyle amidst the lockdown and stay-at-home orders.
Align organisational values with workplace practices
Employees respect and gradually become loyal to an employer who stands for what they believe in and integrates the same within workplace practices. An organisation’s key decisions must always be guided by its core values. At Zoho, we believe the cloud will power entire businesses and true to that vision, all our business operations including employee collaboration run only on Zoho applications to date. Another value close to our heart is the philosophy of transnational localism and as part of it, we have established more than 30 satellite offices in rural locations across various nations to help our employees stay close to their roots.
Strong employee engagement programs are core to sustainable human capital management. They determine an organisation’s capability to attract the right talent, build loyalty, and promote development. Moreover, amid testing times like the ongoing pandemic, continued employee engagement practices become all the more important for an organisation to assure employees of its investment towards the well-being of its workforce.
MultiChoice Nigeria has slashed the price of its DStv decoder from N20,000 to N10,000, representing a 50 percent drop, in a aim at attracting attract more customers and curb declining subscriptions.
The campaign, titled “We’ve Got You,” was launched on June 16 and will continue until July 31.
Also, as part of its efforts to ease economic pressure on households and improve access to digital TV services, the campaign offers a free upgrade for both active and returning customers.
Speaking on the campaign, John Ugbe, chief executive officer (CEO) of MultiChoice Nigeria, said the initiative reflects the company’s commitment to rewarding loyalty and enhancing daily viewing experiences.
“We want to ensure our customers feel appreciated and have access to the best entertainment every day,” Ugbe said.
“The ‘We’veGot You’ campaign is about making premium content more accessible and showing that DStv offers something for everyone, not just football fans.
“By repositioning itself as a platform for daily value, DStv aims to encourage content discovery across a wider array of genres, including movies, drama, kids’ programming, and news.
“This means more channels, more shows, and more reasons to tune in every day.”
The development comes amid MultiChoice Nigeria’s legal battle with the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) over price hike.
Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) will, on Oct. 7, arraigned the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Qatar Airways, Mr Temi Birdzell, alongside the company and its top officers, over allegations bordering on breach of FCCPC Act, 2018.
The defendants will be arraigned before Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Others to be arraigned with Birdzell are Stella Ihediwa, the Account Manager of the airline; Kennedy Chirchir, the Country Manager and Eva Ojeje, who is the Sales Manager of the company.
Although the arraignment was scheduled for Tuesday, the matter could not proceed.
Upon resumed hearing, none of the defendants was in court.
When the matter was called on Tuesday, none of the defendants was in court due to improper service of the court documents, including the hearing notice, on them.
FCCPC.’s lawyer, Chizenum Nsitem, told the court of their inability to serve four of the defendants, although the company was served.
Nsitem then sought an adjournment to enable them do the needful and the judge adjourned the matter until Oct. 7 for the defendants to take their plea.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the commission, in the charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/200/2025, dragged Qatar Airways, Birdzell, Ihediwa, Chirchir and Ojeje to court as 1st to 5th defendants respectively.
FCCPC, in the application dated May 26 but filed May 27, had preferred a two-count charge against the defendants.
The defendants were alleged to have failed to appear before FCCPC in compliance with a lawful summons of the commission dated Sept. 6, 2024, and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 33 (3) of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection (FCCPC) Act, 2018.
They were also accused to have on Sept. 18, 2024, intentionally withheld the production of documents in compliance wth a lawful summons of the commission, thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 111 of FCCP Act, 2018.
In count three, they were alleged to have on Sept. 18, 2024, engaged in the contravention of the consumer rights, thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 124(1) and punishable under Section 155 of the same Act.
Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) is set to arraign John Ugbe, chief executive officer, MultiChoice Nigeria Limited and other executives of the firm for impeding its investigation and failing to comply with lawful summons.
This is according to a charge sheet marked FHC/ABJ/CR/197/2025, filed by the FCCPC legal team led by Barrister Nsitem Chizenum.
This follows a May 8, 2025 ruling of the Federal High Court in Abuja which dismissed MultiChoice Nigeria Limited’s suit seeking to uphold its DStv and GOtv price increases in Nigeria.
In the charge sheet, where John Ugbe, Gozie Onumonu, Adewunmi Ogunsanya, and five others were named as defendants, MultiChoice Nigeria Limited was accused of failing without sufficient cause to appear before the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission on 6th March, 2025, in compliance with summons dated 25th February, 2025.
The Commission described the development as an offence against the FCCPC Act.
The Commission alleged that Adewunmi Ogunsanya, John Ugbe, and others, “being Directors of MultiChoice Nigeria Limited on or about the 6th day of March, 2025, at 23 Jimmy Carter Street, Asokoro, Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this Court, caused the aforesaid MultiChoice Nigeria Limited to fail to produce documents which the Company was required to produce, in compliance with a lawful summons issued and dated 25 February, 2025, and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 3 of the FCCPC Act 2018″.
The CEO and the Pay TV directors were further alleged to have caused MultiChoice Nigeria Limited to impede the investigation of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission by refusing to produce documents.
When the court resumed sitting on Tuesday, the FCCPC lawyer informed Justice James Omotosho that aside from MultiChoice, the defendants are yet to be personally served with the charge.
In view of that, Justice Omotosho adjourned the matter to October 7, 2025 for arraignment.
Recall that Justice Omotoso had dismissed a suit filed by MultiChoice Nigeria against the FCCPC.
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