What is employee engagement? Who does it impact? How does it affect your organization? What plans do you have in place?
What is it?
-Refers to the connection and commitment employees exhibit toward an organization, leading to higher levels of productive work behaviors. (SHRM)
-An engaged employee is one who is fully absorbed by and enthusiastic about their work and so takes a positive action to further their organization’s reputation and interests. (Wikipedia)
With unemployment rates at historic lows, the war for talent is real and prevalent. Having engaged employees is crucial to a company’s success, productivity, and profitability. It is estimated that it costs employers 33% of a worker’s annual salary to hire a replacement if that worker leaves. (Employee Benefit News)
Who does it impact?
Your employees:
It’s important to note that while tied together, engagement and happiness are not the same. What can cause a disengaged employee? Poor management, lack of opportunity for advancement, lack of trust in company leadership, unmet job expectations, inadequate resources, lack of recognition, poor work/life balance.
Your business:
According to Gallup, global statistics show that 85% of employees are not engaged or are actively disengaged at work, resulting in $7 trillion in lost productivity. Yes, $7,000,000,000.
Companies in the top quartile of engagement realize:
- 10% higher customer metrics
- 17% higher productivity
- 20% higher sales
- 21% higher profitability
How does it affect your organization?
If your employees are not engaged, it is more likely that you are experiencing a high rate of absenteeism. Disengaged employees provide minimal effort, completing the bare requirements to get their job done. You may experience a lack of teamwork and overall poor quality of work from your employees.
All of these things will have an impact on your company’s productivity, customer happiness, and ultimately your bottom line. By increasing employee engagement, you will see improved retention rates, increased innovation, communication and collaboration, and a commitment to your brand and your company. If you want your business to perform at a top level, if you don’t already, you need to have a plan for employee engagement, and enact it immediately.
What plans do you have in place?
As a business owner or manager, you need to do some true self-evaluating. Are you open and transparent with your employees? Do you provide a clear perspective of what you expect and are you open to suggestions and opinions from your staff that might help improve your business? Are you approachable, calm, and do your employees trust you?
These are all questions that must be addressed to help promote employee engagement. Gallup's data reveals that just three in 10 U.S. workers strongly agree that at work, their opinions seem to count. However, by moving that ratio to six in 10 employees, organizations could realize a 27% reduction in turnover, a 40% reduction in safety incidents and a 12% increase in productivity.
How we do it:
Every company has a different strategy towards employee engagement and it needs to be customized to your work environment and your employees. At Eclaro, our leadership team is always accessible and takes time to touch base and connect with each employee individually every day. Open communication is encouraged and it is part of the reason we have less than a 5% attrition rate.
Some of the additional ways we invest in our employees:
- Team Building – providing excursions outside of work that reward and recognize employees for their accomplishments, and allows them to bond in a non-work environment
- Community Outreach – our E-Care program allows our employees to give back to their community and be part of having a larger impact on society, by providing charitable services, outreach projects, fundraising events, etc., giving them a closer bond to the community in which they live and work, and nurturing company pride
- Sports Programs – allowing for more team building outside the office, we host the Eclaro Basketball League and badminton tournaments
- Educational Opportunities – Eclaro Academy – we offer continuing education and discounted tuition to employees’ families to help employees improve themselves and further their education
These days, having a ping pong or foosball table in the office or offering free coffee and snacks isn’t going to be what keeps your employees engaged. You need to have a plan in place so that your employees are emotionally invested in your company, and are willing to do everything in their power to help it prosper.
What are you doing to promote employee engagement? Need ideas? Feel free to contact us.
#employeeengagement #teamwork #productivity #workingforeclarorocks
