The importance of employee engagement may seem self-evident. But just how critical it is that your people are fully engaged only really becomes clear when you look at some of the numbers.
What is employee engagement?
It’s not just about how hard people work, or how long they’re in front of the computer. Employee engagement is the emotional commitment your employees feel to the organisation and its goals. It’s absolutely fundamental to the relationship between employers and employees and affects pretty much all the important aspects of your business; employee retention, productivity, your customers’ experience and ultimately revenue and profitability.
Its importance is why so many companies are now running employee engagement programs, or actively measuring employee engagement. So let’s have a look at some of those numbers.
Team engagement matters
A startling 63% of companies have a harder time retaining employees than recruiting them in the first place. Just how damaging that is becomes clear when companies with better employee engagement report 21% higher profits per year and a 41% decrease in absenteeism.
Meanwhile 71% of executives recognise that having fully engaged employees is critical to their company’s success, possibly because they know how expensive recruitment can be: almost $3 million is spent per day in the US looking for replacement workers.
Despite these numbers painting a clear picture of the need to get this right, Gallup reports that just 15% of workers actually feel engaged, and an incredible 81% are thinking about leaving their current role. Many of them would leave for a pay cut if it meant getting their ideal job, or at least no pay rise if it at least meant finding a new position. So it’s not just about money.
Successful employee engagement strategy pillars
The right strategy will ensure your people feel valued and appreciated, boost retention and improve productivity and profits. There are some key areas around which most employee engagement plans are built:
- Communication. Laying down clear directions, and targets, for employees is a good place to start. Yet 57% report not being given clear instructions, when doing so sets a clear purpose and helps reinforce company culture.
- Create a healthy work-life balance. Companies who get this right report 18% lower staff turnover.
- Recognition of the work they’re doing by company leaders plays an important role in motivation for many employees.
- Training and development. This works both ways – your employees gain new skills and you gain a workforce with the knowledge and skills you want them to have.
- As many as 60% of employees say that benefits packages make an important difference to their sense of loyalty to the company.
- Responsibility. Being trusted to take responsibility for their work, and knowing their employer feels that trust, is another key element in job satisfaction and therefore engagement.
Providing your employee engagement tools
It’s obvious that failure to address employee engagement can be costly and damaging. We Are Amnet can support your strategy by providing the services you need to deliver it, from training manuals and surveys to eLearning, newsletters, and rewards and recognitions.
Talk to us to find out how we can help create content for your employee engagement strategy.
