5 Reasons Why Employee Engagement is Important

Employees are the backbone of any business.

If you want your business to be successful and to thrive, you need your employees to be happy, passionate about their work, and committed to your company’s goals.

Even though the importance of employee engagement can’t be stressed enough – Harvard Business Review even referenced it as the holy grail of today’s workplace – it seems that businesses are not doing enough to motivate their workforce.

Statistics on this are quite shocking.

According to Gallup’s  State of the Global Workplace report, only 15% of employees worldwide feel engaged in their workplace. A majority is doing the bare minimum and slacking off their tasks to earn their salary.

Here are a few good reasons to boost the engagement of your employees through the best execu search firms and prevent this statistic from being applicable to your organization,

You Can Keep Your Top Talent

A study shows that more than half of employers face a problem in attracting talented employees. Those are the employees that have either high-potential, critical skills or are top performers. Even when they find such employees, companies are at great risk of losing them.

Less than half of the employees are happy with their current job, and 81% of employees would leave it for a better offer. High turnover rates can be devastating for the businesses, as they are draining all their resources.

The key to keeping your employees is boosting their level of engagement, as they will feel more involved and less likely to leave. This is especially important when it comes to retaining your top talent.

Apart from the obvious costs, when your best people leave, the other employees notice their departure. This can be a clear sign that you don’t value your employees enough to keep them.

It Saves Money

Companies waste a lot of their money resources due to low employee engagement. Disengaged workers cost the U.S. economy alone approximately $550 billion per year. Brain drain is expensive in terms of money too and can vary between 16% and 213% of lost employee’s salaries.

When you turn the absenteeism of your employees, their lower productivity and profitability into dollars, the disengaged employee will cost your company another 34% of their annual salary – $3,400 for every 10,000 they make.

These numbers alone are enough to make everyone reconsider how much they’re investing in their employees.

There are some really great ways to boost the satisfaction and engagement of your employees, which are affordable too.  For example, a great office Christmas party will boost the morale of your staff and build a team spirit, without putting a hole in your budget.

It Creates a Positive Culture

Salary isn’t everything.

Although money plays an important role in employee satisfaction, it’s by no means a crucial factor. According to a recent survey, only 25% of employees left for higher pay.

Employee engagement and corporate culture go hand in hand. 47% of employees who are actively looking for another job are mainly doing so because of the company culture.

To keep them, you need to think past the paycheck and find ways to get them involved. Apart from their salary, other ways to motivate them are related to the workplace culture:

• Continual feedback and recognition. Your employees need to know what they’re doing right. The fact that they don’t get negative feedback doesn’t indicate that you’re satisfied with their work.
• Enough training and development opportunities. People don’t want to be stuck at some dead-end job without any possibility to learn new things and grow. Offer them some training programs and seminars to broaden their knowledge.
• Flexibility. Allow your employees to work from home, or at least think about a flexible work schedule.
• Opportunities for career advancement. Your top performers should be offered a promotion if you want them to stay.
• Promoting trust in the workplace. It’s crucial for your employees to feel comfortable and accepted in the workplace. Always be sincere and tell them what you think about their performance, and offer some help or support if necessary.

An 11-year long study shows that companies with the best corporate cultures, that greatly encouraged and appreciated their employees, grew 682% in revenue. It’ s definitely worth every effort put into building one.

Boosts Customer Satisfaction

When you’re employees are happy, your customers will be too.

Workers who are passionate about their jobs will translate their experience to their customers, and be the best promoters of your brand.

As they attach a part of their identity to their job, engaged employees will feel as if the organizational success is their personal success too. In every touchpoint between the company and the customers, they will go a step further. This way they will provide the customers with the best possible service, thus increasing their satisfaction.

Customer satisfaction is crucial for your business, as it can make a significant difference between your company and your competitors. This is invaluable when it comes to your brand promotion and recognition; your satisfied customers would gladly give you a referral or recommend you to a friend or a family member, or comment and share your social media posts.

It Brings a Higher Level of Productivity

Engaged workers impact your bottom line in a positive way.

Another research shows that highly committed teams have  41% less absenteeism and an 11% increase in productivity, resulting in a 21% better profitability.

The key to picking all this low-hanging fruit?

Creating an environment where your employees will show up at work happy, have a positive attitude to their jobs and find purpose in it.

Being aware of all the benefits engaged workers bring to your company, think about all the great things you can do for them. Giving them an opportunity to create a healthy work-life balance by offering them flexible hours and an option to work remotely are some of the simple benefits you can begin with.

by Michael Deane

Michael has been working in marketing for almost a decade and has worked with a huge range of clients, which has made him knowledgeable on many different subjects. He has recently rediscovered a passion for writing and hopes to make it a daily habit. You can read more of Michael’s work at Qeedle.