According to a study by Towers Watson, it is likely that only about 35% of your employees are highly engaged in their work roles. Twenty two percent feel unsupported by management, and 43% were either disengaged or fully detached from their company and/or job.
However, employee engagement is of paramount importance a company’s success.
Towers Watson found that companies with the most engaged employees had a 19% increase in operating income, while those with the lowest levels had a 32% decline. Another study by Gallup found that engaged employees are twice as likely as those who are actively disengaged to proactively recruit for their employer.
So, employee engagement is essential to a company’s success – both in terms of productivity and talent management- yet most workers today do not feel good about their company nor their job. As an employer how can you turn back the dial and re-engage your employees?
Here are three simple things you can do:
Communicate
Start by communicating with your employees. Engagement is individualist, and every employee is the best advocate for their version of engagement. Some might want
- a more flexible schedule
- an increase in pay
- a more stable retirement package
Whatever their answers, try to find some patterns and commonalities among your workers, and be prepared to act on their feedback. One of the fastest ways to damage improving engagement levels is to ask employees for their opinions and then ignore (or be perceived as ignoring) their replies.
Recognize Accomplishments
Recognition is a huge motivator; it correlates an employee’s actions to a positive outcome. In other words, employees feel good because they did good, and they were told they did good. With recognition and acknowledgement, comes the desire to replicate the positive results in other areas.
Give Employees cool projects to work on
Motivation does not always have to be financial. A survey conducted by McKinsey & Company revealed that “opportunities to lead projects or task forces” was a more effective motivator than “performance-based cash bonus” or an “increase in base pay” or “stock options”. So if you have a knowledgeable employee who appears bored and separated, allow him/her manage a big project. Interesting projects not only engage employees, but also force them to bring their best skills and ideas to the table.
Employee engagement is based on a simple truth – how a person feels at that moment impacts the way they perform. Improving employee engagement does not require an entire shift of your culture or operational processes. Sometimes the cure can be so simple, we overlook it. Take the simple steps first. You will be surprised at the results.
Contact the Job Store today for more information on the impact that employee engagement can have on your business.