Enhancing Employee Engagment
Engaged employees transform an organization. They are the key to productivity and the future.
How engaged (or not) employees are with their manager, organization and work makes a huge difference to their effectiveness, profitability and productivity. It affects wellbeing, attendance, retention, effort, performance, quality, sales, income, turnover, profit, customer satisfaction, shareholder return and business growth. Engagement isn’t particularly job dependent, its much more about the whole organizational environment: leadership and management behaviour, opportunities to feel good at work, and the opportunity to use personal strengths everyday. High levels of employee engagement is a business imperative.
Lets look at some of the facts and figures
Approximately 19% of employees at work are actively disengaged, that is, they are costing their employers money by using their resources (especially the internet) and giving little value in return. Such disengagement is thought to cost the UK about £38bn a year. Disengaged employees average more than 6 sick days a year, they are more likely to leave. Engaged employees perform 20% better and give 57% more discretionary effort.
What affects this?
Levels of employee engagement are affected by various things. Engagement is enhanced by leaders that are visible, strategic, communicative and trustworthy. Clear achievable goals and rewards help, as does a clear meaning and purpose that is connected to making a difference. People are more likely to be engaged when they get to exercise their natural abilities on the job, in a positive atmosphere of support and encouragement. Allowing people some scope in how they achieve their objectives, i.e. in how they craft their job, helps. Helping people understand where they fit in the organization and how their contribution is valued increases engagement.
How to enhance engagement?
Employee engagement is a key variable in individual and organisational performance. We work with people individually, as teams or through organisational development to help increase levels of engagement. Engagement is a property of people at work, affected by individual factors such as their personal strengths and motivations, by job factors such as job design, and by organisational factors such as leadership, mission clarity and culture. We can help have a positive effect on all of these.