Five Reasons to Invest in Employee Engagement

Employee engagement is probably a familiar term to anyone active in the workforce today. You hear it from HR, you hear it from your team leads and department heads, and you hear from your C-Suites. But it isn’t just another buzzword. Employee engagement is a win-win for both the employee and the employer, and with it comes tangible, measurable benefits to your organization.

Here are five reasons you should invest in employee engagement in your company:

1. Lower Turnover

According to a recent study conducted by Gallup, 51 percent of employees are looking to leave their jobs. That means it’s up to you to convince over half of your employees that there is a reason to stay. By allocating the necessary resources and time to keeping your employees satisfied and engaged with their work, you have a better chance of retaining your top talent. And when your organization decreases turnover, you save money and hours of time that would otherwise be devoted to training new hires on a regular basis.

2. Better Company Culture

These days, most job hunters are looking for a good company culture. It’s no secret that unhappy employees create a toxic and negative environment in the workplace. Employees who care deeply about their work are happy to be there and show it, making work a more enjoyable place for all.

3. Increased Productivity

When employees find their work interesting, challenging, and fun, they simply want to work, and they want to do it well. In addition, deep engagement with one’s work instills a sense of pride and accomplishment in an employee.

4. Higher Attendance

The harsh reality is that disengaged employees simply don’t care about the wellbeing of the company. So when something a little more fun than showing up to work comes along, they have no problem calling in “sick” and leaving their team hanging. Another study by Gallup shows that organizations with high employee engagement see 41 percent less absenteeism. Engaged employees don’t want to let themselves or their team down, so you can bet they’ll show up to work and pull their own weight.

5. Increased Profitability

Happy employees produce quality work, which leads to happy customers, which leads to referrals, which leads to increased sales. Increased employee engagement is not only good for social success in the workplace; it’s great for the bottom line.

How Do You Successfully Implement Employee Engagement?

The benefits of employee engagement are all well and good, but what actions can you take to achieve it? Here are a few tips:

• Thorough and extensive training and onboarding for new hires gives employees the skills they need to excel in their work. And employees who feel they’re excelling are more likely to stick around.
• Give your employees the tools to succeed. By embracing the digital workplace with collaboration and knowledge sharing tools, you will allow employees to stay constantly engaged with their work, with each other, and with your customers.
• Give positive affirmations, and give them often. A sure-fire way to drive employees to a different company is to make them feel unappreciated.
• Be flexible and reasonable. Your employees’ personal lives, families, and friends are important to them. So be sure you allow your employees to maintain a healthy work/life balance.
• Give regular feedback. An employee should never be caught off-guard. Be in constant communication about what is going well and what can be improved in order to avoid frustration on the employee’s end.
• Have fun. Life isn’t all serious, and neither is work. Make your office a space for employees to enjoy.

Although there are many benefits to increasing employee engagement, it all boils down to one thing; people need to feel valued, both in their personal lives and the workplace. If you genuinely appreciate all the hard work your employees do for the organization and you show your appreciation, your employees will want to stick around.