Employee engagement is not something that you should only prioritise when things get tough and your employees start leaving. Providing your employees with a decent salary just simply will not cut it. In fact, 9 in 10 people say that they are willing to earn less money if it means they can do more meaningful work.
To keep your team happy and motivated, you need to put their well-being before everything. This will boost productivity and ensure that your team looks forward to coming to work every day. After all, employees who feel fulfilled in their work are usually more productive.
If you do not see employee happiness as a significant factor in your company’s success, you run the risk of losing your top talent. Read on to discover the benefits of employee engagement.
So, What is Employee Engagement and Why is it Important?
Unlike other concepts, employee engagement can be tricky to define. It is not a physical thing that you can see and directly measure. So, it is no surprise that there are a number of different definitions for this one term.
But in a nutshell, employee engagement refers to the way that people express themselves emotionally, physically and mentally as they interact with their workplace. In that sense, it is an internal state that influences our behaviour and performance at work. For example, we may say that someone is more engaged if they tend to go the extra mile at work. Someone who does the bare minimum or struggles to complete their tasks, on the other hand, would be less engaged.
Generally, how engaged employees are comes down to job satisfaction. There are a range of factors that impact this, including:
Job clarity
Job resources
Recognition
Social support
Personal development
Employee voice
Meaningfulness of work
Whether the role plays to the employee’s strengths
How engrossed the employee is in their work
Whether employee takes pride in their work
It is important that businesses do not shape their view of engagement to suit their goals. Instead, companies should get to the root of what actually motivates their employees – be it working towards a reward or simply enjoying their work. This can help you implement strategies to ensure that employees feel attached to their work.
What are the Benefits of Employee Engagement?
Increasing employee engagement will benefit your business in a variety of ways. The advantages include:
1. Improved Performance
Naturally, employees who are committed to their job perform at a higher level and work better with others. Increased morale can really have a domino effect. When people are surrounded by others who are enthusiastic about their work, this drives them to take pride in their own roles. In other words, engagement not only affects businesses at an individual level but also a team level.
2. Increased Productivity
When people are invested in their jobs and care about what they do, they not only work faster but also produce better results. Research shows that high engagement can increase productivity by 22%. If your employees do not feel like their individual contributions have an impact on your bottom line, you may experience a drop in productivity.
3. Team Success
The secret to achieving business objectives is ensuring that your team has aligned goals. When people share the same vision, they will be more motivated to work together to get there.
Remember that a dog-eat-dog mentality only benefits one person and undercuts the success of the entire team. That is why it is important that everyone is on the same page.
4. Reduced Stress
It is fair to say that workplace stress has become the norm, with just over half of Brits saying that they feel very or fairly stressed at work. What’s more, people are three times more likely to leave their jobs if they are stressed. But the good news is that this does not have to be the reality for your team.
By making your work more engaging and prioritising well-being, you can reduce the weight that employees feel on their shoulders. When employees are generally happy at work, it can be much easier for them to manage stress. In some cases, stress can even become a motivator.
5. Prevent Employee Burnout
If you cannot make work less stressful, this can ultimately lead to employee burnout. In layman’s terms, burnout refers to a state of emotional and physical exhaustion. Some signs to look out for include:
Reduced productivity
Lack of motivation and enthusiasm
Lack of commitment to work
Reduced sense of accomplishment
Reduced job satisfaction
It goes without saying that this can put your business in a bad spot. However, monitoring your team’s stress levels and keeping them engaged with their work can prevent burnout.
6. Reduced Absenteeism
When life at work becomes overwhelming, engagement drops and absenteeism skyrockets. On average, people take off around 18.6 days a year due to stress, depression or anxiety. But studies show that businesses with high engagement scores experience a 41% reduction in absenteeism. By increasing engagement, your employees are more likely to show up to work every day with excitement.
7. Increased Productivity
When employees are trapped in a negative loop and are not engaged with their work, this can lead to reduced productivity. In some cases, an employee’s productivity may not drop but the quality of work they do does. This usually goes unnoticed so it is important to regularly measure employee engagement to detect when members of your team are not present.
8. Reduced Turnover
Employee engagement does more than just boost productivity. It can also reduce employee turnover by up to 59%. In turn, this will help you retain your top talent and lower your recruitment costs. And, with a stronger and more experienced team, you can keep your business on track to achieving its targets.
9. Improved Brand Image
Happy employees are key to creating a strong brand image. After all, employee well-being is a reflection of your culture and values. Highly engaged employees will be happy to spread the word about your business – whether that be through social media, job search platforms or even word-of-mouth.
10. Faster Recruitment
With an improved brand image, it will be easier to attract and recruit new talent. This can also improve the way your potential customers and clients see your business, allowing you to drive growth and achieve your goals.
Let Us Help You Increase Employee Engagement
Our consultants can help you get to the root of why your employees are disengaged. With our tailored emotional well-being surveys, you can find out how your employees really feel at work. We will then work with you to develop a strategy to increase engagement and improve the employee experience.
While it is important for employees to feel that they can come to you with any issue, many people do not want to talk about their mental health with their boss. If your employees are struggling to manage their workload and maintain a healthy work-life balance, it is a good idea to provide them with access to accredited therapists. As one of our clients, you and your employees can access a tailored therapist service through our platform.
Are you ready to boost engagement and support your team’s mental health? Get in touch with us to book your demo today.
