Why employee engagement is worth the investment
It’s no surprise that engaged employees are more productive. But building an engaged workforce takes time and investment. In an area that is hard to quantify, we ask the question – why bother?
What is employee engagement?
No, we’re not just talking about an annual employee survey and a peer review. Employee engagement goes above and beyond a tick box exercise: it’s about creating a safe environment in which employees can thrive. Thriving employees tend to deliver results, so that’s why we’re writing this, and you’re reading it.
David MacLeod sums it up nicely with: “This is about how we create the conditions in which employees offer more of their capability and potential”.
What impacts employee engagement?
There are a multitude of factors that impact employee engagement. At a very basic level, engagement can be split into ‘engagement with my manager’ and ‘engagement with the organisation’. A few questions that organisations might ask themselves when relating to employee engagement:
- How motivating are my people managers, how much can they relate to the workforce?
- How open is communication and structure?
- Does my organisation give its workforce the tools and technology they need to succeed?
- Is management being executed how we expect it to be?
- Do we communicate and align our workforce with our strategic alignment?
- Do we drive engagement through our culture?
How does this impact business?
The bottom line: Companies with a highly engaged workforce are 21% more profitable than companies with less engaged employees.
Cost to the business: Feel like putting a figure to that? It’s estimated that this costs U.S. companies between $450 and $550 billion each year.
Turnover: A 4-year Best Companies Group study revealed that organisations named Best Places to Work reduced voluntary turnover by 21%.
Improved morale: It seems fitting that employee engagement goes hand in hand with employee’s morale. From studies that have shown engaged employees have reduced stress and improved blood pressure, to a better work-life balance and greater happiness.
Where to start?
Call us biased, but we believe giving your people the right tools at the right time is a good place to start. From the basics like a benefits package to support them inside and outside of work, to technology with self-service capability so they can manage and access their own data as they wish. Even looking at implementing technology that supports reward and recognition. All of this partnered with the correct internal structure can have a positive impact on employee engagement.
Looking for payroll & HR solutions that support employee experience and engagement? Find out more about our employee engagement software module today.
References
State of the American Workplace. Gallup.
Boyce, C. (2014). Engaged Employees: Your Company’s No. 1 Competitive Advantage.
Aon Hewitt. (2018). Best Employers Have Better Business Performance.
