Employee engagement is an integral part of company culture. Employees engaged in their work are more productive, have better morale, and are less likely to quit the company. Employee engagement is when employees are motivated to do their best work because they want to, not just because it is required. That is when employees’ natural enthusiasm for their work comes through in everything they do.
You are probably overpaying for a disengaged workforce. Unless you’re one of the top-ranking companies for engagement, more than 65% of your workforce is disengaged, and it costs you up to 34% of their annual salary in lost productivity. You can’t just hope that your employees will feel engaged—you have to take steps to foster it!
Here are five things you can do right now to help improve employee engagement and performance:
Invest in your employees
Investing in your workers’ futures pays off. A healthy work culture that embraces innovation, change, failure, and success happens when companies strategically invest in their people.
41% of workers are worried about their jobs changing or becoming outdated. More than half of companies who invest in learning technology experience immediate improvements in engagement. It’s easy to see the correlation.
Employee training can seem like a burden rather than an investment. The result is not only poor productivity but also high turnover. According to LinkedIn’s 2019 Workforce Learning Report, 94% of workers say they would remain longer if their employer had just invested in their education. Therefore, to achieve tremendous business success, companies need to spend more on employee growth.
Promote internal mobility
The best workers embrace lifelong learning and a development attitude. They want to advance in their professions while also contributing to the company’s success. According to Deloitte, enabling internal talent mobility may help retain top workers and increase engagement by 30%. Without career development and internal talent mobility, your company may lose top personnel to competitors.
According to LinkedIn, employees stay 41% longer at companies that have strong internal hiring. The sentiment is mutual: companies that promote internally are 32% more likely to be pleased with new hires. Thus, internal promotion is a great and simple way to increase overall engagement and achieve better hiring results.
Review employees regularly
Annual performance evaluations are outdated in our fast-paced world. Employees need frequent, relevant feedback. Regular feedback practices establish praise and constructive criticism as part of the work environment, making workers more receptive to providing and receiving feedback. Employee turnover is 14.9% lower in companies that provide frequent feedback.
Furthermore, regular feedback almost triples engagement chances. Weekly feedback increases employee engagement by 2.7 times. Regularly evaluating employee performance helps them realize how their role contributes to the company’s objectives and makes them more engaged in the result and less likely to leave.
Ask for-and implement-feedback
People desire meaningful employment. They want to contribute meaningfully to their job. Feedback is vital to progress. Just simply asking for input has been shown to improve employee engagement by 10%. Acting on such input doubles engagement from 40% to 80%.
Also, it’s simpler for managers to discover strengths and development opportunities when they’re continuously listening to their staff. Employers can gather input to strategically troubleshoot and fix problems before the problems cause top talent to leave. For example, employers can learn ways to reduce stress and assist their employees by inquiring about their mental health.
Have a mission
The company mission has become a key distinction in customer interactions, but its effect may be more significant. When you communicate your purpose to your workers, it leads to greater employee engagement and healthy work culture.
Employees who have personal values that are in line with the values and mission of the company are five times more likely to report being engaged. Furthermore, aligned companies are six times more profitable than non-aligned companies. When employees align with your company’s mission, they stay engaged in the excellent job your company does and how they contribute to the greater good.
Want to learn more about the benefits of being mission-driven? Check out Censia’s recent post about how missions set businesses apart.
Conclusion: It’s a Team Effort
When it comes to employee engagement and the success of your business, boosting workforce engagement should be a key goal for your organization. Read Censia’s recent post on workforce amplifiers for higher engagement to learn more ways to increase employee engagement.
By following the tips above, you can reduce employee turnover and boost employee engagement. However, Human Resources, senior leadership, supervisors, and workers themselves must all be engaged in the ownership of employee engagement if it is to be a successful effort.
