We see it in the media and hear about it in meetings… employee engagement is the future of success.  The Great Resignation has changed the way we view and talk about the future of the workplace and finding talent. With so many buzzwords floating around, it can be difficult to determine what they mean and what you can do to thrive during such uncertain times. 

In this post, we will dig into employee engagement, why it is important and how you can ultimately leverage it for success.

What is employee engagement?

Employee engagement holds a variety of definitions. For the scope of this post, we will look at employee engagement as how enthusiastic and how involved employees of an organization are. Engagement goes beyond how happy an employee feels showing up to work and completing their tasks. According to Forbes, engagement measures how emotionally committed your employees are to your company.

Why is employee engagement important?

A happy employee costs far less than an unhappy one. Think about this for a second. How often do you call a customer service line and receive an awful interaction? As a consumer, sometimes our decision to stay with a company boils down to our interaction with the company’s employees. This interaction can make or break a sale.

 

Engaged employees are far more productive and boost office morale. Oxford notes that workers are an additional 13% more productive when they are happy and engaged in the workplace. Boosted office morale and productivity ultimately lead to higher customer satisfaction and sales. CareerBright points out that companies with engaged employees outperform their competitors by 202%.

 

On the other hand, in dealing with the Great Resignation, companies are seeking ways to retain their top talent. According to HR University, disengaged employees leave their current positions to find better opportunities elsewhere, sparking a domino effect. When top performers leave, those around them begin to leave as well.

 

If employee engagement increases productivity, sales, customer satisfaction and employee retention, this begs the question, what can we do to make our colleagues more engaged in the workplace?

How do you engage your employees?

There are lots of  ways to keep your employees committed to their jobs, some more creative than others. One thing to look at is internal mobility. Giving your current employees an opportunity to move within the organization boosts their engagement. According to LinkedIn’s Workplace Learning Report, employees who change jobs within the company are 3.5 times more engaged than those who stay in their current positions. 

As mentioned earlier, many employees leave their current workplaces to seek out better opportunities for development and advancement. You can engage your employees by offering training and coaching sessions. SHRM states the importance of recognizing the growth opportunities in your top talent. Offering individual training and coaching can be an inexpensive way to make your employees feel valued in the workplace.

 

Finally, it is virtually free to get colleagues to connect with each other. Consider hosting small events where employees can spend quality time getting to know one another. This will increase their engagement and strengthen teams.

In conclusion, the importance of employee engagement is increasing by the day. We work in an employees’ market and to stay competitive, it is important to take the time to engage and retain our top talent. Implementing processes for internal mobility, professional development, colleague bonding and so much more, we will increase how committed our employees are to the company. Furthermore, we will see an increase in employee satisfaction, productivity, sales and more. Take a step back and evaluate how engaged your employees are; this is how to survive the Great Resignation.

What do you think? We would love to hear your thoughts! Reach out via our contact form if you would like to discuss your thoughts or challenges further.