Engagement is probably one of the most talked-about topics in HR.
It’s important to understand that there are two types of engagement: organizational and personal. The correlation between employee engagement and company results can be unclear, but it is not false.
Achieving employee engagement is not just about keeping an eye on the company’s bottom line or keeping employees happy. To really understand what drives employee engagement, you need to know how it impacts your company's results.
But does it actually make a difference? Do companies with engaged employees outperform those with disengaged employees? And what can you do to increase your employees’ engagement in the workplace?
Keep reading and we’ll tell you how to increase engagement rates and willingness to contribute among your employees.
The Relationship Between Employee Engagement and Company Results
Employee engagement is directly related to company results.
In the past, the correlation may have seemed distant. However, the 2020 pandemic brought with it an extreme number of challenges for companies to tackle, and employee engagement was a crucial metric for meeting them.
For example, a Gallup poll during 2020 showed a huge drop in employee engagement, including amongst managerial and leadership positions. This led to record quit rates according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which was dubbed "The Great Resignation".
Further studies show that employee disengagement is very costly for businesses - on average, a company of 10,000 employees will lose about $60.3 million dollars per year in lost performance efforts.
You can further witness this in action on employer review sites like jobsage.com for instance - in this digital age, disgruntled employees can spread the word about unfair labor practices and toxic workplace cultures faster than ever, which can hurt your hiring efforts.
So the correlation between employee engagement and business profits was certainly highlighted throughout the pandemic and continues to be a huge topic of debate amongst most large companies.
Is it a generational thing, are millennials too over-focused on their social networks to get anything done? Are wages too low for the rising costs of living in the modern age? Or is it just a matter of managers who have been on the job for far too long and simply need a push in the right direction to regain some enthusiasm for their profession?
Whatever it is, the causal relationship between engagement and company profits has been very clear. Arguing against this paradigm shift in modern company culture only harms your chances of establishing a healthy organization, and is counterproductive to your bottom line.
It is clear that employers need to embrace a culture that revolves around the employee and what they want out of their job. For one, you will see better outcomes from your employees, and two, your employee happiness will drive productivity.
The difficult question to ask is: How does one go about creating a happy, engaged employee? Let's take a look.
Building a culture that drives employee engagement
Building a happy, engaged workplace culture is not just something that you can do on your own. It is a concerted effort from all levels of management, from hiring to promotion and beyond.
It takes a multi-pronged approach, although two of your biggest strategies should revolve around team-building exercises and the company's own social values. More than ever, employees (and consumers) are seeking companies that align with their social and political values, which goes against decades-old thinking that politics have no place in the workplace.
The reason for this is that consumers are only going to pay for brands that they believe reflect their own beliefs, and consumers who disagree with your values may just take their business elsewhere. Call it "cancel culture" or "voting with your wallet", but this extends to employees as well. They want to know that their organization backs up its values with real actions.
There are a lot of team-building exercises you can consider trying, but aligning a company's social values with your employees is a different story. This isn't to say that your company should suddenly become involved in social justice causes for the sake of it - but it does start with policies of inclusiveness, fairness, and equality.
While your HR department may be best equipped to handle these policies, it doesn't simply stop there. It needs to be a top-down approach, from upper management down. If you can, invest some serious time in training your managers on these issues, too. Consider equipping them with online training programs to ensure they are armed with the proper knowledge to treat employees fairly.
You also need to ensure that managers are truly coaching their teams. Leaders should be actively coaching and motivating, with this giving employees the chance to do what they do best, which is create, innovate, and bring their best selves to work.
When employees are empowered to create, innovate, and bring their best selves to work, they will be happy, engaged, and motivated. They will have a renewed interest in the company, and in your own success as the leader. This will translate into your ability to retain employees who don't want to leave.
Final word - Your employees are your brand ambassadors
It's time to rethink how organizations think about engaging their employees. To compete in the market today, employers need to remember that they are in the people business.
Employees are not numbers to be bought, sold, and upgraded. Employees are people who will ultimately become consumers of the organization's products or services.
Think about how your organization’s values and actions align with those of your employees, and your employees will grow to love your organization. Your employees are your brand ambassadors, and if they hate your values, you've lost them.
