When your employees are engaged, they will do everything they can to help your business grow and excel, but how much difference can employee engagement really make to a business’s success at the end of the day? Do engaged employees make every business more successful? What about those with low-paying jobs? Well, if you are a firm believer that a job is a job, the answers to the questions above might surprise you…
What is Employee Engagement?
Employee engagement is a term that refers to the relationship between an employee, the work that they are carrying out, and the organization that they are working for. Those employees who are highly engaged are completely committed to the organization that they work for and feel more connected to their colleagues and managers. They tend to be absorbed and enthusiastic about their work and are far more likely than non-engaged workers to put in the extra effort needed to help their organization succeed. Both in the workplace and outside of it, they become brand advocates for the company.
This is a stark contrast to disengaged employees, who tend to have a negative opinion of the company they work for. They might even talk ill of the company outside of the workplace, doing it reputational damage. They tend to feel that way because they see no promise in the organization’s mission, goals, and future.
The best way to measure engagement levels is with an employee engagement survey platform that has been customized to your business. Taking regular employee engagement surveys will help you have your finger on the business’s pulse and take actions needed to increase employee engagement. Why would you do that? Read on!
- Increased Profitability
As a for-profit company, the most important thing is that you’re profitable both now and in the future. One of the important ways to achieve that is by investing in employee engagement strategies, as this will help to supercharge your workers. An engaged workforce will outperform disengaged workforces almost 100% of the time. Those companies that have fully engaged employees tend to have higher earnings per share and recover faster from macroeconomic challenges.
- Higher Customer Loyalty
Research has found that employee engagement has a big impact on the customer experience. 79% of companies that report high levels of good customer experience also have high employee engagement levels. By comparison, only 49% of employees feel engaged in companies with below-average customer experience reports.
- Improved Employee Retention Rates
Studies show that most people don’t leave their job to promise a higher paycheck (only 16% of people surveyed). They are much more likely to quit their job because they are faced with an opportunity to do more meaningful work (27%) or because their new job gives them increased responsibility (17%). Both of these are felt by a highly engaged workforce.
- Innovation
Those employees who are more engaged are more likely to produce innovative ideas and are more open to new ideas and tools. That’s because they are willing to put in slightly more effort if it enhances their work, something that is needed for any innovation to occur.
