If you’re in business, you’ve no doubt heard the term “employee engagement.” This is more than just a buzzword, though, and the benefits of employee engagement are numerous and well-documented. So, what is employee engagement? It’s the qualitative and quantitative relationship between an organization and its employees. Is it healthy, productive, inspiring, and mutually beneficial?
Is that the kind of working environment you’d like to foster? Let’s take a look at some of the biggest business benefits of employee engagement, along with employee engagement strategies to help you create a culture of collaboration and cooperation that helps your company thrive.
1. When you promote employee engagement, you build job satisfaction. Your employees will be happier when your work culture is one of recognition and cooperation, rather than pressure. Workplace stress is extremely costly to a business, and when employees are engaged, their stress is lower and they feel more satisfied with their work.
2. Employees who are engaged with their company want to be there. When your employees have high job satisfaction, you’ll notice lower rates of absenteeism because they have no reason not to want to come to work. In fact, studies have shown that absenteeism can drop as much as 41 percent in a company focused on employee engagement. What’s more, these employees are less likely to leave a job they enjoy, and businesses with high engagement experience up to 59 percent lower employee turnover. Employees who are happy in their work are emotionally invested in their jobs and retain excitement about the opportunities provided by the company.
3. A side effect of employee engagement is a healthier workplace. Employees who work in a high-stress environment are far more likely to get sick, and high-stress companies pay up to 50 percent more on health care for employees than companies with a cooperative culture. In fact, according to the American Psychological Association, work stress costs the United States economy over$550 million each year, contributing to most workplace accidents and dramatically increasing the number of doctor visits. Engaged workplaces, on the other hand, respect their employees needs and encourage them to lead healthy lifestyles, so these companies have employees with a lower risk of obesity and chronic diseases. They’re also more aware of their surroundings and better able to focus on their work, which leads to fewer workplace accidents.
4. Employees who are happy at work have happier home lives. They feel better about themselves, have a sense of purpose, and head home from work in a better mood. In this way, engagement at work creates more positive interactions with family, leading to a more satisfying home life.
5. A culture of collaboration and engagement results in employees who work well together. When employees feel engaged and connected, they collaborate more effectively, and team performance is greatly enhanced. There’s higher morale, a feeling of mutual respect between employees and management, and an overall energy that makes team objectives more achievable.
6. Your customers benefit when your employees are engaged. Engaged employees provide better customer service because they care about their work. They’ll create a better customer experience, in which the customer feels valued, and a strong customer relationship will be the result. Happy employees make more sales, more up-sales, and more cross-sales, and statistics show that 70 percent of customers will spend more money when they’re happy with the customer service.
7. When you foster a spirit of engagement, you’ll notice more creativity and inspiration. In a collaborative environment, employees share their ideas freely, and innovation is the result. When employees invest time in innovation, they feel a sense of accomplishment and belonging, leading to more enthusiasm, creativity, and innovation.
8. Employees become evangelists when they’re connected to the company. A happy employee is an excellent brand ambassador. People who love their jobs are likely to bring in more loyal customers, and they can also help you draw quality applicants, making recruitment easier.
9. Companies that prioritize engagement have a lower rate of employee burnout. When employees lack engagement, it can lead to fatigue, cynicism, and a feeling of incompetence that diminishes productivity. Burnout results from chronic workplace stress that’s improperly managed, but engaged workers have a sense of purpose and belonging that keeps burnout at bay.
10. Employee engagement increases productivity. Engaged employees behave in a positive manner towards the company because they believe in its mission and vision. They work harder and are more proactive when it comes to reaching their goals, largely because they know they are appreciated and their work is valued. Research indicates that employee engagement increases productivity by about 17percent.
11. Engaging employees makes leadership more effective. By making time to engage and interact with employees, companyleaders can get to know the people working for them. This makes employees morelikely to listen to them, boosts company morale, and makes them more excitedabout their jobs. This is a virtuous cycle that leads to further engagement.
12. Your bottom line benefits when your employees feel a connection to your company. Better quality work, better customer service, and higher productivity are going to result in higher sales for your company. Studies show that highly engaged businesses are 21 percent more profitable than their less engaged peers.
So, what can you do to create employee engagement in your company and reap these benefits? First, invest in employee engagement software that allows you to not just solicit their input, but also communicate, thank your employees, acknowledge their milestones, and much more.
Offer regular, constructive, real-time feedback that helps challenge and inspire your employees, and use one-on-one meetings to check on employee engagement. Encourage your employees to have a good work-life balance. But most of all, make sure to recognize and reward their great work with honest gestures and meaningful gifts.
If you’re looking for employee engagement ideas, talk to Marketing Innovators, where we believe that connecting to people on a human level is the best way to build a great business. That’s why for over 40 years our family-owned, employee driven company has been working to build and strengthen that connection between businesses and their employees, customers, and partners.
We work hard to help our clients motivate, incentivize, and reward their workforce. Our commitment to our core values of integrity, trust, collaboration, empowerment, and the kind of results-oriented attitude that promotes customer success has made us a leader in the engagement marketplace. To learn more about how we can help solve your business challenges, call 800-453-7373 or contact us through our website.
