Why employee engagement is extremely important

Have you ever wondered why employee engagement is extremely important for the productivity of the company? How the performance and engagement of the employee are linked? According to a Gallup report, “more than 80% of employees across the globe feel disengaged.” Despite managers’ brain-storming regarding employee engagement, the facts state the opposite. What a nightmare, right?

The Harvard Business Review cites, “employee engagement is the holy grail of today’s workplace”. The engagement of the employees is directly proportional to the success of the company and on the other hand, employees that do not take an active part and are less motivated become a burden on the organization.

Here are some reasons why employee engagement is extremely important:

A direct connection with the company’s success:

Employees that are disengaged often tend to work with limited energy and do not harmonize well with the values and goals of an organization. This leads to a loss of productivity in terms of cost – in the UK around £300 billion per year and in the USA around $500 billion a year.
Look out for disengagement signs in your employees such as fewer efforts, minimal passion, non-creativeness, maximum absenteeism, less motivated, negative attitude, and does not value time. These not only affect the productivity of the company as a whole but such employees’ also get paid in terms of their salaries regardless of poor performance.
However, extremely motivated employees will enhance the productivity and revenue of the company. As per this survey, “employees that are highly engaged can boost the productivity of the company by 30%.” Their emotional commitment and direct connection with the company’s goals and values add to the overall revenue of the company. Another research states, organizations that have highly engaged employees surpass those who aren’t by around 200%.

Staff Replacement Turnover:

As stated in this research, retaining an employee is extremely important because when an employee leaves an organization for whatsoever reason, it costs around 33% of his salary to find another candidate to fill his place. Even after this, a new employee might take at least the next 2 years to reach the same potential as the one who left the organization. Here are some interesting facts that make employees leave their existing companies:

More than 55% of employees feel that they are not appreciated for their achievements and progress.
Around 50% of employees have resigned from their jobs due to the ill behavior of their managers.
More than 65% of employees state that once their efforts are appreciated they would definitely work harder.

On the contrary, the employees that are highly engaged and appreciated are around 85% less likely to quit their existing job. This means, with the right engagement strategies, you can reduce the staff rehiring turnover.

Enhanced Employee Productivity:

A major benefit of employee engagement is enhanced productivity. An engaged employee means, great performer, creative thinker, more committed, enthusiastic, and highly dynamic. According to research, the productivity of an employee is increased between 20% and 25% if they are engaged.
The biggest reason for the diminished productivity of an employee is excessive work pressure and mental stress. This survey shows that more work pressure reduces the productivity of the employee by more than 65%. Also, 57% of stressed employees exhibit signs of disengagement as compared to the ones who state a lesser stress level.

This means managers who aim at maximizing results with excess workload need to rethink their approach. They must also be mindful of the fact that stress is not a productivity booster. Therefore they must build organizational structures to help employees communicate their work issues freely to improve productivity.

Satisfactory Customers:

Another major reason why employee engagement is necessary within an organization is making its customers happy. Employees that are happier and positively motivated are known for delivering happy customers. As we believe, energies talk! Companies with better employee engagement plans and programs, experience more than 200% enhanced consumer loyalty. If an employee is less motivated and unhappy with his workplace, he cannot have healthy and positive communication with the customer.
More than 25% of employees mention that they will be more productive if they get better training. Happy customers can only be achieved if employees are well-trained within an organization.

Employee engagement is proven to be highly advantageous for the organization

There is no second thought about it that employees are the most valuable assets of a company. Remember, better employee engagement strategies benefit both ways. Also, an employee that feels that he belongs to that place, will never leave!

Sum Up:

Indeed, employee engagement is of paramount importance as it boosts the morale of the people working in an organization. Also, it adds to the quality of work and builds trust within employees, and hence, the employer.