Employee engagement is fast becoming important for HR and is no longer a "nice-to-have" component. It's a key factor to the success of your employees, your team and the business.
It is estimated that every year, companies lose $450-500 billion due to disengaged workers and low employee engagement.
Managers, HRs and the Organizations are aware that a happy workforce leads to higher employee engagement, which in turn leads to better productivity, higher job satisfaction and indirectly higher revenue for the company. So, it’s a win-win situation, as employees who are content with their work and work environment are naturally willing to put in more work.
Employee engagement is the enthusiasm, dedication, mental and emotional connection employees feel towards their work, teams, and organization. Employee engagement is not the same as employee satisfaction because engagement is centered around motivation and purpose, not just happiness.
Without further ado, let’s quickly have a look at the latest statistics around employee engagement.
A study by Gallup reported that merely 36% are engaged, 51% of employees are disengaged in the workplace, and 14% are actively disengaged. Actively disengaged employees feel miserable at work and end up spreading negativity to others.
Disengaged employees do their work without full commitment and are not emotionally connected to their jobs. Such workers tend to resign from their current job soon when they get the slightest opportunity.
Though 36% of engaged employees is low, the good news is that it is actually the highest since 2000. The percentage of disengaged employees has reduced from 85% in 2017 to 65% in 2020.
Considering the pandemic, the number of engaged workers has not dropped much, showing that companies have made efforts to improve employee engagement during remote working.
One of HR’s biggest challenges is to find a balance between employee engagement and employee well-being. Having fully productive and engaged employees should not result in health problems.
However, 61% of employees feel exhausted due to their work, with 31% reporting extremely high stress levels at work. They do not use their vacation days out of fear of falling behind in work or being perceived as less hard working. High-stress levels among employees will invariably lead to low productivity, more mistakes and a reduction in your company's revenue.
Disengaged employees are more prone to making errors that impact others’ safety. Such employees often don’t care about their own performance or the company’s policies and tend not to follow safety measures. Thus, they end up threatening employee safety.
Disengagement can also pose a security risk to organizations. Such employees often fail to follow the security protocols and risk your company to a huge data breach and fraud. According to a 2016 study, 22% of data breaches were caused by malicious employee activity, and 65% were a result of employee negligence.
Teams with actively engaged employees report 48% fewer work-related injuries, saving companies from worker’s compensation claims.
As HR, you can ask the employees to contribute ideas for improving the existing policies, thus involving them in your safety program.
Employee turnover is a major problem for organizations today. Studies have shown 30% of workers left a job within just 3 months of starting. 89% of employers think that their employees will leave for a better package. But it was actually found that only 12% of employees leave just for a higher paycheck. Today’s employees work not only for the money but want to be recognized and rewarded for their hard work.
As HR, it is crucial to evaluate how you can motivate employees and increase their chances of staying. Encourage managers to ask questions personally if the employee feels there is too much work, impossible deadlines or too little work. HR should coordinate with the management regarding employee viewpoints.
Ensure managers have a clear idea about each employee’s role and expectations. Allow more flexibility to employees and also encourage them to take time off. Simple, fun team activities will help employees to get to know each other better.
Employee development statistics show that if employees are more engaged, they are less likely to look for another job. Companies providing training that helps enable employees to reach their long-term career goals also report higher employee engagement. Therefore these efforts by companies result in having efficient workers and increased employee satisfaction and retention.
For new employees, you should ensure proper training of the software and other tools used in the workplace. This training would help new employees feel comfortable and be more efficient. They are less likely to be overwhelmed in the first few months and less likely to quit.
A study by HBR on 3,000 employees reported that 70% of employees were satisfied with their jobs and 69% with their colleagues. Only 64% were satisfied with their bosses. This study proved that people leave bosses, not companies.
Every manager is responsible for treating their employees with respect and keeping them engaged. Companies need to spend more time and effort on manager training. The key focus should be on empowering managers to know how to acknowledge and appreciate their employees' work, inspire them, and encourage them to develop the skills they need.
A study found that 37% of employees felt most encouraged by personal recognition. 84% of the highly engaged employees received recognition & perks when they went the extra mile at work. On the other hand, only 25% of actively disengaged employees received any recognition.
When you recognize & reward the employees’ good work, it shows you have acknowledged their efforts, which increases employee productivity. On the flip side, not feeling appreciated is a reason why many employees quit.
Studies have shown that other kinds of recognition, such as badges, redeemable points, gift cards or even event tickets, can help improve employee engagement apart from the traditional monetary incentives.
An appreciation of their hard work will show that it was noticed and encourage them to stay motivated.
33% of employees quit jobs because they are bored in their current job and want to face newer challenges. They look for opportunities for professional development outside their organization.
Also, only 29% of employees report being “very satisfied” with the career advancement opportunities available in their current job. 41% reported these opportunities as “very important” when it comes to job satisfaction and engagement.
HR can provide the employees with a collaborative learning environment to promote learning and development and help them with learning opportunities and take on new roles.
A recent study in 2020 showed that 38% of remote employees feel exhausted after daily virtual meetings, while 30% said they found it stressful.
Due to the pandemic, most were forced to work from home. To feel connected, some companies had video conferences every day, while others had weekly.
While staying connected with your remote workforce is crucial for employee engagement to avoid feeling isolated, frequent virtual meetings must not disrupt the workflow and stress them out. Weekly virtual meetings will be better.
Studies have also shown that video calling leads to higher stress levels as many employees are forced to focus on their appearance or background. For less important communications within the teams, you can encourage the workers to speak on the phone and avoid video calling.
Remember, your employees are human. They crave comfort and recognition. They look for a healthy good work environment where they can grow and feel appreciated. A positive work culture will go a long way to ensure higher employee engagement.
Hopefully, these points have helped you focus on key employee engagement areas in your company that will help you improve the entire organization’s performance.
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