Skip to content 
According to research by Gallup, ‘highly engaged business units realize a 41% reduction in absenteeism and a 17% increase in productivity’.
The study also found that engaged workers are less likely to move on from their roles, in fact, it found that high-turnover organizations saw a 24% reduction in turnover within departments that were engaged. No wonder businesses are always looking for ways to improve employee engagement!
So, what is employee management, and why is it essential to a business’ success.
Join the world’s most innovative brands using our end-to-end innovation management tools.
What is Employee Engagement? Why does it matter?
According to Forbes, employees who feel heard by their organization are almost five times more likely to feel empowered to perform their best work.
That’s why employee engagement matters. The commitment employees show to their organization and its goals is the driving force behind everything they do for that organization.
Engaged employees don’t just do what they have to do, they go the extra mile, pushing boundaries and scaling new heights for their organization, fostering a culture of innovation.
Benefits of Employee Engagement
Leading a close-knit band of engaged, committed employees is every manager’s dream.
When employee engagement soars, the team’s performance soars with it. Employee engagement is the difference between a ‘well-functioning team’ and a truly ‘great team’.
But how important is it? What are the benefits of employee engagement?
Better Team Performance
Engaged employees form a more efficient and productive workforce.
According to research by Gallup, highly engaged business units realize a 17% increase in productivity. Enough said, isn’t it?
Lower Turnover
Building your dream team isn’t easy when no one wants to stick around. Teams cannot constantly do their best when they’re busy saying goodbye to colleagues every six months. Plus, hiring and training newbies takes a lot of time, energy and effort.
Research suggests that the average cost of replacing an employee in the UK is around £25000 per worker, which includes costs incurred for rehiring and lost productivity. So, rehiring or refilling a position is a costly affair!
Well-engaged workers are a lot less likely to move on from their roles. Studies show that high-turnover organizations saw a 24% reduction in turnover within departments that were engaged. In low-turnover organizations, it was a whopping 51%.
Lower Risk of Burnout
Employee burnout is one of the biggest issues that organizations face today. When employees face burn out, it means bad news for them, their team, and their organization.
That’s why you need to make sure you’re keeping your employees engaged and monitoring their stress levels. By taking steps to ensure their happiness, you can help lower their risk for burnout.
How to Measure Employee Engagement
Figuring out how to improve employee engagement is essential. But you need to know the impact your decisions have on employee engagement to chart the way forward.
That’s why it’s important to have a goal in mind.
- Why do you want to improve employee engagement?
- What does success look like?
Let’s say your goal is to have employees recommend your company as ‘a good place to work’, in order to improve your hiring process.
Or maybe it’s increasing the number of individuals who get involved in company-wide initiatives, such as fundraising events or ideas gathering.
Once you have your goal in place, you can move on to the next step: working out how you can measure employee engagement.
Surveys are the most common way to capture employee opinions. Many organizations organize regular surveys to understand where they stand in the eyes on their employees.
1-on-1s can be a real eye opener, too. The data captured in such sessions can be invaluable for companies. Figures such as retention rates and understanding how many new hires were recommended via existing employees, are great indicators of workplace culture, too.
You need to establish your baseline results before you take action. Then you can make changes and set KPIs around the results you would like to see. Be sure to check back regularly, to see the effect of the initiatives you have put in place.
5 Signs Your Employees are Disengaged
Disengagement isn’t loud. But there are tell-tale signs which you can keep an eye out for.
Disengaged employees often shows up unenthusiastic and uninspired. A lack of commitment to the organization’s cause or a lack of initiative can be an indicator of disengagement. You need to step in and improve employee engagement before it’s too late.
Here are some signs organizations should watch for.
- Decreased productivity: One of the major signs that an employee is disengaged is the decrease in productivity. Be it missed deadlines, decrease in the overall amount of work done, or even lack of focus, disengagement can lead to a drop in commitment or drive.
- Increased absenteeism: Increased sick days or unexplained absences not only impact the individual but the team at large.
- A decline in the quality of work: A common indicator of an employee feeling disengaged at work is the obvious decline in the quality of their work. If an employee who previously produced high quality work delivers less quality work even after being made aware of the issue.
- Withdrawing socially: Employees withdrawing socially from the team is a key indicator of disengagement. Disengaged employees tend to avoid social gatherings or building a relationship that exists outside of work, negatively impacting the team collaborates.
- Lack of interest in upskilling: An employee’s disinterest in upskilling can be a sign of disengagement, too. An employee who originally requested challenging work, training, and discussions, taking a step back, indicates disengagement in the workplace.
Disengagement impacts more than just the individual. If this isn’t identified, analyzed and handled the right way, it could have negative effects across the organization.
How to Rapidly Improve Employee Engagement
When you’re trying to improve engagement within your business, you need to decide what a good result would look like and start measuring it.
Once you have a goal in mind, you can:
- Ensure you have effective communication channels in place.
- Give meaning to work. Show your employees their impact and how they’re key to your organization’s success.
- Enable greater autonomy.
- Listen. Let your employees see that you are listening to them and taking steps to address their concerns.
- Recognize achievements. Make sure you provide constructive feedback.
- Offer mentoring. Give your employees a chance to truly level up under your wing.
Creating a Culture of Engagement
Yes, there’s a lot that you can do to make your employees feel engaged and empowered. It’s not just about thinking up ways to engage employees from time to time, but creating a culture that’s engaging.
What can you do? Let’s start with the basics. Simple things such as effective employee communications motivate 85% of employees to remain engaged in the workplace.
Organizing events such as hackathons are a great way to enhance the way your organization collaborates and engages. Such workshops prove to be a great way to crowdsource ideas, solve challenges, boost employee engagement, and enhance cross-department collaboration.
Join the world’s most innovative brands using our end-to-end innovation management tools.
Incorporating methods like gamification into your culture can improve engagement. Gamification gives your users more reasons to interact, and all the online validation they’ll get should keep them coming back for more. If you’re being creative with your rewards, the engagement would stay high.
With increased stress and burnout becoming everyday issues, policies like hybrid working or 4-day work week can improve employee well-being.
A recent Gartner poll revealed that only 16% of companies leverage technology to empower progress and engagement. Using employee engagement software like edison365 to enhance your employee engagement strategy can help you drive innovation, enhance productivity and create a truly inspiring workplace.
So, make sure you keep an eye out for ways to keep your people engaged!
