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Using Employee Engagement to Achieve Organizational goals
Today’s workforce is more connected, collaborative, and curious than ever before. They are also more demanding of their employers. In an increasingly competitive job market, it’s critical that companies find ways to differentiate themselves from the competition and foster employee engagement as a way to retain top talent. Organizations that have mastered the art of employee engagement realize its value in reducing turnover rates, increasing productivity and innovation, and improving customer service. If you want to achieve best practices in your organization by optimizing employee engagement, keep reading for insight on what employee engagement is, its benefits for your company, how to measure it effectively, and how you can optimize it inside your organization.
What is Employee Engagement?
Employee engagement is a state of being actively involved in, connected to, and committed to one’s profession and workplace. It’s not the same as employee satisfaction, which would indicate a positive feeling but not necessarily a strong desire to participate or remain with the organization.
Employee engagement is often thought of as a key indicator of organizational health and future success. When employees are engaged, they are more productive, less stressed, and more likely to stay with the company.
The opposite is also true: when employees are disengaged, they drag down the success of the organization by bringing down productivity, increasing stress among coworkers, and leaving for new opportunities more frequently.
Strategies to Improve Employee Engagement
– Offer a Great Work Environment – An engaged workforce feels supported and connected to the organization and the people in it. They understand their job roles and know their unique value to the organization.
– Invest in Ongoing Training and Development – Employees want to grow, learn new skills, and make a positive impact in the world. They are looking to build a career, not simply do a job. Offer a variety of training programs, coaching opportunities, and paths for advancement to encourage employees to stay engaged with the organization.
– Get Regular Feedback to Diagnose Issues Early – It’s impossible to know how employees really feel about their work environment without asking them. Use regular surveys and feedback sessions to diagnose issues that could cause employees to become disengaged.
Employee Engagement and Productivity
One of the most significant ways that employee engagement can improve your organization’s success is by improving productivity.
When employees are engaged, they feel more excited and enthusiastic about their work and their career path. This increased energy boosts productivity and can be seen in the quality of work delivered and the time it takes employees to complete their assignments.
Engaged employees are more likely to be satisfied with their work/life balance and less likely to clock out as soon as their shifts end. This makes them more likely to take initiative and seek out new opportunities to impact the organization.
Employee engagement and development
Another significant impact of employee engagement on the organization is its impact on employee retention. According to Gallup, when employees feel connected to their organization, they are less likely to leave the job.
More engaged employees tend to stay with their organization longer, and will often prefer opportunities to advance within the company. And because companies that focus on employee development are likely to have a strong culture, they are also more likely to appeal to top talent looking for new opportunities.
Performance management and engagement
Engagement and performance management go hand in hand: if employees feel as though their contributions are valued, they are more likely to be fully engaged and productive members of their teams.
With regular 1:1 meetings and reviews, managers have the opportunity to coach their employees on techniques for improving performance and helping them to feel more engaged in the work.
As the manager, you can also take the opportunity to ask about the employee’s level of engagement and the ways that you can help improve it.
Even if your team members initially score as “satisfied” or “neutral” in their engagement levels, there are ways to increase their enthusiasm and engagement as a part of your regular performance management process.
Engagement and employee retention
Engaged employees are more likely to stay with the organization and less likely to quit, which means less time and money spent on recruitment and more time spent on cultivating a productive team.
Gallup estimates that a 10% increase in employee engagement can result in a 5% reduction in turnover rates. This means that if you have 100 employees, you can save as much as $500,000 every year by optimizing employee engagement.
Employee engagement also affects every aspect of employee retention, from the hiring process to employee satisfaction and retention rates once they are on the job.
Employee engagement and organizational culture
Employee engagement and an organization’s culture go hand in hand. Engaged employees are likely to be passionate about the mission of the company and committed to its future growth and progress.
Engagement provides insight into which aspects of the company’s culture are most significant to employees. It also gives you an opportunity to reinforce those aspects and make sure that they remain a key part of your organization as it grows.
An engaged workforce also provides valuable insight into how your organization is perceived in the marketplace. Employees are likely to talk about their experiences at work and recommend your company to others.
HR initiatives for Employee Engagement
If you want to optimize employee engagement, it’s important to approach it as a company-wide initiative, not just something that impacts Human Resources.
When employees are engaged, they feel a strong sense of ownership over the future of the organization. Their ideas, feedback, and contributions are valued, and they feel connected to their colleagues and managers in a way that breeds productivity and creativity.
Engagement initiatives should focus on strengthening connections among employees and forging stronger connections with the company. This can be done through company-wide initiatives like company-wide 1:1 meetings or informal team-building exercises.
Employee engagement is key to driving innovation, increasing productivity, and reducing turnover rates. It’s important that companies focus on engaging their entire workforce and not just executives and managers.
Engagement is about feeling connected and empowered. It’s about feeling like your voice is heard and that you have the opportunity to make a difference in the organization and in your career path.
Conclusion
Engaged employees are productive, satisfied, and loyal. They bring their best to the table every day and are more likely to stay with the company long-term. If you want to optimize employee engagement, start by asking employees what they need to be successful and progressing from there. Offer a variety of programs and opportunities for employees to connect with each other and with the company, and be sure to follow up and take advantage of the feedback you receive.