Have you ever wondered what the results of your company would be like if all employees were emotionally involved in its development? The Employee Engagement is a factor that directly affects the success of a business. When team members feel engaged to what they do, the time they spend in the workplace is more productive and profitable.
Next, we explain what Employee Engagement is, why it’s important that you promote it in your organization, and we give you some tips so you can increase the level of commitment of your employees.
What is Employee Engagement?
The Employee Engagement is one of the most important dimensions for the Human Resources department. It refers to the degree of commitment and satisfaction that employees have with their employers.
But! Don’t confuse engagement with motivation. A person can be very attached to their work and be unmotivated.
However, the Employee Engagement is what makes team members passionate about their organization. What makes them defend and represent their corporate culture and values. And the reason why they recommend the company to family, friends and customers.
Evaluating this factor will allow you to understand what makes employees stay with the company, what makes them happy, and what makes your value proposition attractive. In this way, you will be able to perfect your talent attraction and loyalty strategies.
Benefits of empowering the Employee Engagement in the company
There are a lot of research about the power of engagement on employee behavior and how it affects organizational growth.
In 2019, the market research firm Gallup conducted a study to compare the differences in the performance of companies that opted to implement Employee Engagement strategies, with those that did not.
The results obtained were very evident. Businesses that had a higher level of Employee Engagement showed:
- 80% less absenteeism.
- 58% fewer work accidents.
- An employee turnover rate less than 18%.
- A reduction in production costs of 28%.
- The quality of products and services increased by 59%.
- Consumers were 10% more loyal.
- Productivity increased by 18%.
- Sales were 10% higher.
- The profitability of the company rose by 23%.
The 4 Employee Engagement Keys
The Employee Engagement is influenced by multiple factors. From the role that employees play to the type of work environment. However, there are four key elements to pay special attention to when designing a strategy to improve employee engagement.
These elements are:
- Company commitment
If we want employees to be engaged in the organization, it is essential to demonstrate that the company itself is committed to its employees.
In this sense, it is vital to support employees in their personal and professional growth, provide them with all the necessary resources so that they can carry out their duties effectively and respect the individuality of each person.
- Affective ties
Another Gallup study revealed that having friends at work boosts Employee Engagement by 50%.
Healthy interpersonal relationships with colleagues create strong and solid emotional bonds. This, in turn, makes teams more cohesive, generating a feeling of belonging, a very important factor that fuels engagement.
- Strategic alignment
When designing an Employee Engagemet strategy, one of the priorities must be to align the corporate objectives with the personal objectives of the employees.
Thus, employees understand what the purpose of the organization is, where it is going, and how their work contributes to achieving the established goals.
- Goal based
Managers and team leaders have to identify the needs of the workforce and create specific goals to address them.
Being clear about these expectations facilitates the design of a roadmap that really serves to take actions that have an impact on work engagement.
Practical tips to increase the Employee Engagement
Emotional attachment implies that employees are more aware of the role they play within the company. It makes them pay more attention to details, they are more responsible with their actions, and they are interested in discovering new ways to improve the company day by day.
All this makes organizations that are concerned with designing and implementing Employee Engagement strategies in much more profitable and productive businesses.
Here are some tips to help you shape your own engagement strategy:
- Promote communication. Companies that have the highest levels of employee engagement are the ones that talk to them. This implies not only sending notifications communicating progress and news, but also sitting down to listen to employee’s problems, challenges and concerns.
- Cultivate a culture of transparency. All companies have data that is reserved only for the management team. However, this does not mean that you cannot be honest and transparent with employees. Sharing relevant information about the company’s situation, the measures taken to manage certain processes, or publishing the results of internal studies offers the vision of an open company that cares about keeping its team involved.
- Use surveys to ask employees. On many occasions, the solutions to corporate challenges lie with the employees themselves. Asking employees will help you learn how team members live the reality of the organization, and will give you valuable clues about the steps you should take to improve their work experience.
- Offer continuous feedback. Autonomy is a trait that drives engagement. But employees also need to know what actions they should take to improve their work and raise their level of excellence. Feeling like a competent professional increases satisfaction, self-esteem, and encourages people to continue improving continuously.
- Reinforces an environment of Psychological Safety. This subjective feeling of well-being that gives us knowing that our actions are not going to be judged makes us more involved in our work, we are more creative, efficient and effective.
- Invest in Cultural Fit. Incorporating professionals into the workforce who are already predisposed to align with the company’s values and culture speeds up the team’s transformation process, increasing engagement levels faster.
- Recognize a job well done. We all like a pat on the back when we know we’ve worked hard at something. Recognizing a good job does not have to mean making an economic outlay. It is enough to publicly praise employees, give thanks at the right time, or give employees the opportunity to take on more ambitious challenges.
- Boost interpersonal relationships. A 2006 Harvard study found that cardiac surgeons performed better when working with a familiar team, and worse when working with a new one. When you trust your colleagues and know what their work dynamics are, performance increases and engagement skyrockets.
- Take care of the onboarding. There are studies that indicate that 53% of employee engagement is generated at the time a person joins an organization. Therefore, it is important to have a good welcome strategy prepared. Onboarding is the phase in which new employees generate expectations, so the first impression had better be a good one. Otherwise, disappointment will give way to lack of engagement.
Specific software to evaluate, monitor and improve Employee Engagement
For a successful Employee Engagement strategy, you will have to monitor and analyze the measures that are being incorporated.
To do this, the most effective is to use specialized software. Team Insights is an employee survey program that allows you to take the pulse of the organization, find out the level of well-being and know the state of team members’ engagement.
We have a library of questions specially designed for this purpose. Also, it has a built-in eNPS measurement system, and an employee portal where your collaborators can leave their comments completely anonymously.
Team Insights is free, so you can start boosting Employee Engagement right now. Why wait any longer?
