16 Dec Employee Engagement Spurs 18% Productivity Growth, 66% Well-being Gain

The word “employee” has been a hot topic across business news in the past few years. It isn’t all too surprising as companies’ human resources are perceived to be one of the most significantly affected resources in the pandemic. Numerous experts have been focusing on news on employee experience being a trend which Human Resources staff should be looking out for in the next few years. 

McKinsey & Company, for example, highlights the impact a company can make toward employee experience — which in turn affects overall business performance. But perhaps it would be best if businesses steer their direction toward employee engagement as well

For business leaders, employee engagement can be the determining factor of a company’s success in the next year. Smarp, an employee communications and advocacy platform, states that the key to building successful businesses is by achieving high levels of employee engagement. 

What are the benefits of employee engagement to an organization? According to Gallup’s Q12 Employee Survey, the positive outcomes include 14% increase in productivity in its production records; 18% increase in productivity in sales, and 66% gain in well-being. 

A Mercer’s Engagement Survey Snapshot also provides a glimpse of the impact of employee engagement and its interrelated factors on driving business performance. 

According to the survey, at a financial services company, modest increases in employee attitudes were associated with $500 million in asset growth. This goes to show that employee engagement has a strong influence over an organization’s success.

There’s no doubt businesses desire to maintain considerable levels of employee engagement, but in reality, many haven’t reached these levels yet, at least according to the numbers. Gallup discovered that by June 2021, 15% of actively disengaged US workers were observed in its analysis. 

It’s only natural for business leaders to counter these statistics with strategic tactics to improve employee engagement within their organizations. They can start by studying HRMorning’s recommendations and distinguish whether they are suitable strategies to apply in their workforce. Here are its recommended strategies:

Set better goals

It’s known that when employees don’t understand goals and priorities, it’s more likely for them to become disengaged. In a report by Harvard Business Review Analytic Services with around 550 business executives as respondents, 70% agree that employees’ clear understanding of how their jobs contribute to strategy is a critical driver in employee engagement. Additionally, 69% identified that the understanding of business goals that are communicated company-wide is a key driver as well.

Therefore, C-suite down to front-line team leaders have to keep goals top of mind. One suggestion to setting better goals includes aligning an employee’s professional goals with the organization’s goals to increase an employee’s personal interest in overall success. Another key is to conduct regular goal monitoring and progress reports to identify where gaps in competencies need to be filled.

Demonstrate love

It’s not uncommon to find employees actively looking for work in companies that demonstrate an acceptable level of care towards their workforce. A link between employee care and employee engagement exists — be it directly or indirectly. 

It doesn’t take a genius to prove the relationship between these two concepts. But studies have been conducted to better understand how people managers such as HR staff and global mobility professionals can increase employee engagement within their organizations. 

One study indicates that a system of caring from HR management practices results in an organization’s climate of care which will result in increased levels of engagement. Naz Beheshti, the author of Pause, Breathe, Choose: Become the CEO of Your Well-being, also supports the relationship between employee care and employee engagement. She even went beyond by saying, “My executive consulting practice was founded on the principle that engagement and wellness are inseparable.”

Moreover, executives and team leads are suggested to revisit their soft skills to improve their level of care towards employees who rely on them for leadership and direction.

Rethink well-being

Most HR management strategies revolve around employee well-being during the pandemic. Arguably, mental health has been the forefront driver in the re-evaluation of programs and policies to ensure that companies demonstrate care toward their workforce. But employee well-being continues to evolve. In fact, it can be as uncertain as this health crisis. So to be able to tackle the changing definition of well-being, companies must adapt and adjust accordingly. 

Train leaders to step in

While efforts have been made for employees’ well-being through methods such as mental health coverage, wellness classes, and resources for psychological needs, frontline managers should be encouraged to intervene whenever they observe any issues and concerns within their teams. 

In modern times, demonstrating strong leadership through confident direction won’t suffice. Managers have to manifest their leadership both through personal and professional guidance. Regular check-ins are just one way to monitor team members for any signs of burnout or stress. It also wouldn’t hurt if businesses equip leaders with the right resources for them to identify best-fitting interventions for different employee circumstances.

Restore company culture

Maintaining company culture can be a tall order when companies have been scrambling to find ways on how to keep the business running amid a pandemic. Business leaders probably had just one thing on their minds — how am I able to make this company last. From layoffs to the closure of underutilized assets, sustaining company culture throughout the company just didn’t seem the best priority at the height of the pandemic. 

Since businesses now have accustomed themselves to this new normal, deliberate initiatives to develop a shared company culture among stakeholders inside the company can prove beneficial in the long run. 

Cynthia Wang, Executive Director of Kellogg’s Dispute Resolution and Research Center, mentions, “Culture is a luxury. It’s up to leadership to create a structure of norms, while ensuring that their employees feel like they have a sense of control too, because otherwise, they’re not going to take on the shared value system of the company.” In other words, there are risks when employees, leadership, and the company don’t belong to this shared value system.