Employee Engagement
March 6, 2023
Voluntary employee resignation has been at an all-time high. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), resignations peaked in March 2022, when a record 4.5 million employees left their jobs. This trend has continued since 2021 and is now being called ‘The Great Resignation’.
Clearly, this is a structural problem that cannot be solved by offering employees higher pay. Employees crave investment in the human aspects of work and need a purpose to stay committed to their career objectives. From the company's perspective, the cost of rehiring employees can be massive.
According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), hiring a new employee costs nearly $4,700 on average. But, consider soft costs, like the opportunity costs of hiring. The total cost per hire can be a whopping three to four times the position’s salary.
That said, it’s important to keep your employees engaged to ensure lower attrition.
Broadly defined, employee engagement refers to the connection employees have with their employer. It gauges how committed employees are to their workplace and work. Employees who care profoundly about their jobs and go beyond what is expected are considered highly engaged employees. We’ve put together an employee engagement checklist that helps you take steps to ensure you’re on the right path.
Employees are a critical component of your business. Their daily operations, decisions, and commitment can have huge impacts on your business’ performance.
Engaged employees are usually:
It is essential to measure employee engagement to know what and how you need to improve.
Employee engagement cannot be built overnight. Follow some of the best practices to get started and work towards it.
Engaged employees lead to better business outcomes than average or disengaged employees. They are more productive and less likely to quit their jobs. This saves you from spending thousands of dollars and lots of additional time on rehiring employees.
According to research by Gallup, only 15% of employees worldwide and 35% in the U.S. are engaged. For example, compare the top and bottom companies for employee engagement. The top companies saw an 81% reduction in those missing work. They also boast an 18% increase in productivity as compared to companies at the bottom.
Employee engagement is a steady and gradual process. You have to invest in it regularly to reap its benefits. When you think about fostering employee development, consider the following factors.
When you focus on your core values and create a robust workplace culture, employees are more likely to stay engaged. When you align what your employees do with what they value, you’re investing in employee engagement.
For example, say your mission statement is to be the market leader in your niche. Your employees might not be able to relate to it. They need an emotional connection to achieve the level of employee engagement you’re hoping for.
However, think about what happens when you make your mission to have an impact that is larger than your business. For example, Airbnb’s mission is to “create a world where you can belong anywhere.” With a mission like this, your employees are able to relate to it and stay engaged.
Additionally, don’t remain too generic about your corporate values. Translate them into specific behaviors that are actually implementable at an everyday level. For example, if you value teamwork, integrity, and accountability, create a list of guidelines and actions that can foster those values. This simple method has been shown to increase employee engagement by 107%.
You must ensure that your employees feel like there are opportunities for growth and that their career has not stagnated. This involves training and development sessions, which are especially important in technical roles, to keep your employees competitive. This is also a way of demonstrating to employees that your company is invested in their career progression and career goals.
Training and development build your employees’ confidence, which is a crucial driver of employee engagement. Other methods include allowing workers more flexibility and autonomy to discover their interests. This fosters their intrinsic employee motivation and increases their sense of confidence.
If you want to achieve the values discussed above, think of transparency as a method to achieve it. Employees like you involve them in decisions. Take their feedback and concerns seriously and they’re more likely to stay engaged and committed to your organization. Transparency also involves recognizing people’s valuable contributions and acknowledging them accordingly.
The best way to improve transparency is to keep communication channels open. Use a feedback tool, have check-ins, and hold company huddles. More than 60% of Glassdoor users said their perception of a company improves after seeing an employer respond to a review.
Competitive compensation should be a bare minimum. Then, other more cerebral aspects of engagement can be met.
If your employees are worried about financial obligations and sub-par pay, which diminishes the quality of their lives, they’re likely to be disengaged employees. They’re also more likely to quit if they get better offers elsewhere. Therefore, make sure your employees have financial security, allowing them to focus on other ways of engagement.
Source: Majority of U.S. Workers Changing Jobs Are Seeing Real Wage Gains
We’ve broadly discussed an employee engagement checklist to drive employee engagement. There are also many activities that you can conduct to boost employee engagement. With GaggleAMP’s employee advocacy platform, employees share content with their network. This helps increase their reach, driving engagement for both them and your company.
Your employees can perform over 50 different activities on platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and more. We also provide in-depth analytics and dashboards to help you keep track of your program. Check out how our employee advocacy platform has helped some leading businesses and get started with yours.
Employee Engagement
Employee Engagement
Employee Engagement
