Employee engagement is a hot topic—and for good reason. It directly affects the bottom line. According to Gallup, these are some of the impacts of highly engaged employees:
· 20% higher sales
· 17% higher productivity
· 41% reduction in absenteeism
· 59% less employee turnover
· 10% increase in customer satisfaction
· 21% increase in profit
When organizational leaders understand that engagement is a shared responsibility between leaders and employees, they realize how important a foundation based on trust, integrity, and authentic communication is for building a high-performing company culture. Engagement drives members to enjoy giving discretionary effort, which align with the organization’s goals and values. Research shows that as engaged employees are inspired to contribute to their team’s and the organization’s success, their own sense of well-being and confidence increases. There is a direct correlation between organizations comprised of highly engaged employees and a culture of trust and fairness, based on mutual respect, where two-way promises and commitments bring clarity and are fulfilled by the leader and employee. Building an engaged culture in which all employees share the responsibility for desired outcomes can be informed through purposeful engagement principles.
The first step is for leaders to conduct an employee engagement survey. After completion, it is essential to share and discuss the results with your team. It’s hard to know where your employees stand unless you take time to assess their performance and engagement levels and talk to them about the results. Following the survey, leaders can discover specific engagement motivators for their team members and offer opportunities to meet and/or exceed those motivators. Engagement analytic tools can also provide a psychologically safe, balanced structure for meaningful, encouraging conversations upon which employees and their leaders co-create positive solutions that improve performance and increase profitability and growth in the short and long term. Employees‘ opinions and workplace attitudes provide data that can guide the development of healthy teams and a sustainable culture of high-performing employees who are committed to their company and connected to their co-workers.
Cheri Rainey is the CEO/Founder of Rainey Leadership Learning, partnering with leaders to support the entire employee life cycle.