Employee Engagement: Why Does it Matter?
Are your teams feeling that fourth quarter sluggishness? Are you competing for your team’s cognitive and motivational attention?
Some employees will find it hard to be engaged regardless of the time of year. But the end of the year is especially stacked with distractions – weather changes, holidays, and time off. If you are not keeping a pulse on the engagement of your teams, you may be at risk of losing your top talent.
When employees become disengaged, they consider leaving to find better opportunities. When they do, there is a great deal of time and cost to the organization. More than one in four employees are at a high risk for turnover and one in three of those employees are highly talented and skilled.
More than one in four employees are at a high risk for turnover and one in three of those employees are highly talented and skilled.
Employee engagement is defined as the degree to which employees are mentally and emotionally invested in their work and in contributing to the organization’s overall success. At C1C, we help nonprofits and corporate entities maximize employee engagement and retention by identifying drivers of engagement to maximize impact. We use research and analytics to back our employee surveys to assess various factors of engagement to meet organizational needs and keep employees engaged. Here are three key reasons why engagement matters in your organization.
Reduces turnover. Highly engaged employees are satisfied with their work, are more likely to show up, and get work done. They are also more likely to provide an authentic customer experience and offer positive suggestions for the organization.
When employees are not engaged, they are more likely to think of other more engaging thoughts. These thoughts might include Thanksgiving dinner plans, a vacation at the beach, or another job that better interests them. Some estimates say that over half of workers are looking to leave their current jobs, including top talent for the organization. Engaged employees are less likely to leave their companies because they know their role, enjoy their job, and see the connection and impact of their work on the organization.
Once an employee leaves, the company must decide whether they want to hire a replacement or distribute the workload and responsibilities amongst the team. Either option can be costly for an organization. New hires take valuable time from recruiters, hiring managers, and other team members brought in to select and onboard new hires. It is more cost efficient to keep high performing employees engaged than to replace them.
Employees become more loyal and productive. Highly engaged organizations have lower absenteeism, which results in being able to get more work done. Businesses that have highly engaged, highly productive employees also report fewer safety incidents on the job. These employees listen to other’s opinions and tend to be more attentive and vigilant. Employees that are highly engaged with their job also report having higher satisfaction and enthusiasm in their role. As employees become more invested in the company through staying engaged in their role, they also become invested in the success of their company.
On the other hand, unengaged employees are far less likely to go the extra mile and provide value to the organization when compared to their engaged peers. The quality of their work tends to suffer and can impact team morale. In addition to potentially leaving the organization, lower performance can quickly cut into potential profits or mission achievement of the company.
Increases company profitability and reduces costs. Highly engaged employees truly enjoy their work and are willing to work harder. These employees provide higher revenue for companies as a result of their driven work. When employees are happy, clients and customers are also happy. Satisfied clients and customers are more willing to be returning customers and refer your organization to others.
As mentioned above, when employees are unengaged, they tend to seek out other job opportunities. It costs employers at least a third of a worker’s annual salary to hire a replacement. Examples of costs include severance package payouts, the cost of hiring, lost sales, costs of training, and time. Ensuring employees are satisfied and engaged on the job is a great way to keep potential costs low.
At Category One Consulting, we use a five-facet model to measure engagement and help organizations identify strong drivers of engagement to maximize impact. If you would like additional support with employee engagement in your workplace, feel free to reach out!