$450 billion each year. That’s the minimum amount of money that disengaged employees are costing U.S. companies.
If you want to grow your company, you must start with your people. The best managers and business owners recognize that employee engagement and business success go hand-in-hand, and you can’t grow your business if your people aren’t engaged.
What is employee engagement?
Employee engagement is an emotional commitment and willingness to give your best at work. With strong engagement, employees have a powerful sense of purpose and they feel as though they have a stake in the game. Because of that, they are willing to give everything they’ve got to achieve success and often go above and beyond what others are doing.
Increasing the level of employee engagement in a company can lead to a 20% increase in profitability and a 10% increase in customer satisfaction. It can also generate up to 5 times more revenue and make them 3 times more likely to retain their employees.
When you get the people part right, big things can happen!
Engagement leads to happy employees
First and foremost, high employee engagement leads to happier, more satisfied employees. You may be familiar with the story surrounding President John F. Kennedy’s tour of the NASA headquarters in 1961. As he walked down the hallway of the facility, he came upon a janitor who was mopping the floor. JFK stopped to introduce himself and asked the janitor what his job was at NASA. The janitor answered, “I’m helping put a man on the moon!”
It was clear the janitor was fully engaged in his job. He understood NASA’s vision and was motivated by his involvement. His energy was evident, and inspirational, to those all who encountered him. Happiness is contagious!
Engagement inspires customers
In today’s world of “viral” social media posts and videos, countless examples exist of engaged employees inspiring customers. Chick-Fil-A has capitalized on this by creating a series of commercials with customers discussing how specific employees made an impact on them.
Have you ever been surrounded by someone who clearly isn’t motivated by what they do? How about someone who clearly is? When you have high employee engagement, your customers notice.
Engagement improves your employer brand
Your employer brand isn’t necessarily what you say it is, it’s what your employees and your customers say it is. High levels of employee engagement are directly correlated to the strength of your brand.
We can all agree that we’re more likely to become repeat customers when we’re surrounded by those who are engaged in their positions. Your customers will feel the investment your employees have and your brand will spread like wildfire.
Engagement spreads pride across the company
With engagement comes a sense of pride, ownership, and investment. Every employee you have is critical to the success of your organization. You’re all in the boat together, rowing in the same direction towards the same vision. Productivity and quality increase when everyone takes pride in the work they do. You’ll create raving fans not only out of your customers, but out of your employees themselves.
Is disengagement costing your organization?
A recent Gallup study shows that only 35% of employees are truly engaged at work while 52% are just showing up and going through the motions, and 13% are actively working against their companies. So if disengagement is costing your organization, you’re not alone.
Increasing employee engagement begins with improving your workplace culture. Culture is demonstrated by the way employees work together every day. It includes your team’s values, beliefs, behaviors, and environment. A strong culture cultivates people who feel like they belong, have a chance to contribute to ideas, and see their ideas put into action.
Every company has a culture, whether it’s intentional or not. Start by understanding the culture you currently have, identifying the culture you want to have, and set a few goals to help you get there.
Pic designed by pvproductions for Freepik.com.
Kate Rehling is a Talent Analyst for the Center for Sales Strategy and Engagement Specialist for Up Your Culture.