Why Employee Engagement Drives Results and Why It's Important

Have you ever asked yourself, why is employee engagement important?

Every business owner or manager dreams of having a company full of employees that share the vision of their organization, come to work happy, and are willing to go the extra mile to achieve the goals and live the values of the company.

Highly engaged employees affect the organization from top to bottom, including everything from profitability and revenue to customer service and turnover. However, keeping employees engaged isn’t always the easiest task for those in management positions.

It takes a strong vision, excellent core values, and a sound strategy to ensure that your staff is feeling fulfilled and appreciated. Keep reading for a deeper understanding of employee engagement and strategies you can use to achieve results for everyone.

Employee Engagement Definition

Employee engagement can be defined as a mental and emotional commitment that an employee has towards their work, their company, and the company's goals.

A high level of engagement results in optimal conditions for organizational success while maintaining a sense of worth and fulfillment for the employee.

What Employee Engagement Is Not

Employee engagement does not just mean employee satisfaction. While it’s easy to assume that a happy employee is an engaged employee, that’s not always the case.

You might have an employee with a cheery disposition, but that doesn’t mean that they’re going to put in the extra effort to make sure a job is done perfectly. They might just enjoy the “free lunch Fridays” or the lack of micromanagement.

Why Is Employee Engagement Important?

An engaged workplace affects everything within an organization, including the bottom line. Strong managers recognize that engaged employees are not only happier and more fulfilled, but they are also more motivated and committed to their jobs.

Strong engagement within the company will not just reduce turnover, but will lead to less absenteeism, increased productivity, higher customer satisfaction, and stronger profits.

What Does It Mean for Employees?

An engaged employee wakes up in the morning and is excited to go to work, collaborate with coworkers, and work hard towards making the organization better. There’s a sense of purpose within an engaged employee that leads to increased motivation and productivity.

Truly engaged professionals hold themselves accountable to their team and its goals and expect the same from the people around them. It’s about being clear on the objectives and values of the company and feeling like your voice is heard and that your work is important.

All employees want to feel trusted and empowered. They want to feel like what they are doing is making a difference and that their work doesn’t go unnoticed.

What Does It Mean for Employers?

The job of an employer is to provide the trust and empowerment that employees are looking for. It’s paramount for senior management to live the values that they preach and provide a workplace of integrity.

It’s about making sure your employees have all the tools they need to achieve success, and that they receive support along the way if they run into any obstacles. It’s also important to celebrate successes and reward employees for a job well done.

Even small acknowledgments and recognition can go a long way in building trust and making an employee feel important. Most of all, it’s important for managers to lead by example and communicate effectively. This will lead to a greater commitment from the entire organization.

Employee Engagement Strategies

While offering free lunch, fun teambuilding events, and a Christmas bonus may make your employees temporarily happy, it’s not going to drive engagement. It’s important to look at it as a strategy and not just a tactic here and there. Here are some ideas to incorporate into your strategy.

Live Your Core Values

The quickest way to lose your employees is by not practicing what you preach. If you have nicely framed documents of the company's mission and values but aren’t living them, it’s going to come across as lip service and hypocrisy. It’s important that everyone is on the same page, and it starts with leadership.

Provide Growth Opportunities

Any employee worth having on your team is going to be growth-oriented. No one wants to remain stagnant in the same position with the same responsibilities for years. Offering clear career paths to employees provides them with a roadmap to success.

Recognize Performance

Everyone likes to be appreciated for a job well done, and it goes a long way towards keeping an employee engaged. Rewarding an employee doesn’t have to be with a cash bonus; it can be something as simple as a genuine thank you that shows your appreciation.

Communicate Effectively

Your employees want to know what’s going on in the workplace. Long gone are the days where it was acceptable to have a few people behind closed doors running the show and leaving the employees in the dark. These days your staff expects and demands transparency from its leaders.

Give Your Employees a Voice

Every employee wants to feel like their voice is being heard. Great ideas can come from anywhere, so it’s important to have a feedback system that allows your employees to provide input. This can come in many forms, from casual group meetings to formal one-on-ones to employee satisfaction surveys.

Promote Accountability

You want to make it clear that employees will be held accountable while on the job. There’s no better way to do this than by holding leadership accountable as well.

If you say that you or the company are going to do something, then follow through with it. And if you aren’t able to, make sure that there is clear communication on the reason why.

It Starts at the Top

The goal of any organization is to have everyone on the same page and striving to achieve the best results for the company. It starts with leadership, and it’s important for those in management roles to be equipped with the tools to promote strong employee engagement.

Contact Resource PI today to talk about how we can help you create an amazing team, hire brilliant candidates, and incorporate effective strategies to make your organization thrive.