- By Malibu Kothari
Over the past 20 years, the modern workplace experienced a change in dynamics with the introduction of behavioral economics. Gradually, great business leaders began to realize that employees were more than stocked people hired to fill an office and perform functions. Former CEO of Costco said it nicely: “When employees are happy, they are your very best ambassadors.” While he spoke those words nearly 10 years ago, the words are even more important today. With high turnover rates and a recovering economy, employers have to make some difficult choices in order to maintain growth and succeed in the modern world. Yet, some employers have learned the secret to business success: happy and engaged employees.
Employee engagement goes beyond the concept of “employee satisfaction.” An engaged employee is one that enjoys work, is actively involved, and is enthusiastic about the work and the employer. Although satisfaction is certainly an element of engagement, “satisfaction” does not entirely represent the entire concept.
Well, simply put, lower levels of employee engagement results in higher turnover rates, and high turnover rates are costly. More importantly, research shows that companies with higher employee engagement tend to outperform their competitors.
Consider Gallup Consulting’s 2010 report, Employee Engagement and Earnings per Share. Companies with the highest levels of engagement outperformed their competitors by 72 percent, and high levels of engagement appeared to be a factor that helped to soften the blow from the worldwide recession. Aon Hewitt, a global leader in human resourcing solutions, found in Talent Strategies for Organizational Success that a single disengaged employee costs an organization an average of $10,000 in profit annually. There is no doubt that engaged employees are more present, productive and disciplined. In turn, this yields greater earnings.
What is Driving Engagement?
In 2012, Dale Carnegie Training teamed with MSW Research to study employee engagement. Their research revealed that the three main drivers were: 1) relationship with immediate supervisor; 2) belief in senior leadership; and 3) pride in working for the company.
Interestingly, the results of the study did not show gender, ethnicity or work status to be a driver of engagement (though earnings and age were factors). Best practices also tend to showcase other drivers of engagement such as a well-informed workforce, managerial role models, opportunities for advancement and bi-lateral communication. Yet, within each workplace, the drivers of engagement and the factors contributing to disengagement may vary. Additionally, smaller workplaces may be able to identify drivers easily, and others may need to implement formal measuring strategies to identify their needs.
A simple employee engagement survey can provide a lot of information to a company in need. While the survey can certainly help leaders identify areas of improvement and direction, the survey can also reveal the depth of a problem. In fact, a good survey can tell the employers if their talent is on its way out the door. Imagine a typical office setting that does not invest in engaging its employees. While a disengaged employer may think that the environment is professional and engaging, the research shows that the employees are slowly looking for new opportunities … other than the employer.
If an in-depth workplace behavioral analysis is not feasible, a workplace survey is a worthy measurement tool for evaluating employee engagement. Essentially, the survey can help leaders identify problems and solutions by objective measures. While human resources managers can administer these surveys, numerous companies and consultants offer measurement and evaluation services. Typically, these external sources will collect data from employees through online surveys or interviews. The questions ask about personal well-being, workplace happiness, relationships, company knowledge and more. The results are compiled and analyzed, and then a final report is provided to leadership or human resources. Depending on the services, the data gathering process could occur once a year, once every few years or on a more regular basis.
The Results are In … Now What?
In Gallup Consulting’s 2010 report, “The State of the Global Workplace,” researchers identified two workplace conditions that would greatly improve engagement if implemented.
First, the research demonstrated that feedback and recognition were important to productivity. This strategy is a low-cost solution that is often overlooked for selfish reasons or administrative difficulties (when a manager has too many employees to provide individualized feedback, for example).
A second condition identified in the research is friendship. Indeed, the simple facilitation of workplace friendships and personal ties is a predictor of higher performance. In essence, workers were more likely to be engaged with a workplace if they had emotional bonds with their coworkers.
Those workplace characteristics are great fail-safe measures to implement regardless of survey measures. However, if a company has conducted its own workplace survey and has identified problems specific to its environment, then the company should certainly attempt to prioritize their unique solutions over generic suggestions (although, it is likely that the generic suggestions will be beneficial as well).
When considering how employee engagement can function, consider the creative program by Toronto’s Canadian Tire Corp. Its innovative and imaginative program places employees front and center on publications and posters. The company has achieved its goal of inspiring employees to internalize the company’s success.
In essence, employee engagement is a lifelong strategy that will stand the test of time. While research reveals a number of fail-safe efforts that encourage engagement, companies should not be shy to be inspired and creative.