Essence of Employee Engagement
The world’s top-performing organisations understand that Employee Engagement (employee participation) is a force that drives profit, customer satisfaction and loyalty, retention of valuable staff, and other key performance outcomes.
People tend to leave managers, not companies. How are your management doing in keeping valuable employees, motivating them, and helping them engage your customers?
Engagement of staff comes down to relationships within an organisation. Levels of Engagement directly affects staff, customers and profitability. In fact employee engagement is a leading indicator in financial performance. In the best and most successful organisations, Engagement is a strategic foundation shaping the way they do business, far more than just a human resources initiative.
Low Employee Engagement has been directly linked to lower levels of productivity and service, and ultimately reduced growth and profits.
The Gallup organisation in their interviews of over 15 million employees, and over 30 years of qualitative and quantitative research, discovered a direct link between Employee participation and profitability, customer loyalty and retention of key staff. Similarly Kenexa, based on findings from over 10 million worker surveys in 150 countries, found a direct link between Employee Engagement and higher levels of productivity and service, and ultimately improved growth and profits.
Engaged employees are those who are fully involved in, and enthusiastic about their work, and act in a way that furthers the companies’ interests. They feel their interests and the organisations’ interests are aligned. Organisations that have engaged employees are more profitable, more customer-focused, safer, and their employees are more likely to withstand temptations to leave as they feel connected.
Who has the greatest feel or empathy for what your customers need? If you need to maintain your connection to your clients then follow the example set by Harley Davidson (loyal bikers), Nike (many runners and sport junkies), Microsoft (Hardcore gamers who helped create the Xbox) and many other successful companies – hire and retain engaged employees. Companies who loose touch with their employees and customers lose both.
People tend to respond in kind. When we smile, they smile. When we are polite, they respond by being polite. When we engage them they return the experience, and they engage your customers too.
Business is people helping to solve other people’s problems, in order to do this we need to be able to connect. We all want to be treated well, but far too many of us wait for the other person to initiate this respect, kindness and politeness. Don’t wait … Engage.
The keys to connection, engagement and winning over customers or staff are Make them feel they matter, and Make them feel heard (More important show them you care).
Building and effective employee participation programme involves 4 areas –
- Basic needs/skills
- Esteem/Validation needs
- Belonging needs
- Growth needs
The results of Engagement studies clearly demonstrated that employees with positive engagement scores in these 4 areas worked in business units with higher levels of productivity, profit, employee retention, and customer satisfaction. The analysis showed the employees’ immediate supervisor played a critical role in building a strong workplace, far more than pay, benefits, perks, or dynamic corporate leadership. People, at the end of the day tend to leave managers, not companies. Meaning no amount of company-sponsored day care or free lunches will persuade employees to stay and perform when their relationship with their immediate supervisor is toxic.
Remember these Employee Engagement elements when planning for success
