The effect of increasing employee engagement throughout your company follows the Pareto principle, also known as the 80/20 principle. Just a little effort can be responsible for the majority of positive effects when it comes to engagement. Not all of your efforts have to be extensive to create massive positive effects throughout your business. Chances are, your company is already investing a lot of money into your recruiting efforts. With employee turnover costing as much as 6 to 9 months' salary, recruiting quickly becomes an expensive investment.
What is your business doing to help you attract and retain that top talent? Great benefits can help make you competitive and keep your employees more satisfied, but that might not be enough to bring the top talent in your field to your door. In fact, the most efficient way to attract top talent is through low-effort employee engagement strategies that can help establish your business as an employer of choice.
Companies with More Engaged Workers: The Benefits
Worldwide, only around 15% of employees are actively engaged at work. Those employers who are able to engage their employees, however, quickly discover that they are able to reap a number of benefits.
Absenteeism decreases. Engaged employees are less likely to look for reasons to miss work and more likely to be present, doing their jobs. They take fewer sick days and fewer personal days while remaining extremely productive for your company.
Turnover drops. Employee turnover can be an extremely expensive proposition. When your employees are engaged, however, they're less likely to leave your company for another employer. That means you'll be able to keep them in their positions longer--which in turn can help you provide better service to your customers.
Engaged employees have fewer safety incidents. They're more likely to pay attention to what they're doing on the job, which makes them less likely to have costly--and dangerous--accidents.
Customer metrics improve along with employee engagement. When you have engaged employees, you're more likely to see positive trends in sales and profits across the business. When your employees are engaged, their positive reactions to the job create a positive reaction in customers, who are more likely to make purchases.
Engaged workers help create and contribute to a positive company culture. They're more likely to participate in everything from morale-building to helping one another complete tasks or improve understanding, which ultimately helps generate a more positive company culture. Conversely, it's also hard to get workers engaged when you don't have a great company culture.
Small Actions with Large Effects on Recruiting
If you want to become an employer of choice, you need two important things: a great company culture and competitive benefits. Try adding some of these strategies to improve your overall company culture and enhance your recruiting efforts--not to mention your ability to keep those employees in their positions.
Ask for feedback. Start the habit of listening to your employees during the recruiting process. Ask recruits what they think of your interview and hiring process and what attracts them to the company.
Hold managers accountable. Employees rarely quit jobs. Instead, they tend to quit bosses. If the management team isn't creating a great company culture, your employees are less likely to be engaged. Hold your managers accountable for employee engagement--and provide them with the tools they need to create and encourage it.
Recognize top performers in your company. Don't ignore your employees until something goes wrong. Instead, make note of top performers. Provide them with incentives and acknowledge them.
Promote transparency. Let employees know what's going on behind the scenes. Don't drop surprises on them; instead, let them know what's happening and what they can expect.
Set clear, SMART engagement goals. Goals should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely. When you set SMART goals, you'll provide both employees and managers with clear benchmarks for the goals you're attempting to reach.
Offer career development pathways. Today's employees aren't content to keep the same position indefinitely. Allow your employees the opportunity to expand their knowledge and training within your company, rather than forcing them to leave if they want to advance their career.
Provide a sense of purpose. Employees appreciate the idea that what they do matters. When you provide them with a sense of purpose, you increase engagement and make them more eager to come to work each day.
When you invest in employee engagement, you're investing equally heavily in becoming an employer of choice. Expensive, resource-intensive recruiting strategies may only make your company visibly competitive with others. Those efforts are unlikely, on their own, to produce top talent or bring it into your business. Dedicating a little effort to employee engagement, on the other hand, will go a long way both in terms of retention and recruiting top talent.
