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Gallup found that only 30 percent of American workers are “engaged, involved in, enthusiastic about, or committed to their workplace” in its report on the state of the American workplace in 2010-2012. That means 7 out of every 10 workers aren’t putting in their full effort.
Only 41% of employees in the study said they were familiar with the company’s values and what sets the brand apart from its rivals. All told, Gallup calculates that the annual cost of disengaged workers in the United States is between $450 billion and $550 billion.
That’s a losing strategy.
The good news is that the report indicates an upward trend in leadership recognition of employee engagement surveys as a tool to improve financial performance. Despite this widespread recognition of the issue’s significance, little has been done to address it. Gallup suggests the following measures to boost employee participation.
Conduct the Appropriate Survey to Gauge Employee Satisfaction
The issue with soliciting comments from staff members is that they will expect you to act upon their suggestions. Even though most businesses are aware of this fact, they often collect survey data that is difficult to act upon. According to the research, companies can increase employee engagement by conducting surveys at all levels of the organization that are targeted, informative, and conducive to taking action.
This evaluation is spot on, and I would even go further. The best surveys reduce the amount of post-collection analysis required. If I were to ask you, “Are you satisfied?” and you replied “no,” I wouldn’t have a clue as to why you weren’t satisfied. I’m confident in my ability to figure out what to do differently. Even if my speculations were correct, the odds are extremely low.
Our interpretations and presumptions are unique to us and may not be shared by others. Answers from any survey (or another form of input collection) should be unambiguous. The answers to survey questions should be clear and concise, omitting the need for us to speculate or guess.
Pay Attention to the Enterprise and Local Levels of Participation
Employee participation is initiated at the workgroup level. However, this won’t occur unless upper management mandates it. Managing employee engagement should be standard practice. However, this is meaningless unless managers are given the authority to effect change in their respective domains of responsibility and are held accountable for their results. Success must be defined and its metrics understood on every level. If you’re at the top of the food chain, your perch isn’t going to look like anyone else’s.
Pick Competent Supervisors to Lead the Organization
Gaining employees’ buy-in requires selecting workers who possess the skills, abilities, and personalities necessary to lead efficiently. Even today, technical and functional skills are the primary focus of most interview and hiring processes. Then they wait around for management skills to materialize. Thought bubbles that tell us technical skills are more important and harder to develop, and that management skills will develop on their own after someone has been in the job long enough need to be examined and changed if we are to hire better managers.
Managers should be Coached and held Accountable for Employee Engagement
Gallup recommends that businesses “coach managers take a proactive role in building engagement plans with their employees, hold managers accountable, track their progress, and ensure they continuously focus on emotionally engaging employees.” I think so too. To ensure that everyone is doing their best work, we must establish clear expectations by defining excellence and regularly reinforcing them. In addition, we must integrate it into every process involving human resources, such as hiring, promoting, monitoring performance, issuing bonuses, allocating tasks, etc.
Set Attainable, everyday Terms for your Engagement Goals
Employees will only buy into an engagement strategy if they see the value in it. To ensure that everyone is on the same page and working toward the same goal, I suggest a technique called destination modeling. In addition to weekly meetings, planning sessions, and one-on-ones, this information should be disseminated on a more frequent basis. Put it where everyone can see it so that they are constantly reminded of the standards you have set for success.
Discover Approaches to Communicating with each Worker
I would add “on a personal level” to that. Each worker is unique. When dealing with a workforce that spans multiple generations, it’s important to remember that one size does not fit all when it comes to employee excitement, motivation, and engagement.
Those at the beginning and end of their careers were found to be more enthusiastic about their jobs than those in the middle. On average, women are more involved than men. Employees with lower levels of education are more likely than those with higher levels to report enjoying their work. And if the job market improves in the next year, millennials are the demographic most likely to report leaving their current positions within that time frame.
Managers must get to know their staff members well enough to learn what motivates them. It’s not about what you want or needs, but rather about them. This is especially difficult to keep in mind while sprinting. Make sure you give yourself time to stop and think about how to do this effectively.
Participation + Increased Profits
This is where things get exciting about employee engagement metrics. This is all common sense; we’ve had this information for years. Although we know it has a positive impact on our bottom line, we often neglect to take this step because we are too preoccupied with other, seemingly more pressing matters. Our irrational actions in this regard usually end up backfiring.
Employee engagement has been shown to have a significant and often surprising relationship to key business and financial outcomes by Gallup’s research.
For instance, when comparing the top and bottom 25% of teams, the top 25% (those that are best managed and most engaged) have nearly 50% fewer accidents and 41% fewer quality defects (worst managed and actively disengaged). In addition, the top 25% have lower rates of turnover and absenteeism and spend much less on healthcare than the bottom 25%. When workers aren’t invested in their work, it can lead to a decrease in productivity, an increase in errors, and other quality issues.
Gallup’s research, on the other hand, shows that it’s the engaged workers who generate the newest business and ideas for their companies. The facts, and not just the subjective impressions, are crystal clear. To get where you’re going quickly, slow down!
