By now, if you’ve found People Gauge – the words employee engagement will mean something to you. At least we hope they do otherwise you may be on the wrong page!
However let’s just go back to basics and ask some simple questions about these two very special words, employee engagement:
what on earth is it really all about?
why should you bother?
can it really help your business?
Essentially, when your employees are actively engaged, they understand what you do and more importantly they understand what part they play within that; they work harder, smarter and more productively. Simple stuff but so SO powerful. Organisations with high engagement levels report a 22% higher productivity rate, according to a meta-analysis of 1.4 million employees by the very smart folks at Gallup Research.
People who are disengaged at work can drain the life out of your managers and your organisation – you need less of them! People who are actively engaged, generate energy and deliver better service to your customers – you need more of them!
Unfortunately people who are not engaged with their work don’t walk around wearing purple spots and grey stripes so they are not always easy to spot. It’s important that you spend time making every effort to ensure that all of your people are engaged with what it is you want them to do.
People often forget what you said to them but they will never forget how you made them feel – it’s important to make sure that managers are equipped with the skills, ability, confidence and inclination to talk to their people properly.
One of the wonderful things about employee engagement, aside from the fact that it’s just the right thing to be doing, is that it doesn’t needs capital investment, it just needs a little bit of common sense – and when you get it right, it will have a significant and sustained positive impact on your business which you will be able to see and feel…..now who wouldn’t want some of that?