Employee Engagement
“Employee Engagement” is a pervasive buzzword in today’s conversations about the bottom line of organizations, and yet many business owners and HR professionals struggle to agree on exactly how to define it. Human Resource Management expert John Gibbons explains engagement as “a heightened emotional connection that an employee feels for his or her organization, that influences him or her to exert greater discretionary effort to his or her work.” In this definition, engagement is not merely another word for job satisfaction, but a reference to actions and behaviors influenced by an individual’s attitude toward their workplace.
From an employer’s perspective, ensuring a high level of employee engagement can have monumental effects on the productivity of teams and, in turn, the profitability of their business. Additionally, a highly engaged workforce can influence brand positioning and corporate reputation, and can enhance internal and external views of the value the organization provides.
Some of the benefits of improving employee engagement:
Higher levels of productivity
Decreased healthcare costs (increased individual wellbeing)
Higher retention/ lower turnover
Less absenteeism
Increased employee loyalty
Increased customer satisfaction/ profitability
Many methods are used to qualify the level of engagement of employees, including the collection of data sets like unexcused absences, overtime, turnover, project completion timelines, participation in company initiatives or wellness programs, and performance evaluations. However, typically the most effective evaluation tool that assists management in assessing the engagement of their team is gathering input and feedback directly from their team.
Recently we conducted our own investigation on engagement trends relevant to local small businesses. The results of our study suggested that while many organizations felt they had strong engagement practices, they were still unsure of how their employees felt about their satisfaction, compensation, direction or workload. Although many had some insights into their own practices, admittedly nothing compares to direct input from staff.
Employee Engagement surveys are an excellent way to collect and analyze key factors that contribute to employee engagement at an individual level, taking the guesswork out of understanding staff perspectives. These surveys should be conducted on a regular basis to assess the current climate of an organization, and to compare results to previous studies or data in order to make informed strategies for improvement.
Victoria Human Resources specializes in Engagement surveys that allow management to gain valuable insight into the expectations and attitudes of their employees, and our experienced Human Resource experts are highly qualified in advising on strategic courses of action that respond to the unique needs of each company’s workforce. Ensure your team is passionate, engaged and committed to nurturing a profitable and productive organization. Contact us now and see how we can help define the best strategies for your team.