Much like the rarest of Pokemon, employee engagement can be hard to capture. However, the potential powers of securing high levels of staff involvement are well worth the effort - especially when you consider engagement statistics.
According to Gallup's State of the Global Workplace report, a mere 13 per cent of employees across the world are engaged at their job.
While employee engagement may not make you able to breathe fire or disarm a mythical creature, it will give your business a significant boost in a variety of core business functions.
Powering up via employee engagement
Gallup found that key performance outcomes are closely tied to engagement levels. Organisations with top quartile employee engagement were found to have performed 22 per cent better in terms of overall profitability compared to businesses in the bottom quartile.
But the power ups don't end there. Leading companies also laid claim to 21 per cent higher productivity levels and 10 per cent better customer ratings as well as noticeably lower turnover rates than the bottom ranking companies.
The numbers speak for themselves - securing employee engagement within your organisation makes your business inherently more powerful than an unengaged counterpart. It's the difference between a Pikachu and a Pidgey - one has the ability to seriously improve your Pokemon game and the other is so common it's essentially useless.
In a world where disengaged employees are the norm, engaging your staff is a considerable competitive advantage.
So - what are some of the best strategies for upping engagement in your office? Let's take a look at the top three:
1. Mastering the employee engagement survey
Employment engagement surveys are no new trick. In fact, according to CEB Global, 92 per cent of companies run some form of employee engagement survey.
At their core, these types of questionnaires are critical to helping improve engagement across the company. By asking your team the right questions you can identify critical pain points, obtain useful suggestions and secure a better understanding of where your current engagement levels stand.
However, excessive surveying paired with the wrong types of questions can prove to be a waste of time for you and your team members. The key here is to ask the right questions, according to CEB.
While many companies focus on questions surrounding workplace culture and overall happiness, the more critical and actionable questions boil down to three main areas of focus:
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Alignment and understanding of organisational goals: CEB found that over 60 per cent of executives have trouble bridging the divide between their strategies and day-to-day actions. A key factor in this is employee disconnect. As such, your questions should aim to determine if everyday job functions contribute to strategic goals or go on without strategy in mind.
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A loyalty to co-workers: Collaborating with peers plays a big role in engagement levels, according to CEB. Surveys should seek to address whether or not your office is a collaborative environment. And, if so, does this team connectivity help productivity levels?
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Access to resources and confidence in capabilities: Do your employees have the right tools available to them? And do they feel empowered enough to use them? Low capability employees are 18 per cent more likely to suffer from change-related stress which leads to low performance levels. Your engagement survey should work to identify whether or not your team has the information and tools needed to thrive.
Employee engagement surveys can be a powerful tool for remedying engagement problems when used correctly. Focusing your questions to fit into the above categories is a good starting point. Gallup also noted that leaders should be prepared to take action after administering these surveys. A poll of employees is meaningless without the necessary requisite action.
2. Securing the right team
It's no secret that leadership plays a big role in employee engagement. But it's about more than handing out employee engagement surveys or polling levels of participation in the office. It has to do with showing a commitment to engagement in their actions.
An additional Gallup poll found that employees with engaged supervisors were 40 per cent more likely to be engaged themselves. It follows the 'you get what you give' mentality. When your team sees you engaging actively in the tasks in front of you, they will be much more likely to give you the same effort in return.
The best leaders understand that the success of an organisation has to do with the achievements of their team.
As such, they are willing to invest in the development of their employees, they actively empower them to take risks and they acknowledge their contributions. This investment in the individual is what spurs an increased commitment to an organisation.
The bottom line? Securing a good management team can do wonders for the levels of engagement across your business. Make sure you are hiring leaders that encourage growth and display an active engagement.The best leaders understand that the success of an organisation has to do with the achievements of their team. As such, they are willing to invest in the development of their employees, they actively empower them to take risks and they acknowledge their contributions. This investment in the individual is what spurs an increased commitment to an organisation.
3. Employee rewards and recognition
Engagement in the workplace is closely tied to recognition. When employees are acknowledged for their work, they are much more likely to show an active commitment to organisational goals. In fact, according to a study by the Society for Human Resource Management, when businesses spend 1 per cent or more of their payroll on recognition efforts, 85 per cent see a positive impact on engagement levels. Peer-to-peer recognition programs also result in less turnover and better financial results.
Take The Hershey Company for example. In 2014, they made social recognition a top priority. That year, 60 percent of employees had received recognition and 70 per cent of leaders delivered recognition. As a result, the company saw an 11 per cent increase in employee engagement.
Power2Motivate provides businesses with an easy to use platform for social recognition. With peer-to-peer nomination, a social news feed and enticing gamification elements, boosting engagement via recognition is a breeze. Ready to get started? Talk to one of our P2M reps today!