The role of employee engagement is indispensable in creating and maintaining a productive workforce, and it will also greatly affect the success of your training programs. But what does engagement really mean? And, more importantly, how can you drive it?
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Vip Sandhir, CEO and founder of HighGround, has answered a list of commonly asked questions on employee engagement.
Q. Why is employee engagement such a large focus for companies right now?
A. Employee engagement is directly connected to work culture and happiness of employees. This is particularly true now that Millennials make up more than half of the workforce. This generation considers instant feedback a way of life, and it’s important for businesses to implement channels that support real-time feedback, like Twitter and Yelp. Employees want their voices to be heard; they want to engage. It’s up to the leadership team and HR to create an engaging culture.
Executives are starting to realize that an engaged workforce is also financially beneficial to their companies. Engaged employees who feel they have a purpose within the organization are happier and stay with their companies longer. Improved retention saves companies thousands, as it costs $50,000 to replace an average salaried staff member according to a 2014 Oxford Economics Study. Not to mention that engaged employees are more productive and lead to higher profitability for the company.
Q. Why should executives be concerned about employee engagement within their companies?
A. It’s more common than ever for people to change jobs frequently until they find the right fit. And one of the biggest reasons Millennials, in particular, leave their current jobs is a lack of engagement. According to Deloitte’s Global Human Capital Trends, 87% of CEOs say that employee engagement is their number one issue. The same survey revealed that 66% of HR leaders are actively seeking modernized programs to support these initiatives.
Employees want to be involved in their company—being given a chance to contribute is now more important to them than ever, according to survey results from Future Workplace. According to a 2013 CareerBuilder study, 50% of respondents said “increased recognition” would entice them to stay with a company. Small changes like implementing an employee engagement program will help keep employees happy and keep them at the company for the long run.
We’ll present the rest of our Q&A with Sandhir in tomorrow’s Advisor.