Why Should a Boss Care About Employee Engagement?

In recent years, the concept of employee engagement has emerged as a key indicator of a business’s success. Employee engagement refers to how committed and connected an employee feels to the organization they work for. High levels of employee engagement are linked to increased job satisfaction, innovation, and employee retention. Importantly, high employee engagement isn’t something a company either has or doesn’t. Nor is something an employee either has or doesn’t. Instead, employee engagement is something that companies must work for continuously and consistently and it starts at the top. Not convinced yet of the importance of high employee engagement? Here are four reasons why a company benefits from high employee engagement.

Engaged employees are productive employees
Employee engagement is not just about keeping your employees happy at work. It’s also about productivity. Research has shown that highly engaged teams are up to 21% more profitable than teams with low engagement. Why? Because teams with high engagement report lower absenteeism, higher retention and increased productivity due to the fact that the employees are happy to come to work. Engaged employees are less vulnerable to stress which also contributes to overall higher rates of productivity which should be reason enough for companies to rethink engagement levels.

Engaged employees are innovative employees
There is a correlation between high employee engagement and innovation. There are a couple of reasons why this is so. First of all, engaged employees care about the success of their company so when they encounter an obstacle they are personally invested in overcoming it. Also, engaged employees are less fearful of failure and more trusting of management to not belittle or dismiss their ideas so they are more likely to present innovation to their employers. Lastly, engaged employees understand their place in the larger whole, so they are better equipped to solve challenges and propose solutions that take into consideration the impact it will have across all departments.

Engaged employees treat customers better
Remember how I said employee engagement starts at the top and trickles down? This importantly includes customers as well. Meaning, employee engagement affects how an employee treats a customer. If an employee is happy and secure in their job, they are more likely to treat customers as well as their company treats them. 

Engaged employees stick around
One of the most important reasons to keep your employees engaged is so you can keep them around. High employee engagement is connected to higher retention rates. In turn, higher retention rates also help a company recruit quality talent for roles. For many prospective employees, hearing that a company has no employees that stay for any length of time is a huge red flag indicating that the company culture is less than desirable.

Typically businesses focus on things like profits and losses and the quality of the product or service they offer as key indicators of success. While these are undeniably important for determining a company’s success, many businesses now understand that these qualities are often symptomatic of company culture. If you want to set your business up for success in the long run, it starts with the person at the top recognizing that a company’s greatest asset has and always will be their employees.