Increased Employee Engagement Leads To Increased Company Success

Posted on June 29th, 2017

Studies show that less than a third of American workers are engaged in their job. Employee engagement helps develop strong positive attitudes among associates towards their work and the overall success of the company. Employee engagement can be defined as the emotional connection an employee exhibits towards their company, which influences their behavior and effort in work related activities. Most importantly, the more engagement an employee has with their company, the more energy and effort they put into their work. Engagement can be categorized into the trust and transparency through communication between management and associates, opportunities for growth and development within the organization, employee recognition towards impacting company performance, and the overall ability for an employee to perceive themselves are an asset to the organization.
Factors such as untrustworthy management, organizational tumult, lack of cohesion among associates, as well as poor organizational structure will impede successful engagement among employees. Many companies assume that higher pay and increased benefits will increase employee engagement. However, while that will increase employee satisfaction, a company cannot simply purchase employee engagement.

In order to successfully engage employees, companies need to show them how much they care. Paying more attention to associates through deliberate and thoughtful actions and decisions will increase engagement. Involving associates in decisions and maintaining transparency among management and employees is vital to successful engagement. There is no scripted formula to a successful engagement program and it must be strategized and orchestrated towards what suites your specific company culture. When discussing strategy, the most important aspect is to ensure engagement is developed through shared common goals and making decisions that are geared towards ensuring employees feel valued and emotionally connected to their work.

When developing an employee engagement strategy, there are specific steps that should be taken towards creating a successful plan. First, it is important to guarantee your associates have all of the right tools to succeed. Employees are stressed out and become distraught when they do not have the right tools to excel in their job. In a stressful work environment, associates are less likely to be engaged. Second, employees need more attention than you may think. It doesn’t have to be overwhelming, but simple gestures that induce personal attention customized to each associate show how much you care and value your employees independently, not just as a group. In addition to personal attention, personal recognition and praise is another valuable strategy towards increasing employee engagement. Finally, developing a social work environment, possibly with a philanthropic foundation, can create positive engagement around the workplace. When employees develop an emotional connection to the workplace as well as their colleagues, they become more engaged and content in their jobs.

It is important to understand that a company’s most important assets are the associates that work for them. Without an engaged work force, a company will cease to grow successfully. It is important to develop a strategy for your company that can increase and encourage employee engagement, which will reflect positively on bottom-line results.