Having been in the employee engagement and recognition arena for more than 20 years, I get asked the same two questions when interacting with clients: What is employee engagement and why does it matter?
An "engaged employee" is one who is fully absorbed and enthusiastic about their work, and takes positive action to further the organization's reputation and interests. – Wikipedia
Gallup, Inc., an American research-based, global performance-management consulting company, released their 2014 Gallup Poll results, including statistics regarding U.S. Employee Engagement. The results were quite shocking:
2014 U.S. Employee Engagement Statistics
- Engaged Employees - 31.5%
- Not Engaged Employees - 51%
- Actively Disengaged Employees - 17.5%
Employee Engagement Matters
There is no question; employee engagement has a direct impact on your organization’s bottom line, period. When employees are actively disengaged, they are less productive, steal from their company, miss time, and negatively influence co-worker's behaviors. In turn, these negative behaviors deeply affect the client experience with your organization.
Gallup, Inc. produced results from another study, which show the benefits that organization's receive when they place a high value on engaged employees. Highly engaged companies have:
- 48% fewer safety incidents
- 37% reduction in absenteeism
- 41% increase in quality
- 21% higher productivity
- 22% higher profitability
Business Fable: The Chicken and the Pig
To best describe the different levels of employee engagement, let’s consider your breakfast plate of bacon and eggs. While both a hen and a pig are required to complete the meal, we note that the hen is simply involved to produce the eggs, something that takes limited effort. However, in the case of the pig, it is sacrificed for the meal, showing a total commitment to the breakfast. Bringing us to the old adage, “the hen is involved, but the pig is committed.” The more employees that we can motivate and engage to move from being a hen to a pig, the better our employees and organization will be. It truly is a win-win for all involved. Well, except for the pig in terms of our breakfast, of course.
It's become clear that organizations must work to measurably move the needle towards a more engaged workforce. This is not a task that resides in Human Resources, your Engagement Specialist, or your Marketing team; this effort must be spearheaded by a “Chief Engagement Officer” (Bruce Bolger, Enterprise Engagement Alliance), and you must have a strong, committed team of leaders pushing and breaking down known barriers, which optimizes the percentage of engaged employees.
At C. A. Short Company, we are your partner for increased employee engagement resulting in increased performance outcomes to grow your bottom line. Our process and research-based platform help you engage your team in order to increase your bottom line, motivate your staff to the benefit of the entire organization, and reward your people for the positive changes they make. To request a Complimentary Consultation, please click here.