The impact of employee engagement on organizational performance

There is a well-supported link between employee engagement and business performance. The logic is simple: a more engaged workforce leads to increased operational efficiency, happier customers, and higher profits.  But how does a more engaged workforce produce these desirable outcomes, and how can a business improve engagement?

One of the key differences between the performance of an engaged and a disengaged employee is “discretionary effort,” or “the level of effort people could give if they wanted to, but above and beyond the minimum require. In simple, if employees are involved in and enthusiastic about their work and workplace they are likely to exceed the expectations and requirements of their position. But how can businesses encourage higher levels of engagement in their staff? Moreover, how can they prevent disengagement from occurring in the first place?

Engaged employees are passionate about their work. They feel motivated by their leaders and are confident they can achieve success in their roles. Engaged employees see the purpose in what they do every day and play a significant role in business successes.

However, many workers do not experience this level of engagement. According to research conducted by Gallup, around 50% of the US workforce is disengaged, and 15% to 20% is actively disengaged. Disengagement may be caused by a poor relationship with a direct manager or by a lack of meaningful feedback or recognition. It may even be a basic misalignment between the company and employees’ values. Without a way to measure employee engagement, business leaders are left to guess at what actions will improve the employee experience.

Collecting and monitoring employee engagement metrics enhances business leaders’ ability to detect problems in their organization, take specific action to address issues and opportunities, and evaluate subsequent progress.

McCaffrey, B (2018). The Impact of Employee Engagement on Organizational Performance. [Online].Available at <https://burniegroup.com/employee-engagement-and-operational-efficiency/

Why Improving Employee Engagement Should Be Your Priority ???

 

In recent years, employee engagement has emerged as a popular organizational concept.Large corporations, including Microsoft, are starting to pour significant amounts of time and money into educating people, through webcasts (registration required) and other vehicles, on the importance of employee engagement.

The concept is quickly evolving from a simple focus on job motivation to a complete understanding of how a truly engaged employee has a direct impact on productivity. For any company that’s looking to be more effective and productive, increasing employee engagement should be a primary focus.

Employee engagement can be defined as the level of commitment and involvement employees have toward an organization and its mission, values and beliefs.The concept of employee engagement has naturally evolved from past research on high involvement, empowerment, job motivation, organizational commitment and trust. It’s about creating an environment that motivates employees to want to connect with their work and really care about doing a good job for themselves and the company.

Understanding Employee Engagement

An engaged employee is conscious of the business context. Being engaged makes it easier for employees to work together with colleagues to improve their job performance, for the larger benefit of the organization as a whole. True employee engagement comes about when enough people within a company not only care about doing a good job, but also care about what the organization is trying to achieve and how it goes about doing it.Key factors that contribute to employee engagement include the following:

• ·       Giving employees autonomy to act in support of organizational goals.
• ·       Aligning employees toward strategy.
• ·       Creating a continuing culture of engagement.

An organization will recognize it has reached a high level of employee engagement when a significant percentage of its employees care about the company and are concerned with achieving their own organizational goals. This caring attitude and behavior only develops when people are consistently satisfied with their jobs and when they believe the organization supports them. Research from Gallup indicates the average level of U.S. employment engagement hovers between 30 and 40 percent.

The Importance of Employee Engagement

All companies should want their employees to be engaged. Many studies have proved not only that employee engagement is linked to productivity, but also that it can be directly tied to greater customer satisfaction, which, in turn, drives an organization’s financial success.

Employee understanding and knowledge of an organization’s capabilities and current productivity levels have a major positive impact on engagement. When employees have a clear understanding of these concepts, they are more engaged because they can definitely see how their individual efforts directly impact the organization’s success.

High levels of employee engagement depend on several conditions in the workplace.

·       Culture - A strong and defined organizational culture helps connect and align a company’s processes to its business decisions. Culture can play a big role in who is hired, and it can be hard to drive engagement if you hire an employee who isn’t aligned with a company’s culture.

·    Policies - Policies that are continually reinforced act as facilitators for employees to achieve their personal goals, and ultimately the organization’s goals.

·      Metrics - The most engaged organizations are the ones that show and share performance metrics. Data-driven organizations tend to have the most engagement because they give employees a measurable metric they can use to gauge personal job performance.

·   Performance - It is well known that organizational performance drives personal job satisfaction and a greater sense of belonging.

Driving a Culture of Engagement and Productivity

A recent analysis from Dale Carnegie and Gallup identifies the following steps as key drivers of high levels of employee engagement:

1.     Have a clear internal communication strategy.

2.     Execute the communication strategy effectively.

3.     Promote and enable better business transparency.

4.     Communicate organizational strategies and plans.

5.     Encourage open communication and recognition.

6.     Recognize and reward employee’s efforts.

7.     Practice social leadership.

The most influential driver of employee engagement is open and transparent communication from top to bottom. An organization that wants to achieve that degree of communication must implement the right tools and technologies.

Technologies That Enable Communication and Engagement

Many of the key engagement drivers rely on the use of up-to-date technology. Therefore, many organizations are moving toward embracing new communication and collaboration technologies.

Chat and collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams Microsoft Teams, Yammer and Slack have become popular in the past few years. Companies often specifically deploy them with the goal of replacing email as the primary means of communication. Microsurvey applications, which offer quick and efficient ways to take the pulse of your workforce by conducting employee surveys, are another type of tech tool companies can use to improve employee engagement. Options in this category include Tinypulse and Officevibe, both of which allow you to measure engagement and track your organization’s performance. Real-time recognition also plays a big role in employee engagement. Social networking platforms are good venues for honoring employees’ achievements with badges and rewards.

The tools, tactics and drivers discussed here can greatly increase your organization’s ability to collaborate, communicate, be transparent, recognize employee achievements and gather feedback.

If your company is actively working toward building a culture of employee engagement and is using emerging technologies to drive engagement, you will surely see a positive impact on bottom-line metrics.

References

Dumani, D (2018). Why Improving Employee Engagement should be your Priority? [Online]. Available at<https://www.cmswire.com/digital-workplace/why-improving-employee-engagement-should-be-your-priority

Mancini, J (2018). Despite Billions in Workplace Tech Spending, Employee Engagement is Still a Problem.[Online]. Available at<https://www.cmswire.com/digital-workplace/despite-billions-in-workplace-technology-spending-employee-engagement-is-still-a-problem/

Employee Engagement and Organizational Performance

An "engaged employee" is one who is fully involved in and enthusiastic about his or her work and so will act in ways that advance his or her organization's interests. Employee engagement is important to the competitiveness of any organization, particularly in the current business environment.

Research has shown that organizations with high levels of employee engagement excel in customer loyalty/satisfaction, productivity, operational efficiency, profitability, and low employee turnover. Employee engagement plays a critical role in an organization's safety performance. This article will address how to apply engagement concepts to encourage employee engagement in general and, having achieved that, how this can be directed toward driving stellar safety performance.

Employee Engagement

Employee engagement can be viewed from a cognitive, an emotional, and a behavioral perspective. The cognitive aspect revolves around the employees' perception and beliefs regarding the organization and its culture in general, its leaders, and working conditions in particular. The emotional aspect relates to whether the employee has a positive or negative attitude toward the organization and its leaders. The emotional perspective is influenced by the cognitive element. The behavioral aspect of engagement fosters the employee's willingness to apply his or her discretionary effort to the work, resulting in a value-added benefit to the organization. So employee engagement is distinctively different from employee satisfaction, motivation, and organizational culture, though they have a bearing on it.

View of Employee Engagement

Work Practices

Research has shown that certain management practices foster employee involvement and engagement. To paraphrase Jim Collins in his book Good to Great, this starts with putting the "right" people in the "right" position and providing them with the resources so that they can do the "right" thing at the "right" time. For this premise to thrive, the organizational systems have to be integrated, management practices have to be aligned, and the work climate has to be supportive so as to maximize worker engagement. Organizational effectiveness scholars have identified four elements in the work environment that foster high worker involvement. These are power, information, knowledge, and recognition.

Power

The "power" element of involvement means the organization empowers the workers to participate in decision-making regarding their work. At the lower end, it might mean management has to adopt a democratic style of leadership, which encourages workers to voice their opinions and concerns before decision are made. For this to work, the suggestions have to be discussed, their applicability has to be evaluated, and some of the innovative worker suggestions have to be implemented. To achieve greater involvement requires giving the workforce greater input and control. In construction, the toolbox talk creates a forum for this exchange to occur. For this to function optimally, time has to be allocated and workers encouraged to provide suggestions and participate in problem solving.

Information

For workers to be effective in their work, they need "information." This becomes the basis for decision-making, problem solving, and proper execution of the work. The management's challenge is to set up a process by which the worker gets the right information at the right time. Another important aspect that sustains involvement is workers seeing a direct link between what they do on a daily basis and the organizational or project goals and objectives.

Knowledge

Knowledge refers to the worker's capability and skill to perform the work. This means hiring capable workers and then providing them with the training and education that expand their abilities, improve their problem solving, and enhance their risk and exposure assessment so that they can make the "right" decisions. It is with workers who are knowledgeable, skillful, and engaged that the operation can achieve a high level of effectiveness, efficiency, and safety.

Recognition

Recognition is critical to foster involvement and sustain the engagement of workers who are involved in improving themselves and the operations. The worker has to clearly understand that the recognition is for expending discretionary effort that enhances the organization's performance. Recognition can take many forms, but it is critical that, whatever form it takes, it has to be somewhat immediate (soon after achievement), the outcome has to be certain (that worker will get the reward), and the reward has to be meaningful to the recipient. There are many examples in manufacturing operations where a few thousand dollars of bonuses to each worker translated into millions of dollars in operational efficiencies with the added bonus of much higher quality, less waste, more dependable delivery, and fewer occupational incidents.

Change Management

All organizations have some level of employee engagement. To change the level of employee engagement, the organization must also have a good understanding of change management. In any organization, the employees more than likely fall into three general groups: actively disengaged, not engaged, or engaged. Actively disengaged employees aren't just unhappy; they are busy acting out their unhappiness as well as frustrations. If this is not addressed, it can also affect others. The employees who are not engaged are basically "putting in their time." They are doing the bare minimum to get by; they bring little or no energy to their work and are not vested in or passionate about the organization. Engaged employees, on the other hand, are passionate about their work and feel a strong connection to the organization and its leadership. Such workers are effective in their work practices, enhance working relationships, drive innovation, and help move the organization forward.

Categories of Employee Engagement

The effectiveness of high-involvement work practices has been documented in many research studies. These studies compared traditional management methods with high-involvement work practices in automotive, steel, electronic, and apparel manufacturing as well as service organizations. In all cases, workers in the high-involvement plants or operations showed higher levels of positive attitudes, morale, trust, and cooperation and significantly higher labor productivity, including organizational commitment and intrinsic enjoyment of the work. Invariably, those organizations showed superior operational and financial performance as well.

Six fundamental elements that drive employee engagement are:

1. Work
   1. Meaningful work/sense of accomplishment
   2. Autonomy/empowerment
   3. Aligned processes
   4. Resources
2. Organizational system and practices
   1. Integrated policies and procedures
   2. Performance management
   3. Company values, vision, ethics, etc.
3. People (executives, managers, supervisors, peers, and others)
   1. Inspiring leadership
   2. Respectful and assertive relationships
   3. Open two-way communication
   4. Synergy and reciprocity
4.  Opportunities
   1. Career opportunities
   2. Development opportunities (training and education)
   3. Involvement opportunities
5. Rewards
   1. Pay and bonuses
   2. Benefits
   3. Recognition
6. Quality of life
   1. Physical work environment
   2. Work climate (trust, respect, valuing people, fairness, etc.)
   3. Work-life balance

Some studies have found a significant positive correlation between employee engagement and safety performance. One study found that engaged employees were five times less likely than non-engaged employees to have a safety-related incident and seven times less likely to have a lost-time incident. In addition, the average cost of a safety incident was six times lower for engaged employees compared to non-engaged ones. Upon examining the six fundamental elements that drive employee engagement, it is easy to see how these can be incorporated into the safety management processes to garner their intrinsic benefits.

Focus on Safety

When it comes to work, typically in safety, performing the task the "safe" way usually takes more effort on the worker's part than doing it the way he or she is used to. In construction, very little attention is given to work (task) design and demand. The task in which the employee is going to engage can be designed in such a way that the task provides positive reinforcement by way of making the task easier to perform or requiring less effort. Another aspect of work that doesn't get sufficient attention is task assignment, where the worker's capabilities are not matched up with the task demands. The way the task is assigned (presented to the worker) can make the work meaningful or not. The worker can be given an achievable goal before starting the task, and the successful completion of the task will give the employee a sense of accomplishment. Involving the worker in the task design, planning for the work, or assessing the risk involved will also increase involvement. These are just a few suggested techniques that will increase engagement.

The organizational and operational systems should be integrated so as not to create conflicting demands on the worker. In many instances, production goals place workers in a position where they have to choose between working safely and keeping their jobs. There are ample opportunities to evaluate the practices for integration and alignment. Integration of safety into the operational planning process is a very simple and effective form of amalgamation, and the involvement of workers at some point in the process may foster engagement as well as have a positive effect of safety. Another traditional safety shortcoming is the fact that the metrics used are historical and do not provide operational "just-in-time" information with which to manage risk. Each organization should be able to map its operational processes and find operational indicators that will provide such information related to safety so that it can be effectively managed. The organizational values must be in line with management's behavior so as to garner trust and foster involvement.

Of the six fundamental elements of engagement, the people element is probably the most important. There are basically two types of people involved: the producers (workers) and management. Management devises the organizational and operational systems (policies and procedures), sanctions the practices, creates the work climate, rewards compliance, manages performance, etc. So management's actions and behaviors either reinforce the stated policies or undermine them. Management actions play a significant role in the level of worker engagement. Management's leadership skills and style play a critical role in fostering respectful relationships, building trust, opening two-way communication, and creating an empowering work climate. Leaders must be willing to actively listen, manage by walking around, go out of their way to treat everyone fairly, and involve workers as much as possible in problem solving as well as decision-making.

Employees must be treated with respect. Safety-related interactions must preserve personal respect, even in disciplinary situations. Leadership support is critical to foster an environment that supports these factors. This extends to safety personnel. Employee perceptions about organizational commitment to safety are often based on their interactions with operational personnel who are supported by safety staff. When there is a disconnect between operational requirements and safety prognostications, employees may feel that management does not care about their well-being and may view safety practitioners as safety cops who simply implement and enforce management initiatives and are not truly there to look out for the welfare of the employees. Though employees may comply with safety rules most of the time, they may believe that these rules slow them down and/or make their jobs more difficult. Where employees are engaged, they believe that management is truly concerned about their well-being and tend to respond in ways that benefit the organization.

Conclusion

Employee engagement is a powerful concept that organizations can utilize to improve many of their business functions, including safety performance. The degree of employee engagement is directly related to addressing the six fundamental elements above and the level of involvement that employees are given in managing their work processes, practices, and activities. Some of the ways that employees can become involved in addressing the safety of the work in which they are going to be engaged may include participating in production goal assessment, having input into planning the work, assessing the risk, evaluating the procedures, suggesting possible practice methods, addressing logistics, selecting risk mitigation techniques, having the "right" information, etc.

Factors Necessary for High Performance

Of course, this will require that the workforce be capable, skillful, knowledgeable, and motivated. The organization will have to have selected the "right" workers as well as supervisors, have a safety staff that is knowledgeable of the operational functions, and have a deep understanding of human nature. They will also have to have an enlightened leadership, a culture and climate that foster and support engagement, and integrated and aligned organizational and operational systems. There has to be robust and open communication, fair treatment, and feedback as well as opportunity for growth and development. The degree to which these aspects are implemented and function seamlessly will determine the level of engagement and the outcomes that drive the organization's success.


References

Furst, G. P. (2014). Employee Engagement & Organizational Performance.[Online].Available at<https://www.irmi.com/articles/expert-commentary/employee-engagement-and-organizational-performance

James,L.(2012). What is Organizational Performance.[Online].Available at< http://www.growth.pitcher.com.au/resources/articles/what-is-organisational-performance

What is the Concept of Organizational Performance ?

The concept of Organizational Performance is the comparison of an organization's goal and objectives with its actual performance in 3 distinct areas. Those areas are, 

• Financial Performance

• Market Performance

• Shareholder Value

Financial Performance 

Refers to an organization's results with regard to return on investment and return on assets.

Market Performance

Refers to a company's ability to make and distribute their outputs in the most cost effective way and to set a price that returns a reasonable amount to suppliers. In addition market performance refers to the ability if an company to meet the demands and expectations of consumers regarding the good or service produced. Some organisations also measure market performance with regard to how great a share of the market they possess relative to their competitors and some measure their ability to achieve social responsibility (or stewardship of the environment and responsibility to the community)

Shareholder Value

Refers to the value of what a person holding shares in the firm possesses. 

These 3 measures determine whether an organization is meeting  its goals. The concept of Organizational Performance is connected to the ideas of effectiveness and efficiency. A business organization must produce the right things and it must produce them using the fewest possible inputs if it is to have a strong organizational performance.

Businesses typically try to perform well in a number of areas  of organization. First, they try to perform financially. That is, they need to realize a good return on their investment. They need to add as much as possible in their production process. 

Second, they try to perform well in terms of the market. What this mean is they must gain as much market share as they can (consistent with thee goals of their firm) They must be producing a product that has a higher demand and they must be producing it at a price that allows them to compete on the market. 

Finally, they need to perform well in terms of creating value for their shareholders. They need to make money that can be distributed in the form of dividends. They also need to have their stock price rise at a reasonable pace.

References

Elena, I. and Maria, C. (2016). Organizational Performance-A Concept that Self-seeks to find Itself.[Online].Available at<http://www.utgjiu.ro/revista/ec/pdf/2016-04/27_Ion,%20Criveanu.pdf

James, L. (2012). What is Organizational Performance.[Online].Available at< http://www.growth.pitcher.com.au/resources/articles/what-is-organisational-performance

Employee Engagement

Increasing attention has been paid to the subject of employee engagement over the past decade and many organisations have actively developed strategies designed to help them get the most from their employees.

Engagement is not a matter of coercing employees to work harder or do more, but about developing productive working relationships and a working environment where employees are willing and able to make the best use of their skills and abilities for the benefit of their employer and themselves. Team leaders and line managers have a vital role which is to motivate and inspire those they manage, to set direction for the team and provide an environment which enables people to work productively together.

What is Employee Engagement?

David MacLeod defines employee engagement in his 2009 report to UK government as:

“A workplace approach designed to ensure that employees are committed to their organisation’s goals and values, motivated to contribute to organisational success, and are able at the same time to enhance their own sense of well-being.”

Benefits of Employee Engagement for Employers and Organizations

For the employer, the benefits of employees and teams who are actively engaged with the organisation where they work include:

• Enhanced commitment, loyalty and performance
• Higher levels of discretionary effort
• The development of employees’ skills and abilities
• Fresh and innovative ideas and suggestions
• Greater synergy and productivity from the team as a whole
• A positive and productive working environment.

Benefits of Employee Engagement for Individuals

• A sense of personal fulfillment and well-being in their work
• Increased morale and job satisfaction
• The feeling that they are valued and that their efforts are appreciated
• A sense of pride in individual and team achievements
• The realization of their personal potential
• Enhancement of their promotion and career prospects

How to Engage Employees? - Employee Engagement Best Practices

1. Get to know your team

2. Set clear expectations

3. Keep team members in the loop

4. Build relationships of trust

5. Encourage open discussion and debate

6. Empower your team

7. Give feedback

8. Take the aspirations of team members seriously

9. Deal promptly with performance issues

10. Tackle conflicts at an early stage



References

Charted Management Institute.Benefits of Employee Engagement.[Online].Available at<https://www.managers.org.uk/knowledge-bank/employee-engagement

Shriar, J. (2017).6 amazing Benefits of employee Engagement.[Online].Available at<https://www.officevibe.com/blog/employee-engagement-benefits

Thompson, C. (2018). 14 Benefits of Employee Engagement-Backed by Research.[Online].Available at<https://www.quantumworkplace.com/future-of-work/14-benefits-of-employee-engagement-backed-by-research

Zinger, D. (2009). 22 Ways Employees benefit from their own Engagement.[Online].Available at< http://www.davidzinger.com/22-reasons-employee-benefit-from-their-own-engagement-3421/

Some of the Effective Employee Engagement Methods.

Individual well-being

 

Individual well being is really important. This brings enjoyment in the work that they do physical strength and financial knowledge and work life balance is important.

Work satisfaction 

Work satisfaction is also important. When the employees have the satisfaction in what they do, they will willingly come to work and give more than 100% to their job.

Growth opportunity 

Growth opportunities should be immense and there should not be any bias treatment when it comes to giving promotion.

Office culture 

Office culture also affects a lot in employee engagement. The office culture should be friendly, warm, should promote job enrichment and boost promotion.

Rewards & Recognition Methods

Employee performance should be recognized and rewarded appropriately and in a timely manner.

“Bottom Up” thinking, not “Top Down”

We don’t build a house starting from the roof and working downwards. the same goes for companies. If we don’t know what it’s thinking, we will be in a trouble. By using questionnaires and surveys it is easy to gauge employees’ feelings and opinions. The more employees are asked their opinions, the more they will feel empowered, trusted and respected, and more engaged they will be.

Listening to employees

If a clear issue has been identified, then it should be acted upon. More importantly, it should be visibly addressed, particularly if you have discussed it with them. Knowing that one’s opinions are not only listened to but also contribute to change is another way to increase engagement. 

Sharing good practices and ideas between teams

There’s nothing better than seeing employees' ideas and work practices being praised, so ensure that the employees have the opportunity to share and display their very best work. 

Having an employee voice

Having a once-a-year satisfaction survey is not enough to gauge how the company is doing. Also need to facilitate channels where each employee can raise issues and give feedback.

Understanding individual learning styles and preferences

If you understand how your employees learn – whether they prefer to work independently or in groups, for example – you will also find out a lot about how well they work and in which ways they are more likely to engage with projects.

References

Andriotis, N. (2016). The 6 most effective employee engagement strategies. Available at< https://www.efrontlearning.com/blog/2016/10/6-effective-employee-engagement-strategies.html> [Accessed on 20^th April 2018]

Posted by Bullseye Engagement. (2016). Different methods of effective employee engagement. Available at< http://blog.bullseyeengagement.com/different-methods-of-effective-employee-engagement> [Accessed on 20^th April 2018]

05 Ways to Improve Employee Engagement

Five Ways to Improve Employee Engagement Now

Employee engagement is the emotional commitment the employee has to the organization and its goals. Engaged employees are rare. As per the most recent research conducted by Gallup, only  13% of employees worldwide are engaged at work. 

There are 3 Types of Employees.

1. ENGAGED employees work with passion and feel a profound connection to their company. They drive innovation and move the organization forward.
2. NOT - ENGAGED employees are essentially "checked out". They are sleepwalking through their workday, putting time but not energy or passion into their work.
3. ACTIVELY DISENGAGED employees are not just unhappy at work, they are busy acting out their unhappiness. Everyday, these workers undermine what their engaged coworkers accomplish.

Engaged workers stand apart from their not-engaged and actively disengaged counterparts because of the discretionary effort they consistently bring to their roles. These employees willingly go the extra mile, work with passion, and feel a profound connection to their company. They are the people who will drive innovation and move your business forward.

Contrast this with actively disengaged employees, who are more or less out to damage your company. Not only are they unhappy at work, but they are intent on acting out their unhappiness. They monopolize managers' time and drive away customers. Whatever engaged employees do -- such as solve problems, innovate, and create new customers -- actively disengaged employees will work to undermine.

Not-engaged employees offer perhaps the greatest untapped opportunity for businesses to improve their performance and profitability. Not-engaged workers can be difficult to spot. They are not overtly hostile or disruptive and likely do just enough to fulfill their job requirements. They sleepwalk through their day, uninspired and lacking motivation. They have little or no concern about customers, productivity, profitability, safety, or quality. They are thinking about lunch or their next break and have essentially "checked out."

The majority of the global workforce is not engaged: most employees reluctantly head to work, lacking energy and passion for their jobs. Converting this group of employees into engaged workers is the most effective strategy that any organization can implement to increase performance and sustainable long-term growth.

Increasing engagement should be a strategic priority

Measuring employee engagement is important. Measuring the right things those that matter most to performance and provide a framework for positive change is crucial. Gallup's Q12 employee engagement measurement tool is designed to initiate company wide transformation to create sustainable growth. This tool is backed by rigorous science linking it to nine integral performance outcomes.

Every two to four years, Gallup completes meta-analysis research a statistical technique that pools multiple studies on the Q12. In 2016, Gallup conducted its ninth meta-analysis on the Q12 using 339 research studies across 230 organizations in 49 industries and 73 countries. Within each study, Gallup researchers statistically calculated the work-unit-level relationship between employee engagement and performance outcomes that the organizations supplied.

Researchers studied 82,248 work units, including nearly 1.9 million employees. This latest iteration of the meta-analysis further confirmed the well-established connection between employee engagement and key performance outcomes:

• customer ratings
• profitability
• productivity
• turnover (for high-turnover and low-turnover organizations)
• safety incidents
• shrinkage (theft)
• absenteeism
• patient safety incidents
• quality (defects)

Gallup researchers studied the differences in performance between engaged and actively disengaged work units and found that those scoring in the top half on employee engagement nearly doubled their odds of success compared with those in the bottom half.

Work units in the top quartile in employee engagement outperformed bottom-quartile units by 10% on customer ratings, 17% in productivity, 20% in sales, and 21% in profitability. Work units in the top quartile also saw significantly less turnover (24% in high-turnover organizations and 59% in low-turnover organizations), shrinkage (28%), and absenteeism (41%) and fewer safety incidents (70%), patient safety incidents (58%), and quality defects (40%). (See graphic "Engagement's Effect on Key Business Outcomes.")

The 2016 meta-analysis verified once again that employee engagement relates to each of the nine performance outcomes studied. Gallup also finds that the strong correlations between engagement and performance are highly consistent across different organizations from diverse industries and regions of the world.

Building a constituency of engaged employees

If employees truly are a company's best asset, then their care and support should be a priority.

Though important at the organizational level, engagement starts with each person and is subjective. Employees don't check their personalities at the door when they come to work. Knowing that they are respected as individuals at work can have a significant impact on how employees view their overall lives.

Each person's potential extends well beyond his or her job description. And tapping that potential means recognizing how an employee's unique set of beliefs, talents, goals, and life experiences drives his or her performance, personal success, and well-being.

Managers and leaders should know their people -- who they are, not just what they do. Every interaction with an employee has the potential to influence his or her engagement and inspire discretionary effort. How leaders manage their employees can substantially affect engagement levels in the workplace, in turn influencing the company's bottom line. Here are five strategies organizations can use to help build their constituency of engaged employees:

1. Use the right employee engagement survey. When a company asks its employees for their opinions, those employees expect action to follow. But businesses often make the mistake of using employee surveys to collect data that are irrelevant or impossible to act on. Any survey data must be specific, relevant, and actionable for any team at any organizational level. Data should also be proven to influence key performance metrics.
2. Focus on engagement at the local and organizational levels. Real change occurs at the local work group level, but it happens only when company leaders set the tone from the top. Companies realize the most benefit from engagement initiatives when leaders weave employee engagement into performance expectations for managers and enable them to execute on those expectations. Managers and employees must feel empowered to make a significant difference in their immediate environment. Leaders and managers should work with employees to identify barriers to engagement and opportunities to effect positive change. Employees are familiar with the company's processes, systems, products, and customers. They are also experts on themselves and their teams. So it makes sense that they will have the best ideas to maximize these elements and deliver improved performance, business innovation, and better workplace experiences.
3. Select the right managers. The best managers understand that their success and that of the organization relies on employees' achievements. But not everyone can be a great manager. Great managers care about their people's success. They seek to understand each person's strengths and provide employees with every opportunity to use their strengths in their role. Great managers empower their employees, recognize and value their contributions, and actively seek their ideas and opinions. It takes talent to be a great manager, and selecting people who have this talent is important. Whether hiring from outside or promoting from within, businesses that scientifically select managers for the unique talents it takes to effectively manage people greatly increase the odds of engaging their employees. Companies should treat the manager role as unique, with distinct functional demands that require a specific talent set.
4. Coach managers and hold them accountable for their employees' engagement.Gallup's research has found that managers are primarily responsible for their employees' engagement levels. Companies should coach managers to take an active role in building engagement plans with their employees, hold managers accountable, track their progress, and ensure that they continuously focus on emotionally engaging their employees. The most successful managers view the Q12 as the elements for great managing, not just questions for measuring. By doing so, they gain a powerful framework to guide the creation of a strong, engaged workplace.
5. Define engagement goals in realistic, everyday terms. To bring engagement to life, leaders must make engagement goals meaningful to employees' day-to-day experiences. Describing what success looks like using powerful descriptions and emotive language helps give meaning to goals and builds commitment within a team. Make sure that managers discuss employee engagement at weekly meetings, in action-planning sessions, and in one-on-one meetings with employees to weave engagement into daily interactions and activities and to make it part of the workplace's DNA.

Leaders in the best companies strategically align their employee engagement efforts. They find ways to communicate engagement's effect throughout the year and share best practices across the organization. They use every opportunity, touch point, and communication channel to reinforce and recognize the organization's commitment to employee engagement. They integrate employee engagement fully into the business' lexicon.

If employees truly are a company's best asset, then leaders and managers should make caring for them a priority. Organizations have a valuable opportunity to transform their employees' work experiences into ones that are fulfilling and motivating -- and that allow workers to bring their best to work every day.

References

Reilly, R. (2014). Five Ways to Improve Employee Engagement [Online]. Available at<https://www.forbes.com/sites/brentgleeson/2017/10/15/5-powerful-steps-to-improve-employee-engagement/#7aed09d6341d [Accessed on 30 March 2018]