Employee Engagement - THE Buzz Phrase

I came across a recent Gallup poll which showed that nearly 70% of employees are not engaged. I immediately thought, what does that really mean? Gallup defines engaged employees as those who are involved in, enthusiastic about and committed to their work and workplace. Wikipedia defines an engaged employee as one who is fully absorbed by and enthusiastic about their work and so takes positive action to further the organization's reputation and interest

But the article went a step further and stated that this lack of engagement is “costing the nation $450 billion to $550 billion per year in lost productivity. (That includes the price of absenteeism, workplace accidents, and increased health care costs.) Even the best companies--those scoring in the top 10 percent on employee surveys--register only about 38 percent of their employees as ‘fully engaged.’” The question is why? What’s going on?

I can’t help but wonder if a certain percentage of un-engaged employees is due to hiring the wrong candidates, because a square peg is being squeezed into a round hole. It’s those employees who are not succeeding and growing with organizations because they just simply are not a fit, or even worse, they just won’t ever be engaged because it’s just not who they are.

What do we do next? Surveys can sometimes be helpful. They allow you to see statistics over specific time frames. They also allow anonymous responses, which can be important. But try something simple AND effective... go talk to your employees. Treat them well. Listen to them. Ask them what they like and what they don’t like. When it’s appropriate, implement changes based on their ideas. Involve them in the process of making those changes.

Motivating and engaging your workforce may be the toughest, yet most important challenge employers face. Don’t overthink it, don’t over stress about it. Be open, be honest and start a dialogue today!