Top 5 Reasons Why Employee Engagement Is Crucial For Organizational Success?

In this rapidly changing business environment, organizations are facing more challenges and required initiatives that not only help in competing in the marketplace but also provide a solid basis for further growth.

In recent times, Employee Engagement has emerged as the one of the main drivers for achieving organizational success and competitive advantage in the marketplace. Multiple researches shows that engaged employees help organizations to achieve organizational goals effectively, and employee engagement works as a catalyst in organizational development. That is why organizations need to start working on identifying ways to maximize energy, commitment and engagement of their workforce to thrive in the business world more than ever before.

However, people often confuse Employee Engagement with Employee Satisfaction; they are somewhat related but both concepts are different. 'Employee Satisfaction is about an employee's personal happiness and satisfaction with the job'. Whereas 'Employee Engagement is an emotional commitment of an employee towards its job and organization.' It is the level of dedication and passion an employee has for the job and organization.

There are three type of employees in an organization.

1 ) Engaged: Engaged employees are those who are emotionally committed to their job and workplace. They are optimistic and know what is expected of them. These are the people who actually invested their energy, time, and commitment in creating value for an organization.

2) Not-Engaged: These employees often seem to be happy and satisfied with their job. They complete their tasks on time, but deep down they are unaware of what is expected of them. Which is why they are not engaged employees. However, these employees can be transformed to engaged employees with proper guidance and appropriate approach.

3) Actively disengaged: These employees are a potential threat to an organization because they have consistently negative behavior and talks negatively about the organization and are very vocal about their dissatisfaction and unhappiness.

In 21st century it has become challenging for companies to survive and thrive in a rapidly changing environment. Studies show that organizations where employees are engaged tend to be more productive and have higher chances to remain ahead of their competitors.

Here are the top 5 reasons why employee engagement is crucial for organizational success.

1) Higher Productivity: Employee engagement is a great source of improving day-to-day operations because when employees are aware about their job roles and tasks and have all the necessary resources, they perform day-to -day tasks better. They are more committed to their work and perform their tasks efficiently, which makes them more productive and ultimately enables them to achieve higher productivity for the organization.

2) Customer Satisfaction: In any sort of business, either its service or merchandise customers are the main actors in contributing to the success of an organization. However, organizations who give priority to their customers, i.e. 'internal' and 'external customers' are actually staying ahead of the game. Employee engagement helps organization to improve internal customer experience which make them more productive and able to provide exceptional services to their external customers, and catering their needs in time ultimately leads to improving external customer satisfaction as well.

3) Increase Profitability: Organizations who consider their employees as assets and invest in their growth and take care of their wellness are able to have loyal and dedicated employees. Because when an employee is physically and mentally well, he/she will be able to deliver best results and will be able to contribute in organizations success. Employee engagement is one of the magic ingredients which requires some effort and initial investment with long term benefits.

4) Attract and Retain Talent: With the passage of time, people's needs and priorities are changing. Now people want to work in organizations that care for their employees. People want work-life balance, flexibility, autonomy, learning opportunities, and a great working environment. Employee engagement initiatives such as work-life balance, employee wellness programs, and learning and development are highly effective in retaining the current talent in an organization and attracting the new talent in the market as well.

5) Reducing communication barriers: Working in teams or independent both require effective communication. Every employee has to communicate either with colleagues, line managers or with other departments to achieve their goals. Employee engagement is a great source for addressing communication barriers. Different employee engagement activities such as team building activities, interdepartmental completions, and celebrating team victories brings everyone closer and reduces communication barriers.

It is a very high time that organizations need to realize that Employee Engagement is not an expense, but it is an investment. It will be proved as a game changer for the organizations that will realize its importance on time because it is an investment which has greater return in the long run.