Why tackling employee engagement matters

Before I start, a big disclaimer…internal communications and employee engagement are NOT the same thing.

Internal communications plays a key role in effectively engaging your people, but it can’t fix company culture, a lack of learning opportunities, or an unwelcoming work environment.

HOWEVER, strong internal communications can be a driving force in ensuring that people feel connected and supported by their employers and is key to actively engaging your workforce in a two-way conversation. Internal communications can help you to understand what matters to your people, what is and isn’t working within your organisation, and the support and tools your people need to do their jobs effectively. All fundamental to employee engagement.

So, with that in mind…

Is employing engagement something I should focus on?

Gallup’s analysis across 276 organizations in 54 industries and 96 countries is a clear call to action.

When researchers compared performance and engagement levels among business work units within these organisations, the?benefits of employee engagement?were clear.

Gallup found that between the top and bottom quartile of business units there were the following differences in business outcomes:

• 81% in absenteeism
• 18% in turnover for high-turnover organisations
• 43% in turnover for low-turnover organisations
• 28% in shrinkage (theft)
• 64% in safety incidents (accidents)
• 10% in customer loyalty/engagement
• 18% in productivity (sales)
• 23% in profitability

In addition, employees who are?actively engaged are less likely to be actively looking or open to a new job opportunity whereas low engagement teams typically see staff turnover rates that are 18% to 43% higher than highly engaged teams.

Where do you start?

Start with measurement. Don’t put changes in place before you know what you need to change. Make sure you accurately measure engagement, so you have a benchmark to work with.

Look at the top of your organisation. Studies show that highly engaged workplaces have executive leaders who understand the value of engagement, communicate effectively and create the right conditions for managers and employees to adopt an engagement mindset. Do your leaders fall into this category? If not, tackle this challenge first, otherwise the changes and initiatives you implement are likely to have limited success.

The next essential factor is managers. ?With 70% of the variance in team engagement determined by the manager*, ensuring your managers have the tools, knowledge and skills to effectively engage and communicate with teams is critical yet often overlooked. Do an honest assessment of your business’s reliance on managers to engage with your people. What is working? Where are the gaps? What do you need to change or do differently?

Beyond managers, employees need the ability to engage. By this I don’t mean reading a couple of internal emails, I mean feeling part of an organisation and understanding the part you as an employee can play in helping to deliver the company’s mission and goals. Not everyone will want to actively participate but they do need an opportunity to do so.

The role of internal communications

As I mentioned earlier, internal communications can’t fix low employee engagement rates alone, but if your business has decided to make some changes and you’ve put plans in place, internal communication can lead the charge in the following ways:

1) Survey communications:

Carrying out an employee survey (and ideally combining it with focus groups), is a good way to understand what your people are thinking and feeling and the common issues and challenges that you need to address.

But… Sending out one communication inviting people to take part in this activity won’t do the trick. You need a robust communications plan that explores how you are going to launch and communicate this survey, (and focus groups) so you get strong participation rates.

The Communications and HR teams can then work together to explore how they communicate the results and crucially, the next steps, so teams feel like their voices were heard.

2) Leadership communications

Create a dedicated internal communications plan for your CEO and senior leadership team.

By helping them communicate effectively in the right way and at the right time with different audiences across your organisation, you can support them in modelling the culture and values that sit at the heart of your business.

3) Manager tools

Many organisations rely heavily on managers cascading information, yet don’t provide them with the skills or tools to do so effectively.

Be a champion for this critical group of communicators within your organisation. Work with HR to explore what your people need to be able to engage and communicate with their teams more effectively and help push these changes forward.

4) Right channels, right time, right message

Assess the value and effectiveness of your communications content and channels. Are you sending information that’s relevant and timely to the right audiences? Have you got the channels in place required to do this? Are you giving your people the chance to engage with the business, ask questions and get answers?

Carry out an honest audit of your internal communications to understand what‘s worth continuing, what you need to start doing, and importantly, the things you should stop.

Employee engagement is a jigsaw puzzle. It can be a bit complicated and time-consuming but putting all the pieces together is 100% worth it.

Need help figuring out your employee engagement puzzle and the role of internal communications? Get in touch! Email [email protected] or send me a message on LinkedIn. ??

Want to know more about how you can work with me? Visit my website to explore how I, and my extended team of experts, can help!

Not receiving my Communications Essentials newsletter yet? Click subscribe at the top of the page for regular communications insight, advice and tips.