The Engaged Employee — (A Tool for Organisational Excellence)

“The Best Employers understand it’s dangerous not to evolve. They are constantly looking for the next 2% improvement to their employee engagement strategies to keep them ahead of the competition”

The quality of its people decides the quality of a business. People are the greatest asset of any organisation. However, studies have shown that it takes engaged employees to ensure organisational excellence. Highly engaged employees are more profitable and more productive. A company can attract, recruit, and train employees comprehensively, but all that effort could be wasted if the employees aren’t engaged.

“Not only does engagement have the potential to significantly affect employee retention, productivity and loyalty; it is also a key link to customer satisfaction, company reputation and overall stakeholder value”. SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management)

The Engaged Employee:

· Generates more revenue — They perform better and are more productive.

· Provide better service — They take pride in their work, and it is reflected in how they relate with clients.

· Are easier to lead — They are less resistant to change because they want to do anything that can make things better for them, for clients and the organisation.

· Promote the organisation — Their positive words reach potential future employees and clients of the organisation in a way few recruitment advertisements could.

· Create improvements — They always want to give their best, and proactively think about how things could be done better.

· Reduce risk — They care about the organisation to the extent of recognising a potential problem, and quickly expressing the concerns with their supervisor (most likely with a suggested solution).

· Are less stressed — They tend to be healthy due to balance in work life.

· Stick around — This means less staff turnover for the organisation and higher retention of organisational memory and knowledge.

Employee Engagement tips:

· Company culture — Create a culture where people feel happy at work

· Show you care

· Empower employees — Engage employees by empowering them to take responsibility for their work and new challenges.

· Teamwork — It’s about creating connections throughout the organisation, across all levels.

· Personalised learning — 65% of today’s employees cite career opportunities and training as their key motivators.

· Fun at work — Working towards targets can be tough! So, keep your employees motivated with a little fun and healthy competition. Studies show 90% of people say a fun work environment is very or extremely motivating. Find out what tickles your team.

· Employee feedback– One of the best ways to engage employees is to show you value their opinion by asking for their feedback. Remember to act on the input to maintain employee engagement.

· Employee recognition — By celebrating company-wide achievements, you will encourage a supportive work environment and motivate employees

· A sense of purpose — Make sure your staff understand the business goals and where they fit into the company world-changing mission.

1. Employee Engagement by Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinkruse/2012/06/22/employee-engagement-what-and-why/#bd3cfd47f372

2. https://www.lifebydesign.com.au/wpcontent/uploads/2016/09/PeopleGlue_Part1.pdf

3. How to engage employees: https://www.growthengineering.co.uk/how-to-engage-employees/

• Ruth Pelamohs