Employee Engagement – it is one of the buzziest buzzwords used in business. We seem to hear about employee engagement constantly but what does that mean and why do we care?
According to Gallup, an engaged employee is one who is involved in, enthusiastic about and committed to their work and workplace. Forbes magazine says Employee Engagement means the employee’s connection to your mission. As an employer this sounds like a great idea to have your employees “enthusiastic about and committed to their work and workplace” and to be connected to your mission. What a significant impact this could make for your business and your bottom line.
According to Gallup’s 2017 State of the American Workplace survey, there are more than 100 million full-time employees in America. Of those 100 million workers only one-third of those employees are engaged with their work. Only 33% of people love their jobs. So if 33% of the American workforce is engaged where does the other 67% fall? 16% are actively disengaged, and the other 51% are not engaged and just showing up.
If we want our employees to be engaged, it looks like we are not doing such a good job. The numbers from the Gallup survey are pretty grim. As a manager why should you care if your employees are engaged or not? If your employees choose to be disengaged what difference does it makes as long as they get the job done? How can you, as a manager, make sure your employees are engaged at work?
As the very first Gallup certified strengths coach, I have facilitated more than 27,000 coaching sessions and given more than 750 presentations to organizations across the globe. I have seen that learning and using an employee’s strengths to make sure not only are they in the right job but that you are honoring who they are and what they authentically bring to the table can make all the difference.
Learning your team’s strengths will help you as a manager gain a clearer picture of your team’s talents. When you have this clear picture, then you can guide your team members to discover where they fit best on the team. Being able to contribute to the team from a place of strength can open up whole new worlds to your employees. Your employees will feel a stronger bond to your organization’s vision, mission, and purpose. This bond will create a stronger team the works seamlessly together.
To get your employees to engage with your organization, you must first engage with them. While learning your teams’ strengths make sure that you share your strengths with the team. With a group understanding of everyone’s strengths, the team will learn what to expect from each other and how they will work out of their strengths. This understanding of who they are on the team will build a better understanding between team members and how they all fit in the team.
Finding your team’s strengths and using them to build your team will take engagement from a buzzword to reality for your organization. According to Gallup, improving employee engagement strongly impacts the overall well-being of your business. Some of the effects that employee engagement Gallup found are:
- 17% higher productivity
- 21% higher profitability
- 10% higher customer satisfaction
- 41% lower absenteeism
- 24% less turnover (in high-turnover organizations)
- 59% less turnover (in low-turnover organizations)
- 70% fewer safety incidents
- 40% fewer defects and quality issues
Are you ready to move the needle on engagement and build the team of your dreams? Then let’s talk strengths.
