Why is engagement more important than ever before?

Nowadays means a huge challenge for many companies. The economy is doing well, and companies’ profits keep on rising. However, efforts to achieve a steady, high economic growth have already reached the peak in many firms. The most frequent obstacles include high employee turnover and an increasingly low productivity of permanent employees. Corporate managers try to deal with these challenges in various ways, such as by giving higher financial rewards or a full spectrum of benefits that are often meaningful only in the short-run.

Text: Petr Beneš, JuiceUP

A recent survey has shown that salaries are not the main reason for leaving a company (although wages are still the main reason in blue-collar professions), but that it is the lack of employee appreciation and overall negative mood in the workplaces. How does employee engagement impact employee turnover and productivity, and what do long-term studies say?

Why engagement

Employee engagement is an HR strategy that focuses on the overall corporate culture. It creates ideal working conditions for existing employees and quickly connects newcomers with the company environment. Employees no longer intend to leave these companies, on the contrary, they perform at their best and inspire others to do so as well.

Engagement and employee turnover

Evidence proves that companies that have implemented strategic employee engagement practices have lowered employee turnover levels by up to 42 % on average. Does this seem unbelievable? Research confirms it. Engagement creates an emotional bond between companies and people working for them. They have a clear picture of corporate visions and values and feel that they are part of them. In such circumstances, people do not consider a change of employment. On the contrary, they feel motivated to deliver the best work, they are proactive, and above all, they do so with regards to the prosperity of the whole company.

Engagement and productivity

In the context of engagement, low productivity is associated mainly with a group defined as active non-engaged employees. These are individuals that, for various reasons, do not fit with the corporate environment, their motivation for high performance is low, and they are skeptical about the company itself. These are often people that spread exaggerated negativity, demotivating all of their colleagues. 20% of all employees in the Czech Republic are non-actively engaged. These people cause a decrease in labor productivity of up to 34%. However, an engagement-based HR strategy can not only reduce the number of non-engaged staff, it may also increase the overall company productivity by as much as 17%.

Source: State of the Global Workplace. [Online]. Copyright © 2018 at Gallup, Inc. ALL rights reserved. [CIT. 24.10.2018]. Available from: https://www.gallup.com/workplace/238079/state-global-workplace-2017.aspx?