What are the implications of Employee Engagement and how it drives growth in Organizations?

Gallup Inc. reviewed more than 25 million responses in a survey for the employee engagement between 2010-2012. This survey took place in 189 different countries, 69 languages. The questionnaire based on famous 12 questions for measuring employee engagement.

Gallup’s research showed that only 30% of employees are engaged. Engaged employees work with passion and feel a profound connection to their company. They drive innovation and move the organization forward.

According to the same study, 70% of today’s workforce “not engaged” or “actively disengaged”. This group is roughly 2-to-1 in ratio and, not reaching to their full potential. They are emotionally disconnected from 
their workplaces and less likely to be productive. Breakdown of this 70% is as follows. 52% of employees are “not engaged”, This means they essentially do just what they need to do, so they won’t get fired, but not more. The remaining 18% who are “actively disengaged” employees aren’t just unhappy at work; they’re busy acting out their unhappiness. Every day, these workers undermine what their engaged coworkers accomplish. They are most likely negatively influence their coworkers, miss workdays, and drive customers away.

Important findings of this study are as follows:

Clearly, this problem has significant implications on the economy. Gallup estimates that active disengagement costs the U.S. $450 billion to $550 billion per year.

Managers and Leaders play a critical role. Gallup has found that managers who focus on their employees’ strengths can practically eliminate active disengagement and double the average. Employee engagement remains flat when left unmanaged.

Different types of workers need different engagement strategies. Employees at the beginning and approaching the end of their careers, tend to be more engaged than those in the middle of 
their careers. Women have slightly higher overall engagement than men.

Engagement has a greater impact on performance than corporate policies. Although certain policies such as hours worked, flextime, 
and vacation time do relate to employee wellbeing, engagement levels in the work environment eclipse corporate policies.

Remote workers actually log more hours at their primary job than do their on-site counterparts.

When employees are engaged and thriving in their overall lives, they are more likely to maintain strong work performance — even during difficult times.

Employees are not prepared to engage customers. Only 41% of employees felt that they know what their company stands for and what makes
 its brand different from its competitors’ brands.

What Companies Can Do To Improve Employee Engagement

Use the right employee engagement survey. Often, organizations make the mistake of using employee surveys to collect data that are irrelevant or impossible to act on. When
 a company asks its employees for their opinions, they expect action to follow.

Select the right managers. Whether hiring managers from outside, or promoting from within organizations, selecting managers for the unique talents, it takes to effectively manage people greatly increase the odds of engaging their employees.

Focus on engagement at the enterprise and local levels. Companies realize the most benefit from engagement initiatives when leaders weave employee engagement into performance expectations for managers and enable them to execute on those expectations.

Coach managers and hold them accountable for their employees’ engagement. Managers are primarily responsible for their employees’ engagement levels. Organizations should coach managers to take an active role in building engagement plans with their employees.

Define engagement goals in realistic, everyday terms. Leaders must make engagement goals meaningful to employees’ day- to-day experiences to bring engagement to life.

Find ways to connect with each employee. Each person has different needs and expectations regarding employee engagement. Managers should know that age, gender, tenure, and other variables all play a vital role in shaping a team member’s experience. Every interaction with an employee has the potential to influence his or her engagement.

Reference:

http://www.gallup.com/strategicconsulting/163007/state-american-workplace.aspx