“It goes without saying that no company, small or large, can win over the long run without energized employees who believe in the mission and understand how to achieve it.” – Jack Welch, Former CEO GE
Does employee engagement really matter?
Employee engagement is a nebulous concept that is notoriously difficult to track or manage, yet it remains a perennial concern to employers everywhere. An enormous amount of research has gone into this concept, and it’s clear that when employees are not invested in the work they produce, the employer is likely to suffer lower productivity and higher turnover. So, the short answer to this question is yes, employee engagement matters.
1. Lost productivity from disengaged workers in the U.S. costs employers as much as $1.2 trillion annually, according to Gallup.
2. And there is a lot of room for improvement here: 70.1% of employees do not consider themselves very engaged.
3. Perhaps that’s why nearly two-thirds (62%) of workers say they intend to bolster their job search efforts in 2019.
4. Employees want to enjoy their work; half of employees would give up as much as 29% of their salary for that.
5. Yet happiness alone is not enough. Though 75% of employees say they are happy at work per the Addison Group, almost 80% would start looking for a new job after a single bad day.
6. Workplace opportunities have a role to play here: a third (32%) of employees believe they would have to leave their current job in order to advance their careers.
What does employee engagement mean?
So, we can see that a lack of engagement can be a real detriment to employers, but that begs the question: what kind of results can employers expect if they successfully improve engagement? Happily, highly engaged workforces can substantially improve business outcomes.
7. Engaged, highly productive employees – specifically workers in the top 1% – add $5,000 in profit every year.
8. Further, highly engaged employees are 87% less likely to leave.
9. Gallup also says that organizations with a highly engaged workforce outperform other organizations by 202%.
10. In fact, highly engaged workforces yield 21% greater profitability.
CoAdvantage, one of the nation’s largest Professional Employer Organizations (PEOs), helps small to mid-sized companies with HR administration, benefits, payroll, and compliance. To learn more about our ability to create a strategic HR function in your business that drives business growth potential, contact us today.
