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Article from a Guest Expert Employee Engagement – Why It Matters What is employee engagement and why is it important? Employee engagement refers to how “engaged” your staff feels in relation to your company or business. If your employees are not absorbed in their work and enthusiastic about the role that they play in your company, then you may need to look into ways to improve their engagement.      The Benefits of Employee Engagement There have been numerous studies over the years, exploring the benefits of keeping employees actively engaged in their work. In one study, it was found that engaged employees were up to 43 percent more productive. In addition to increased productivity, studies have found the following advantages: Increases commitment and loyalty Improves employee morale Reduces employee burnout When an employee is actively engaged, you can naturally increase their commitment and loyalty to your company. This reduces your turnover rate, which in turn can save you money. Every time you need to hire new employees, a certain amount of payroll is spent training your new hires. When your employees feel that their voices are heard and that you value their input, you begin to build trust and loyalty. Along with an increased commitment, you may also find that your employees’ morale levels improve. Regular feedback and an open line of dialogue with superiors can help give your employees a sense of purpose within your business. Another reason to pay attention to employee engagement is to prevent employee burnout. By increasing commitment, morale, and productivity, you might be able to reduce stress and keep your employees from becoming fatigued and tired of their daily tasks.      The Dangers of an Unengaged Employee Now that you understand the basic advantages of keeping your employees engaged, you should learn about the dangers of an unengaged employee. Without focus, involvement, and commitment, you will notice a gradual drop in morale and productivity. Over time, this can severely affect your bottom line. When you are unable to meet the demands of your clients or customers because of an unengaged workforce, you may end up in a downward spiral, from which it is difficult to recover. You need to take a hard look at your existing business strategies and employee procedures. Many of the traditional tools of the past may not apply to a modern workforce. There is more to increasing engagement than simply creating an employee bulletin or business intranet. You need to find ways to actively promote engagement.      How Can You Improve Employee Engagement? There are many ways to improve the engagement of your employees. Some of these suggestions are relatively easy to implement. After reviewing these ideas, you might want to sit down with your management team. Come up with ways to incorporate them into your corporate strategy. Some of the methods that are known to help boost employee engagement include: Creating a clear line of communication Improving employee training Clarify job expectations Implementing time and attendance software First, you need to ensure that you provide clear, direct communication with all of your departments. Make sure that each of your department managers is making the effort to listen to the concerns and ideas provided by your staff. Include a clear line of communication from the ground up. Allow your employees to provide feedback related to any aspect of their job roles. This works both ways. In addition to giving your staff the opportunity to be heard, you should provide them with feedback as well. Remember to congratulate and reward your employees when a task is completed satisfactorily. Improve employee training and advancement opportunities. Empower your employees through training programs and opportunities for advancement. Working with your HR department, come up with ways to improve and streamline your employee training procedures. This includes coming up with methods and opportunities for career advancement. Clarify the job expectations for each position within your business. If your employees are not aware of what is expected of them, it is difficult for them to meet the goals and the benchmarks that you set. Clearly define the job expectations to prevent resentment, boredom, and a lack of productivity. Another way that you can improve employee engagement is by utilizing attendance and absence management software. Advance Systems has a complete electronic time and attendance system. This system is easy to incorporate and provides a range of benefits. With attendance software, you can give employees and managers real-time access to their schedules. Other data that can be accessed includes available vacation hours. You can also improve the way that employees send time off requests. These advantages can increase engagement, while also boosting the overall morale of your employees. Employee engagement is not something to be taken lightly. Begin looking into ways to increase communication and keep your employees highly engaged – starting with some of the suggestions provided.   Enter your search terms Submit search form       Search Idea Cafe Web Small Business Tax Center • Idea Cafe Home • Sign Up • Biz Grant Center • CyberSchmooz •Coffee Talk with Experts • People in Biz Profiles • Starting Your Biz • Biz Planning • Running Your Biz • FREE Trade Publications • Marketing • Financing Your Biz • Human Resources • Legal & Biz Forms • Managing Your Biz • eCommerce • You and Your Biz • Gen X • Work@Home • The Fridge • De-Stress • Send an Award • Send an eGreeting • Yoga @ Your Desk • Web Guide • Idea Cafe in the News • About Idea Cafe • Advertise on Idea Cafe • Contact Us • Privacy Policy • Site Map • Small Biz News Copyright 1995-2023, Idea Cafe Inc. 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