Wouldn't it be great if you could boost your productivity by 15%, improve your customer satisfaction and add proportionately to your bottom line, especially in these tough times? Well, research studies indicate that if you go about managing your people in ways that get them feeling valued and involved, these kinds of gains can be yours1.
Engagement, in management jargon, is a two way street, which means there are always things you can do as an employer to tune up your side of the relationship. Studies have found a direct relationship between higher levels of engagement and lower absenteeism and lower intention to leave, but more importantly they have also found that higher levels of engagement translate into higher levels of productivity and customer service, loyalty and satisfaction2.
Positive involvement in work appears to be highest in an employee's first year in an organisation3. Given the benefits of positive engagement, and that it is hard enough to find the right people, there are clear benefits in making a real effort to keep your people engaged throughout their careers. A further problem is that surveys reveal that part timers and 'mid-lifers' show lower levels of engagement, with engagement levels falling as people get older2. The changing nature of the workforce means that more people are working part-time and many are older or have increasing caring responsibilities. This means an even bigger challenge to make the hours people spend at work count for them and for your business.
The great news is that some of the things that most companies are doing already, like regular appraisals, help to keep employees engaged. But the informal stuff is critical too. To be effective, the behaviours and attitudes that keep employees engaged should come from the top4. Lucent can help you to assess your levels of engagement, and crucially help you to do something about it, re-energising and enthusing your people. And the really great news is that along with boosting harder performance outcomes like productivity and profitability, it's likely that your engaged employees will be happier and create a positive energy in your organisation.
References
1 Harter, J.K., Hayes, T.L., & Schmidt, F.L. (2002). Business-Unit-Level Relationship Between Employee Satisfaction, Employee Engagement, and Business Outcomes: A Meta-Analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 268-279.
2 Robinson, D., Perryman, S., & Hayday, S. (2004). The Drivers of Employee Engagement. IES Report.
3 Watson Wyatt (2008). Continuous engagement. 2008-2009 WorkEurope survey report.
4 Alimo-Metcalfe, B. & Alban-Metcalfe, R. J. (2008). Engaging Leadership: Creating organisations that maximise the potential of their people. CIPD, UK .
Further Reading
Robinson, D. (2007). Employee Engagement. IES Report.
