November 4, 2020
High employee engagement—the “emotional commitment the employee has to the organization and its goals”—is critical for any employer. For frontline business in particular, disengagement is a persistent problem.
Below are five facts that prove the central importance of employee engagement—and why business leaders should never neglect it.
The facts
1) Over half of voluntary exits directly say their leave was preventable. According to Gallup, 52 percent of voluntarily exiting workers say that “their manager or organization could have done something to prevent them from leaving their job.” Another Gallup study found that 78 percent of employee exits have nothing to do with wages. Businesses should strongly consider evaluating non-wage factors when considering how to boost engagement.
2) Highly engaged employees report lower absenteeism. Gallup refers to “decades” of research when they report that highly engaged workplaces show 41 percent lower absenteeism, 40 percent fewer quality defects, and—unsurprisingly—21 percent higher profits. Evidently, making sure that employees are engaged has a visible impact on a business’s bottom line.
3) Attrition for disengaged employees is twelve times higher than the highly engaged. According to a report from Glint, the “regrettable attrition rate of disengaged employees is twelve times higher than highly engaged employees over the period of a year.” They note that “understanding how engagement scores vary over time, across employee groups, and at key points in the employee lifecycle” can be invaluable for identifying “critical intervention points” that improve engagement and reduce turnover.
4) Many leaders see addressing employee engagement as a distraction. In spite of the clear benefits from higher engagement, 35 percent of business leaders see a focus on engagement as a distraction from getting the “real” work done, according to Dale Carnegie. Meanwhile, 85 percent of leaders claim that employee engagement is a priority. Perhaps there exists a disconnect between completing the necessary tasks that sustain the business on a short term basis and enacting systemic changes that support the business in the long term.
5) Employee engagement boosts retention. Dale Carnegie likewise discovered that although many executives fail to effectively prioritize employee engagement, doing so will boost employee retention by 24 percent. Leaders miss considerable opportunities when they neglect to make the necessary long-term investments into an engaged workplace.
The reality
The data show tangible benefits to an engaged employee base. On a workforce level, higher engagement leads to better employee retention, lower absenteeism, and improved performance. On an organizational level, higher engagement leads to more efficiency, lower costs, and a better bottom line.
Yet, many leaders fail to make crucial investments into employee engagement. Building an engaged workforce is typically not a pressing problem; managers are more likely to spend an hour fulfilling orders or meeting quotas than brainstorming methods of improving company culture.
Qlicket is able to catalyze the process of improving employee engagement. Our platform helps managers measure, diagnose, and address workforce problems, producing tangible benefits over time.
