Should you care if your employees are engaged? The answer should be a resounding ‘yes’; not just for their benefit, but for the benefit of your business as well.

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Staff engagement can be a significant driver when it comes to business growth and a major factor in minimising skills loss and staff turnover. Even if you don’t care whether or not your team has a combined perma-smile, you should care if a lack of motivation and engagement leaves your business with low productivity and all of the costs associated with continually having to source new recruits.

Conversely, engaged employees will believe in your business and are far more likely to share your goals and help you to achieve them, when it comes to long-term success.

The link between engagement and growth

A HBR study entitled The Impact of Employee Engagement on Performance found that 71 per cent of the respondents who took part felt that engagement amongst employees was very important in ensuring the success of a business. This is undoubtedly true as engagement does not simply prompt better individual performance; it encourages a culture of good performance that can cross all boundaries within a company.

Engaged employees are more likely to share and to be inspired by company goals and values, whilst becoming immersed and pro-active within a positive culture.

The specifics needed to achieve this level of engagement will largely depend on individual environments but it is undoubtedly worth spending the time required to determine what can be done within your own organisation to increase engagement levels – and ultimately business success.

A Trends in Global Employee Engagement report from Aon Hewitt noted that employee engagement can be hugely important during times of economic volatility when a company’s immediate future may be in danger. But it can also be key to achieving the best possible market position and ensuring strong performance in the longer term.

The results of this survey found that businesses which achieve good engagement levels position themselves ahead of much of the competition, giving them an advantage when it comes to achieving results and in sourcing and retaining a talented workforce.

Statistics also show that businesses with an engaged staff can perform 202 per cent better than companies without the same level of engagement. This should leave you in little doubt as to whether it is worth the time and effort required to increase and maintain staff engagement levels.

The rules of engagement

There are many tools that can be used to boost employee engagement but these need to reach further than the simple provision of a staff games room or regular team outings. At a very basic level, employees need the required tools to achieve their best possible performance levels – something that cannot be replaced by Friday beers or a free Christmas event.

As a leader, you will need to identify exactly what the rules of engagement are within your own business and what tools your workforce actually needs. Be honest and objective, assessing how you could improve. Your company is likely to benefit hugely in the end.

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