3 Reasons Why Employee Engagement Is Everything

If we were to ask you how committed your employees are to their work, you’d probably say they were well committed, or at least committed enough for you to keep them. Besides, not everyone in your organization is going to absolutely love their job and everyone can admit they find their work monotonous at times. That is not what we mean by employee engagement. Employee engagement is what is measured as far as your employee’s commitment to your company’s overall mission and objectives and how much they value their responsibility to topline objectives. Now that you know that, ask yourself the question again, “How committed are my employees to my company?” 

An employee’s willingness to be engaged is determined a lot by its leadership, like it or not. It is said that people don’t leave jobs, they leave their managers. That means if you are running a company with high turnover, it’s probably your fault. Ouch. 

The good news is that things can change. Things will turn around when leadership gets their mind around the idea that employee engagement is everything to the success of the business. It would also be fair if every leader in your organization asked themselves, “How committed am I to the company mission and objectives and how much do I care about it’s top line objectives?” If your employee engagement with management isn’t high, don’t expect anyone else to be. 

Employee Engagement Is Mainly Determined By These Things

The customer is not #1-

It was said by Richard Branson, that the customer should come second. This flies in the face of everything you have heard up until this point about the customer always being right. In an interview with Eric Shurenberg of Inc Magazine, Richard said this:

“It sort of should go without saying -- and it's surprising that it still doesn't go without saying at some companies -- if the person who works at your company is 100% proud of the job they're doing, if you give them the tools to do a good job, they're proud of the brand, if they were looked after, if they're treated well, then they're gonna be smiling, they're gonna be happy and therefore the customer will have a nice experience. If the person who's working for your company is not given the right tools, is not looked after, is not appreciated, they're not gonna do things with a smile and therefore the customer will be treated in a way where often they won't want to come back for more. So, my philosophy has always been, if you can put staff first, your customer second and shareholders third, effectively, in the end, the shareholders do well, the customers do better, and yourself are happy.”

How do you feel about that statement now that you’ve read it and had a minute to think about how you treat your own employees? It is true though, if you want your employees to do a great job, don’t tell them what they are doing wrong, congratulate them publicly and often on what they are doing right. Don’t believe it? Give it a try for two weeks and see for yourself. 

Most people want to come to work and do a good job. People want to be proud of themselves. Employee engagement is all about making the employee feel like they are part of something that wants them feel like they belong. Who wants to support something that doesn’t support them?

You need to invest in your employees-

It’s hard to tell someone how much they really matter when you aren’t doing anything that shows them that they do. Praise and encouragement is one thing, but actually taking steps to invest in your employees is clearly another. One investment that speaks loud and clear to employees about how much they are valued is good benefits. 

If you are not currently offering benefits because you think you can’t afford them, we’re here to give you good news. A PEO could be just want you need to offer your employees the kind of benefits they want at a price your company can afford. If you thought employee benefits were out of reach, a PEO is one way a small business can realize the power of offering employee benefits to deserving employees. 

PEOs are priced at a lower cost than most small business group health plans but they offer so much more. If you are paying for small business health insurance, payroll processing, workers compensation and other HR expenses, a PEO will help you save a lot of money while offering the kinds of benefits only your larger competitors could offer. 

Give them a plan for the future -

What does the growth path look like for your employees or recruits? People who can’t see growth and/or longevity in your company aren’t going to have the kind of employee engagement you want them to have. Training employees up means training them toward success in your company’s future. Tell them what that looks like if they stay the course. 

Committed Employees Means Positive Growth 

When employee engagement is at the forefront, a company can’t help but grow. Could the roadblock to success really be about these 3 things? The only way to know is to try them out and see. Ask your employees if instilling these three things into your business practice will help them feel more committed to your organization. 

If you would like to know more about how a PEO can help you reach your employee engagement objectives, contact us today.