Investing in employee engagement

Data shows that 30% of employees are fully engaged while there is a huge opportunity for companies to improve productivity of 70% of their workforce. It’s a common belief that employee engagement equals emotional commitment which further equals hard work finally leading to productivity. Treating people as human beings instead of human doings is something organizations need to realize. Employees have been considered human resources or assets, but it’s a known fact that people respond to empathy and compassion easily. Managers who know their people, have regular conversations with them and respond to feedback know that when individuals are properly listened to that they feel valued, engaged and are finally more productive

Here are some ways by which you should invest in employee engagement.

1. Ensuring that organization’s success is proportional to employee’s success – Call it stock options or some form of profit sharing or incentive, it is important that employees participate and that they are aware of what constitutes organizational success, how hard work is rewarded and why they should care.

2. Enhancing career development – Successful organizations should recognize that talented employees want to improve themselves.  This can be done by crafting well-structured career paths, support in acquiring valuable skills or active mentoring or on the job training, etc.

3. Focusing on overall management development – It’s popularly noted that people often leave managers, not companies and this statement stands very true. A majority are managed by middle managers who are learning by trial and error method the challenges of management.  Companies generally tend to invest heavily in leadership development while ignoring those in the lower levels who do most of the day-to-day management.

In today’s date, investing in employee engagement matters even more because engaged workers improve profitability and are more likely to develop new skills and advance their careers.