What Is Employee Engagement?

Employee engagement is a workplace approach designed to ensure that employees are committed to the goals and values of their organisation, motivated to contribute to the success of their organisation, and are able, at the same time, to develop their own sense of job satisfaction and well-being.

Is this all management jargon or can employee engagement be useful to SMEs?

The research speaks for itself; many organisations have carried out employee engagement research and those that score highly also have higher rates of profitability, lower staff turnover and associated costs of recruitment, and higher customer loyalty than organisations with average employee engagement ratings. It’s simple really, if an employee is happy, enjoys their work, and feels valued they are keen to excel in their role and help the business succeed. What does become difficult for managers is identifying who¹s engaged and who’s not. Typically this is much easier for a managing director of a small workforce to answer than one of a much larger organisation ­ however, everyone can be blinkered to what’s going on in their own organisation, which is why independent research can really help pinpoint areas for development.

Some organisations may think it’s particularly hard to spend time looking at employee engagement during a recession. However during times of cut-backs, employees tend to take on more tasks, responsibilities and work longer hours sometimes without a pay increase or promotion. The workplace morale is also hit when redundancies are announced,  therefore it’s often even more important to target employee engagement at during these times to ensure your organisation stays fighting fit.

We all want happy employees so why not undertake a little research for yourself? When you next walk into the office, ask yourself ­ ‘Do my employees look happy?’, ‘Are they going the extra mile?’ And, also ask yourself ­ ‘What can I do to improve employee engagement in my workforce?’

The Survey Initiative team are experts in the field of employee research. If you would like to know more about how we can help your organisation with employee engagement, then call us on +44 (0)1255 850051 or visit our website.