Why Employee Engagement Is the Key Tool for the Success of a Franchise Company

Every company wants to attract the best talents where these engaging talents are treated as the miracle drug for the workforce. Within the last few years, we’ve seen that the millennials’ share of the workforce has increased dramatically. With more Boomers retiring each year, millennials are on track to make up 75 per cent of the workforce by 2030 and continue to heavily influence employee engagement trends.

Employee engagement represents the levels of enthusiasm and connection employees have with their organization. Importantly, employee engagement is an outcome that depends on the actions of an organization, particularly the actions driven by leadership, managers, and people teams. An organization that supports and encourages employee engagement is going to do better overall. But that’s just one reason to nurture engaged employees.

“Only 13% of all the employees are ‘HIGHLY ENGAGED’ and 26% are ‘ACTIVELY DISENGAGED.” - Gallup

Here are five other, equally important, reasons why employee engagement is important.

Boost Productivity

Employee and workplace productivity is a little like breathing. It’s vital in keeping your company alive and thriving. If your employees are happy and engaging, their productivity will increase, and that’s exactly what you need to help your business grow. Allow employees the chance to gain skills and leadership experience, it will benefit your company and provide your employees with a sense of achievement and direction in their own careers which in turn increases productivity.

“Productivity improves by 20-25% in organizations with connected employees. This point of productivity growth holds the potential for revenues being triple per year.” – McKinsey

Happy Employees = Happy Customers

It is the virtue of the truth that these two elements really are deeply connected. Organizations having employees who are energetic, motivated, curious, and open to new ways of doing things to achieve ultimate customer satisfaction. Employee satisfaction is directly linked to customer satisfaction — and customer satisfaction is directly linked to financial performance. Therefore, employee engagement is indirectly, yet importantly, linked to financial performance. Also, Happy customers keep coming back and they refer other people to your company.

Glassdoor has made employee engagement an imperative focus area that all companies must address. They have built a platform where employees can anonymously rate and review companies and their management. As a result, it helps the company to know their faults and acknowledge their strong points. As the boundaries between our personal and professional lives have become increasingly blurred, alongside the rise of millennials in the workplace, so too has the importance of transparency and a truly meaningful company culture. And that makes employee engagement absolutely vital.

Retaining the best people is vital

Engaged employees are involved and invested in their roles and are therefore less likely to leave their job. Sometimes your best people aren’t engaged—and you may risk losing them. Keeping them engaged is absolutely essential to keep them at your organization doing their best work. If your organization is dealing with low retention rates, it’s time to think about why they're not engaged, fast. Because after you put in the time, effort and investment to hire the best employees possible, you need to retain that talent.

”92% of employees feel that showing empathy is critical to driving retention.”- Business Solver

Positivity hailing around

Positivity and negativity are contagious, both in and out of the workplace. Workers who feel disconnected and disengaged are more likely to have negative things to say about your company. If a disengaged employee leaves or is fired, they are able to vent their frustrations on any number of social forums and sites. Because negative feedback tends to be magnified more than positive, your company’s reputation and credibility could be damaged due to a single disengaged, disgruntled employee. Conversely, engaged employees are positive and have enthusiastic things to say about where they work.

There are many ways to create positive work environments with a foundation of feedback and inclusion. For instance, in Boston Consulting Group, if an employee handled a project particularly well, their work is acknowledged directly in a company or department-wide email. If the project could have been handled differently, tactics are being provided to them which better align with basic company practice and values.

Engaged Employees shows up to work

Disengaged employees don’t enjoy coming to work. They either feel stressed and overwhelmed, resulting in absence due to sickness, or they find excuses not to come in because they simply don’t want to be there. Absenteeism is problematic as it results in lost productivity, delayed deadlines, lower team morale and subsequently, resentment between employees. Ultimately, you want your employees to WANT to come to work.

Here are some statistics and facts that will help to give a clearer picture-

• Employees who feel their voice is heard are 4.6 times more likely to feel empowered to perform their best work

Today’s collaboratively-minded employee expects communication to be a two-way street. As this Salesforce report finds, ensuring that employees’ voices are heard needs to be part of a larger push for equality and inclusiveness in the workplace. Companies with greater gender and ethnic diversity consistently outperform the competition. They more accurately reflect the diversity of society and reach more potential customers, and they incorporate a broader range of perspectives into their decision-making and strategy.

• 96% of employees believe showing empathy is an important way to advance employee retention

Engagement and empathy are inextricably linked, as employees are unlikely to feel truly respected and empowered in an organization that does not show empathy. A recent report on workplace empathy reveals mixed results in this area. Employees are nearly unanimous in agreeing on the importance of empathy—yet 92% feel empathy remains undervalued. Moreover, while 92% of CEOs feel their organization is empathetic, only 50% of their employees say their CEO is empathetic.

Engagement is an important HR variable for the majority of organisations. It helps enable your organisation to deliver superior performance and to gain a competitive advantage. With today's increased competition for top-notch talent and the huge costs to retrain new staff, engagement becomes more important than ever. Most importantly, engaged employees are happier, both at work and in their lives. When you’re engaged, it infuses everything you do with purpose, energy, and enthusiasm.

 This article is written by Manish Gupta, Director, Liferay India