Let’s Engage Our Employees
Employee engagement can be defined as “a heightened emotional connection that an employee feels for his or her organization, that influences him or her to exert greater discretionary effort to his or her work.” There have been many studies on the benefit of employee engagement. According to a Gallup study, 54% of employees are disengaged, 17% are actively disengaged, and only 29% can be considered as engaging their time and talents. Engaged employees have been shown to willingly contribute their time, talents and abilities to the success of an organization. They not only commit to achieving a company’s goals, engaged employees often, at their own volition, extend their discretionary effort to go above and beyond their management’s acceptable performance standards.
Gallup’s research also revealed how disengaged employees adversely impact a company’s performance and profits. According to the research findings disengaged employees result in 27% more absenteeism, 31% more turnover, 51% less effective and 62% more accidents. Stephen Covey, in his book “The Speed of Trust,” indicated that these numbers conservatively cost American businesses between $250 billion and $350 billion annually.
Now for the good news. The research findings also reported that engaged employees account for 12% higher customer satisfaction scores, 18% higher productivity, 12% higher profitability and 17% higher earnings per share. How do organizations capitalize on these results? There are many drivers but the strongest of all is the performance of leaders which carries the most influence on the actions, behaviors and, ultimately, the engagement of employees.
The responsibility for engaging employees falls squarely on DSI’s Management team. Fortunately, there are a few low cost, low tech and high touch ways that our manager’s can build higher levels of engagement into DSI’s organizational culture.
• Show that you care about your employees. On a regular basis, demonstrate a sincere interest in them not only as a person but in their health and safety.
• Demonstrate genuine interest in their development. Improve engagement by demonstrating a sincere interest in your employees’ professional growth and development. Consider engaging in frequent, structured and realistic discussions about their development interests and plans.
• Recognize achievements. Simply offering genuine praise and low-cost recognition earns higher levels of engagement. Praise and recognize employees whenever their behavior or actions tie into your organization’s goals and desired results. However, make sure the recognition offered holds specific meaning for the individual.
Ultimately, you must keep in mind that our officers are DSI’s greatest assets. Their collective ideas, feedback and enthusiasm for what they do can help DSI grow and succeed. Some people are naturally wired to give their all and do their best no matter where they work. But the majority of people require the guidance of skilled managers who welcome their ideas, ask for feedback and generate enthusiasm in order to have a sense of purpose and energy about what they do.
