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Happy Days Are Here Again
There has been a steady stream of articles in recent years about the importance of employee engagement. I wrote my first story about this more than a decade ago. And I’ve written and read many more in the years since.
The common thread of most of these pieces is that many workers are not engaged in their work. These articles typically equate the importance of employee engagement to company success. And they offer tips on how companies can create more engaging environments for their workers.
Here are some stats and commentary from a couple of recent employee engagement articles.
This one, by Noreen Seebacher of Arke, suggests that employees want a sense of achievement, belonging, meaning, and purpose. And they want to be happy; that all makes sense.
She also offers up this data:
• More than 3 million of people here quit their jobs in October, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
• About 12 percent of employees leave their jobs voluntarily each year, according to the 2016 Human Capital Benchmarking study from the Society for Human Resource Management.
• Forty-four percent of millennials plan to leave their current employers within two years, according to Deloitte (News - Alert).
• Fifty-one percent of the U.S. workforce not engaged, according to Gallup. But those businesses with high employee engagement are 17 percent more productive and have 41 percent less absenteeism.
In another employee engagement piece, Mike Kappel, founder and CEO of Patriot (News - Alert) Software LLC, says businesses that want to improve employee engagement should provide training, do goal settling, acknowledge their employees, and help develop their people.
And a new article by Entrepreneur even suggests that corporate charity can inspire greater employee engagement.
“In organizing and offering charitable opportunities for employees,” the piece says, “companies can create strong traditions, which promote a sense of pride and ownership among employees.”
That may be true. But I would suggest that employee engagement is a very individualized thing because each employee is an individual.
I do agree that feeling like you know what you’re doing goes a long way in being happy on the job. So instruction on tasks and having someone who is available and helpful when you have questions is really important.
Encouraging employees to share their opinions, implementing their suggestions when they make sense, and recognizing them for that input is also something most workers would probably appreciate and gain satisfaction from.
And when you are presented with new but manageable challenges while having the opportunity to make more money, get an elevated title, and/or reap other benefits can also keep work life engaging.
Edited by Mandi Nowitz