A Gallup Business Journal article states that “only about one-third of U.S. workers are engaged at work and just 13% of employees worldwide are engaged.” That’s a problem – especially since engagement has a direct effect on business results. Compared to their less engaged counterparts, companies that rank high for employee engagement are:
- 21% more profitable
- 17% more productive
- have 10% better customer ratings
- experience 41% less absenteeism and
- suffer 70% fewer safety incidents
So how do you create engagement? Leadership communication is key.
Research shows a culture where leaders demonstrate trust, fairness and open communication are most effective at attracting and retaining top talent.
Where to start? Bite off one big initiative at a time. Here are five tips from Aon on how to build a strong culture of engagement:
- How You Operate: Reduce frustration…people want work that is enabled by the right resources and tools. Set them up for success. Make sure employees have what they need to get their jobs done — equipment, training, tools and resources, and a clear understanding of the task, the process and expectations.
- How You Communicate: Create a magnetic employer brand that attracts and motivates. Do you have an employee value proposition? Does your communication strategy embody your organization’s values and mission/vision? Do employees understand and connect with your strategy? Do you use your external marketing messages internally? Do you use storytelling to inspire and motivate?
- How You Compensate and Acknowledge: Pay and recognize people in alignment with individual and company performance.
- How You Develop: Build a clear path and options for horizontal or vertical growth.
- How You Strengthen Relationships: Provide opportunities and feedback that enables talent to grow and develop. What can you do – within your team – to enable productivity by making sure people have the tools and resources to get the work done? How can you connect your work with the strategy and business outcomes? How can you provide strengthen your team by providing feedback and opportunities for open conversation?
Every organization is different. Where would you start? What are you hearing and seeing? If you’d like to start a conversation on where you would start, contact me at kerrigan@on-the-same-page.com.
