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In a recent Gallup Poll, a staggering 66% of employees are neither engaged nor inspired or worse, actively disengaged at work. Thankfully, the number of engaged and inspired workers is on the rise and sits at the all-time high of 34%, meaning for the 13% of actively disengaged workers in any given business, the fully engaged ones outnumber them almost 3 – 1. The remaining 53% are in the “not engaged” tier and are satisfied generally speaking but have no real connection to their work or workplace so will quickly take another opportunity for a slightly better offer. 

That 66% overall is estimated to cost $450-$550 billion in lost productivity per year. Unengaged employees are more likely to call in sick, make workplace mistakes, have workplace accidents, and leave for other opportunities resulting in expensive turnover repercussions. 

While those figures may seem overwhelming, improving employee engagement can help reduce this financial impact. Any organization that can increase its engagement will see less loss due to this phenomenon. 

Follow these three simple steps to foster employee engagement and decrease your financial impact.

1-    Leadership.

Engaged employees have great leaders. Leaders that foster a sense of excitement and know how to motivate employees to perform at peak levels. These leaders tend to have a greater rapport with their team and because of their efforts to make work a more enjoyable place, their team works harder and happier for them. Steven Taylor, a director at an international IT company, credits his servant leadership style for helping make team engagement a success. His motto, “How can I help?” has been praised by his current and former reports. He believes that when people know you care as much as they do about their career goals and aspirations and are always there to help them create new avenues to reach them, they will become engaged and work hard because they know they aren’t alone in the process of achieving their dreams.

2-    Build Real Relationships.

No room for inauthenticity here. Taylor claims to know all of his team’s kids by name and spouses. He knows what’s going on in their lives outside of work when things are tough, and he always offers to help. Because he believes that it’s important to take care of oneself, one’s family, and then one’s career. All of his team members know he makes the time to really get to know them and to ensure the relationships that matter most to them are valued at work as well. Because of this, he also creates an important work/life balance for all his team. He appreciates their efforts and dedication and they appreciate his support and encouragement. It creates a balance that most employees and managers should strive for.

3-    Play to Their Strengths.

When asked, Taylor says he values a well-rounded team over a well-rounded individual. He chooses his team based on their individual strengths and ensures they fill a role in the entire team that makes the team as a whole more well-rounded and therefore successful. “It’s really important to know your people. For me, understanding how people communicate and their strengths vs. areas where they might struggle, gives me the opportunity to help them grow and succeed. They gain confidence, experience, and have my full support as they move along their pathway to success. I love nothing more than seeing my people succeed and move forward in their career. I cannot stress it enough; take the time to know your people. Invest time in them and they will invest time in their career.”

With the current downward trend of disengaged employees, there is no time like the present to learn engagement skills. Contact us today to learn about the opportunities we have to train leaders how to make their workplace more engaging. Success begins with great leadership and we train great leaders.