If you asked us what has the power to transform long-term business success, without a doubt we would choose employee engagement. When employees feel engaged at work, they are willing to do more and go above and beyond to make things happen. When employees look forward to going to work each day the difference in their lives and the success of your organisation can be immense.
How far an employee will go for a business depends how engaged they feel at work. To bring this to life, let’s take a look at the two extremes of the engagement spectrum.
Colin’s missing employee engagement story
Meet Colin. He gets up in the morning, makes his way to work, and goes through the motions. The only thing he looks forward to at the end of the month is his payslip, and he believes even that doesn’t reflect his eight long, gruelling years of service and contributions. Over the years, Colin has been overlooked and ground down at work, to the extent that he now feels completely demoralised. His manager takes little interest in him and his career, and he gets no thanks or recognition for his work. He gains no satisfaction or sense of achievement from it anyway. Colin’s daily aim is to get through the bare minimum and leave as soon as the clock strikes 5pm. His peers feel much the same.
Where Colin works, development opportunities are rare. He’s been in the same role for several years and has started to think about looking for a new role elsewhere. He doubts he’ll be missed if he leaves and thinks a fresh start would be good for him and his mental wellbeing.
Sophie’s high employee engagement story
Now meet Sophie. Sophie loves her job and her employer – so much that she can’t imagine a career anywhere but here. She’s confident she’ll still be working for the same business in five years’ time because there’s so much going on and so many opportunities for her and her colleagues to make a difference.
Sophie feels a real emotional connection to her work because her manager explains exactly how she has an impact on the future success of the business. Because of this, she feels a genuine sense of belonging to her team and she’s willing to go the extra mile in her role. So much that she’s won a recognition award for a project she managed. Sophie talks to her family and friends enthusiastically about her employer and often shares their job vacancies on her social media feeds because it’s such a rewarding place to work.
During her eight years with the business, Sophie has worked her way up to a team leader position thanks to positive encouragement from her manager and support from her colleagues and the training and development team. With their backing she feels like she can go even further in her career. She enjoys socialising with her team and volunteering alongside them to make a difference in their local community.
These are two hypothetical scenarios, yet not uncommon employee mindsets in UK workplaces. There is still much more employers can be doing to improve culture and employee experience to have a positive effect on people engagement. Gallup’s State of the Global Workforce report 2023 found that UK employees are some of the most disengaged in Europe, ranking 33 out of 38 countries. Just 10% of employees said they were engaged with their work and workplace.
Creating a positive culture with strong engagement
The ultimate aim for every employer should be to create a positive culture where every individual can thrive and achieve their personal and professional goals. When employees feel supported and have opportunities to develop, this leads to stronger levels of engagement. Giving your people the tools and resources they need to grow and be productive really can lead to business success. Here’s why…
When employees feel strongly engaged with their employer, they are:
Happy
When an employee is happy, content and motivated in their work and outlook, they are less likely to be absent through sickness. Happiness produces positive endorphins that reduce stress and make us feel good about ourselves. Anger on the other hand, has the opposite effect. The Gallup report referenced above found there to be a four point increase in employees feeling angry at work. We’re pretty sure Colin is feeling angry too.
Happiness leads to…
Improved health and wellbeing
Highly engaged employees tend to work for companies and leaders that value and care for their health and wellbeing. The Gallup report found that almost 4 in 10 UK employees experience some form of daily stress at work. This means that a significant proportion of colleagues aren’t mentally, emotionally or physically prepared for work. When this happens people are less likely to feel able to bring their whole self to work or do their best when they are there.
When employees feel strongly engaged with their employer, they are:
More productive
Happy, healthy, motivated colleagues tend to be more productive than their less engaged colleagues. Productivity is more than a measure of the volume of work completed, it’s about having the freedom to be creative, collaborate and share ideas. This means companies with higher engagement tend to be more innovative than their competitors.
More committed
Engaged employees will look to their current employer for career development opportunities instead of seeking roles externally. A stable, secure workforce allows for continuity, experience, development and business growth, not to mention financial savings on recruitment and attraction.
This all combines to create to a feeling of…
Pride at work
Having a sense of pride at work means colleagues look forward to going to work each day. They come to work with the intention of doing their very best and feel a responsibility to deliver, believing that they can make a difference to the future of the business. When employees feel pride and satisfaction at work they are also more likely to recommend their company to others as a great place to work.
When all of aspects of the employee experience come together, it makes for a high-performing, more profitable and successful business.
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