What is Employee Engagement and Why It Is Important?

Employee engagement is a commonly circulated term around the staffing and human resources sector. There are multiple definitions available for describing an engaged employee. Some people might say an engaged employee is enthusiastic, whereas some define it as a happy employee.

What is Employee Engagement? 

In general, an engaged employee can be described as someone who is committed to the company’s work activities, goals, and values. An engaged employee is involved in all work activities proactively, not only because of the salary but invested emotionally in company activities. 

It’s not easy to have all employees engaged at your organization, and it requires hard work and dedication from the HR leaders and the senior management. Employee engagement helps in retention and boosts productivity within the organization. Disengaged employees contribute to increased turnover, and also affect company growth. 

So it’s essential to ensure employee engagement in your organization. You need to nurture your existing and new employees to engage them. There are several benefits to employee engagement, which you can read about below. 

5 Reasons Why Employee Engagement is Important

1) Employee Retention 

Engaged employees will always be dedicated and committed to their work and responsibilities. Because of that, the chances of them leaving the organization are minimal. If your most skilled and highest performing employees are not engaged, they will be on the lookout for other jobs and a more satisfying experience. When they leave, you lose a mighty warrior from your army. It will affect the overall performance of that particular team and associated teams. 

If your organization is struggling with a low retention rate, consider planning activities for employee engagement. When some of the best performing people leave, others will also notice that. As a result, they will also look for other opportunities. That will hit you harder, and it’s not at all suitable for any firm. So it’s crucial to ensure employee engagement to increase your retention rates. 

2) Productivity and Company Growth 

Engaged employees love their job and the organization. They make sure to do everything to accelerate company growth and their professional growth inside the organization. They will have an emotional attachment to their work activities, and it will undoubtedly result in increased productivity. 

Smart HR leaders quickly identify this change and invest more in employee engagement. This helps them to scale their operations and produce better results. Reports suggest that engaged employees are significantly more productive than disengaged employees. So, if you aim to increase your team productivity and company growth, start focusing on employee engagement. 

3) Customer Satisfaction

Engaged employees always handle customers with the utmost care and interest. That will result in a positive attitude towards the customers. It positively impacts the company’s appearance before the customers, and customers will undoubtedly notice that positivity. Engaged employees interact efficiently with the customers and make the best sales pitches. It will increase the number of closures and customer satisfaction.  

4) Innovation and Loyalty 

Engaged employees don’t work only for money; they do it for their satisfaction and affection to the organization. They will be ready to do innovative things to contribute to the company’s growth and team performance. They will always consider the organization as their own and devote all their skills and knowledge to it. 

A company with the most innovative team members is the best in the market. That’s why the most innovative companies like Apple, Microsoft, and Netflix, focus more on employee engagement. The engaged workforce will act as the mainline advocates of their firm. They will be loyal to the organization and live with its values and culture. 

5) More Profitable 

There is no doubt that engaged employees are more profitable for the company as all of the above benefits drive profitability in organizations. An important study by Wyatt Watson reveals that companies with highly engaged employees have 26 percent higher employee productivity than others. 

Reducing the turnover of employees will also help your organization to avoid the costs of hiring new employees. Furthermore, engaged employees work to produce more results for the team, resulting in better outcomes and faster project completions. That will certainly make the company more profitable.