Why engagement is the key to business success - and how to encourage it at your organisation

Motivated and engaged workers take ownership of and deliver the organisation’s purpose. They have a deeper sense of pride in the work they deliver. Creating an engaged workforce will deliver personal rewards and benefits for the individual, but also rewards for the organisation in helping it to achieve its goals and strategy imperative.

No longer considered merely an intangible, immeasurable HR concept, ‘employee engagement’ is now widely accepted as a key driver of motivation, commitment and productivity in the workplace, and the link between an engaged workforce and business success is recognised across industries.

Yet according to data from Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace report, the UK is facing an engagement crisis. Just 11% of workers are ‘engaged’, with the rest either ‘not engaged’ (68%) or ‘actively disengaged’ (21%).[1] 

High rates of disengagement have a huge impact on productivity for several reasons. Disengaged employees are more likely to make mistakes, get distracted at work, have a higher rate of sickness absence, and complete tasks to a lower standard than their engaged colleagues. All of this reduces outputs across the company, and ultimately impacts your bottom line.

Furthermore, disengaged employees are more likely to leave. With the cost of replacing an employee estimated at anything from a fifth to a third of their salary, it’s no wonder that employers want to keep staff in post and performing at their best for as long as possible.[2]

So what is the solution?

The keystone of any modern engagement strategy should be the employee engagement platform. This serves as an aggregation point for employee benefits and can also act as an intranet / employee communications hub.

An organisation that provides an effective platform can:

• Maximise your employee lifetime value, resulting in better cost savings, improved engagement, and productivity.
• Improve performance by showing that you are a supportive and caring employer.
• Become more attractive as an employer to those looking for new opportunities and increase engagement among existing employees.
• Gain a competitive advantage within their industry by adapting to a changing workforce.
• Create a happier, healthier and more productive workforce where individuals have access to rewards they understand and are relevant to them.

Employee engagement platforms offer multiple touchpoints throughout the employee lifecycle, making them a key resource in your recruitment and retention strategy.

Want to find out more? Download our Employee Engagement report and find out:

• Checklist – what does a good employee engagement platform look like?
• Common problems with engagement programmes and how to overcome them
• How to reshape your engagement strategy in response to COVID-19 and the changing workforce

[1] Gallup, ‘State of the Global Workplace’ (2017), p.81. Accessed at https://www.gallup.com/workplace/257552/state-global-workplace-2017.aspx

[2] CIPD, Employee turnover and retention (21 Jul 2020). Accessed at https://www.cipd.co.uk/knowledge/strategy/resourcing/turnover-retention-factsheet