Knowing When It’s Time To Look At Employee Engagement

This continues our series on Employee Engagement by Jenna Reed.

Asking your employees to tell you what they really think about their job and your workplace can be unnerving.  What if they tell you they’d leave if the economy wasn’t so bad?  What if they tell you it feels like everyone is in crisis mode?  Those are certainly possibilities.  But they might also tell you that it’s a great place to work.  If you can overcome the fear of uncertainty, asking your employees what they think about your workplace may be the first step you take towards a more engaged and confident workforce.  So when is it time? 

• When you want to improve employee morale and organization performance
• When you want to improve communications
• When you want to reduce employee turnover
• When you want to improve product or service quality
• When you want to improve your operation
• When you want to know what your employees are thinking
• When you want greater profitability

And really – who doesn’t want these things?  Are you wondering why now?  Only about 26% of all employees are considered actively engaged.  The rest are either “retired on the job” or actively undermining the work of others. Want more? According to a recent study by Harris Interactive, about 54% of employees plan to look for other employment as the economy rebounds.  Enough of the scary stuff.  The truth is, asking the tough questions and taking appropriate action based on the knowledge they gain is what great employers do.  As a result, they are not just great employers; they are great organizations with better productivity, profitability and overall performance.

Jenna