In today’s global interconnected economy, almost any company anywhere has access to the same raw materials, the same processes and the same online resources.  So what can set one competitor apart from another?  The answer: its people!  The one thing that can separate one competitor from another is highly engaged employees who bring extra effort to their work resulting in increased innovation, higher productivity and delivering better customer service.

Additionally, what is normally the largest or second largest expense on most companies’ income statements?  It’s people cost!  Yet amazingly, corporate executives spend hours and days at a time trying to squeeze a little additional profit by increasing inventory turns, elongating their time of paying out accounts payable or finding slightly cheaper raw material, yet practically ignore making one of their most expensive investments more effective – their people.

Over the past two decades, employees “checking out” has been a frequent topic of discussion in HR journals.  One consultant, speaker and leadership coach Rich Schlentz loves to quip, “Your Employees Have Quit – They Just Haven’t Left.”  He is referring to employees staying on the job putting in just the bare minimum effort to avoid getting fired.  An increasing number of US employees are dissatisfied with their jobs and plan to look for a new job each time the economy is on an upswing.  With this kind of mindset, these employees are far from peak productivity.

This leads us into the discussion around employee engagement.  Engagement is the emotional commitment the employee has to the organization and it goals, often resulting in willingness to volunteer discretionary effort.

In a recent presentation to a local HR networking group I attend, Rich Schlentz, Founder and Chief Enthusiasm Officer at EXTRAordinary! Inc. provided some very compelling statistics and why employee engagement is so critical to business success:
• Engaged employees average 27% less absenteeism than those who are disengaged.
• Workgroups with lower engagement average 62% more accidents.
• Higher levels of team engagement equate to 12% higher customer satisfaction score.
• Engaged teams average 18% higher productivity and 12% higher profitability.

Employee productivity, which can lead to organizational success and a renewed economy, is at its maximum when employees are truly passionately engaged. The results we should be aiming for in terms of passionate employees are people who are empowered, entrepreneurial, authentic and leaders.

Unfortunately, the continued (and often exclusive) emphasis on short term earnings and current quarter results often and easily spreads into decisions around employee management and investment. The short term view of employees is that they are temporary resources that we engage to deliver a certain defined service. When that service is no longer needed, the employee is expendable. Employees are viewed as short term transactions.  Instead, leaders need to view their employees as a long term investment to engage in such a way they offer their very best to the organization.

What are various ways corporate leaders can increase the engagement of their employees?

• Help every employee understand how their specific role has an impact on achieving the organization’s mission and goals.  When an employee understands that their job is important, critical and valued, they gain a sense of fulfilment and self-worth which will lead to them more diligently executing their role.
• Invest in their development and growth.  Almost all employees, especially in the younger generations, want to continue to grow as people and learn new skills.  Invest in a variety of career and skills building tools and offerings for your employees to demonstrate that you value them as long term important resources.
• Listen to your people.  Provide various ways for your employees to provide feedback including roundtables with senior leaders and using employee engagement surveys.  And after holding an employee engagement survey, quickly share results with employees including actions plans to address weaker areas to demonstrate that you take employee feedback seriously.
• Provide employee incentives and benefits that are meaningful to your employees.  And it does not need to always be in cash and monetary bonuses.  Offering cool experiences, extra time off, contributing to a nonprofit that an employees is active in, even a simple “thank you” card with a personal note and voucher for a dinner for two shows employees that you value them.

Bottom line, engaged employees can be the one differentiator in breaking away from the competition and winning in the marketplace.  Consider serious investment in this critical organizational resource.