High employee engagement leads to higher productivity, higher job satisfaction, more sales, and higher revenue. When your employees are actively engaged in the workplace, they feel happier and ready to go above and beyond to achieve your company’s goals.
Now the question is: Are you doing everything you can to engage your employees and maximize their potential?
To learn more, check out our complete employee engagement guide to get the rundown of things: employee engagement surveys, software, ideas, and more!
Stat 1: 85% of people are not engaged at work
According to Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace report, only 15% of employees are engaged in the workplace. This means that the majority of the workforce around the world are either viewing their workplace negatively or only doing the bare minimum to make it through the day, with little to no attachment.
Compared to companies overseas like in Europe, only 10% of employees are engaged at work. In the United Kingdom, employee engagement is as low as 8% with a steady decline. So, it’s safe to say that a lack of employee engagement ideas and activities is commonly understood by folks around the world. That’s where employee engagement softwares and tools come in handy to gauge your teams.
Stat 2: 81% of people are actively looking for other opportunities
According to a 2017 Hays study, 81% of employees would consider leaving their jobs for another opportunity even if they aren’t looking for another job. While job-hopping has become more common, it’s not always about the money.
The same Hays report found that 74% of employees would accept a pay cut for a more positive work environment and about 23% of those looking for a job wouldn't require a pay increase to accept a new position.
Stat 3: Low engagement costs $450-500 billion each year
According to a study by the Conference Board, disengaged employees cost the company about $450 to $550 billion each year. Another study undertaken by factoHR.com identified that about 35% of the employees feel disengaged due to less challenging tasks, followed by extra working hours (34%), unrecognized hard work (32%), dissatisfaction in the company (30%), and boredom (23%). When there’s low employee engagement, people tend to take less responsibility and ownership of their work, behavior, and motivation.
Stat 4: Companies with highly engaged people are 21% more profitable
Now compared to the other side, highly engaged workers make companies more money. According to a Gallup report, companies that scored the highest on employee engagement showed 21% more profits. And companies with highly engaged employees, this also increases productivity by over 17%.
Successful organizations focus on employee engagement by ensuring all employees have the best knowledge and employee engagement strategies and tools available to perform their jobs as well as possible. Not to mention, leaders who ensure their teams know what is expected of them and offer support throughout their professional development.
Stat 5: Positive company culture increases revenue by 4X
According to a Forbes longitudinal study, companies that had the best cultures encouraged all-around leadership initiatives and appreciated their teams grew their revenue by 682%. Compared to companies that chose not to prioritize employee engagement, they only grew by 166%.
This means that a thriving company culture leads to more than four times higher revenue growth. Company culture and employee engagement go hand-in-hand and organizations that prioritize employee engagement will see the benefits of increased revenue.
Stat 6: 37% of people would like to be recognized for their work
According to an O.C.Tanner study, researchers asked employees what would be the most important thing company could do that would help you succeed. About 37% of participants said public praise and recognition would be the best method of support.
When it came to delivering positive feedback, about 43% of people preferred to receive recognition in a private setting. While 10% would prefer public recognition and 9% would prefer privately in written form, according to a Redballon survey.
However you decide to praise your team, you need to make sure that your employees feel heard and valued. The key takeaway: Recognition leads to increased motivation and self-confidence at work.
Stat 7: 29% of people are happy with their career progression
According to the 2017 SHRM Employee Job Satisfaction and Engagement report, only 29% of employees are "very satisfied" with current career advancement opportunities available to them at their organization.
Nowadays, when it comes to professional development on the job, millennials and Gen-Zs prioritize career progression when accepting job offers, according to a Gallup survey. The importance of professional development to employee engagement is incomparable to other facets of the role. It’s time that organizational leaders provide tools and resources to support their employees’ professional development.
