Nationally, only 3 of 10 employees are engaged at work, are yours?

Employee engagement, or those employees who are involved in, enthusiastic about, and committed to their work and contribute to their organization in a positive manner, is the lifeblood of a success business organization.Engaged employees come up with the most of the innovative ideas, create most of a company's new customers, and have the most entrepreneurial energy. Companies with highly engaged employees have significantly higher productivity, profitability, and customer ratings, less turnover and absenteeism, and fewer safety incidents than those with less engaged employees.Disengaged employees, on the other hand, are more likely to steal from their companies, negatively influence their coworkers, miss workdays, and drive customers away.So it's no wonder that companies in all industries and of all sizes regularly measure engagement or should.Recently, Gallup released the latest findings of it's American Workplace Study that shows 70% of American workers are "not engaged" or "actively disengaged" and are emotionally disconnected from their workplaces. The ratio of engaged to actively disengaged employees is roughly 2-to-1, meaning the vast majority of U.S. workers are not reaching their full potential. While generations at the beginning and approaching the end of their careers tend to be more engaged, those in the middle of their careers are the least.Sadly, only 41% of employees felt that they know what their company stands for and what makes its brand different from its competitor's brands. What is even more troubling is that engagement levels among service employees -- those on the frontlines serving YOUR customers -- are among the lowest of any occupation, and has declined in recent years.[gap height="20"]Why should you measure engagement?Extensive research shows that engagement is strongly connected to business outcomes essential to an organization's financial success, including the continued loyalty of the companies best and most profitable customers.We advise our clients that engagement, when measured regularly and benchmarked against national standards, will radically improve their corporate culture and institutionalize best business practices, foster mentor-ship of newer employees, and create a 'customer-focused' environment. After measuring, we help our clients weave employee engagement into performance expectations for managers and enable them to execute on those expectations. Our most successful clients make employee engagement part of their formal review process, and most use these improvements as a criterion for promotion.From a corporate culture prospective, our client's managers learn to discuss employee engagement elements at weekly meetings, impact planning sessions with employees and implement engagement best practices into daily interactions and activities. Managers also learn that every interaction with an employee has the potential to influence his or her engagement and inspire discretionary effort.Keep in mind that when a company asks its employees for their opinions, they expect action to follow.[gap height="20"]So, how engaged are your employees and when was the last time you measured engagement?Winning new customers and keeping existing ones, and gaining a bigger share of the marketplace begins with winning the hearts and minds of your employees. If you're ready to implement proven employee engagement strategies for your business, give us a call. We're here to help.