Economics of Engagement

For employers in today’s economic environment, it is vastly important to keep employees engaged and motivated towards the company’s goals.  According to Schweyer, “Employee disengagement is estimated to cost the US economy as much as 350 billion dollars per year in lost productivity, accidents, theft and turnover.”  Engagement is not only important to the economy and to businesses, but also to society as work influences all aspects of life.

What employee engagement comes down to is the emotional commitment to the organization.  A study by Gallup in 2008 shows that 54% of employees in the U.S. are not engaged and another 17% are disengaged.  Only 29% of American employees are engaged.

Engaged employees are more productive and efficient.  They communicate – creating a work environment of shared ideas, which leads to better performance, greater innovation and happier customers.

What does having engaged employees mean for a business?

• 84% of highly engaged employees believe they can positively impact the quality of their company’s products, compared with 31% of disengaged
• 72% of highly engaged believe they can positively affect customer service, versus 27% of disengaged
• 68% of highly engaged believe they can positively impact costs in their job or unit, versus 19% of disengaged

One important factor that must exist for employee engagement to happen is positive relationship with the company.  Three relationships are most valuable in this measure:  employee to management, employees to their job/company and employees to other employees.

Today the American workforce has less than one-third of employees that can be considered “engaged.”  For both employee and customer engagement to “be high and stay high, an organization needs a solid culture and value system that supports the ingredients necessary for engagement,” says Schweyer.  In the near future engagement may become more than just an important asset.  “An engaged workforce will be a matter of survival.”

Find out how FUSION can help you keep your employees engaged with the FUSION Solutions.

Reference:  Schweyer, Allan.  “The Economics of Engagement.”  Human Capital Institute, June 2009.