Study: Investing in Employee Engagement Pays Off
They are invested, forward thinking, self-starting, responsible, and go the extra mile. Engaged employees constitute one of the most import factors for company success and recent studies confirm that they lead to profitability and productivity.
Full Speed Ahead With Engaged Employees
As it involves other elements such as motivation, company culture, and satisfaction, engagement can be hard to define.Simply stated, Employee Engagement means a team member’s connection with and investment in company and mission.This, in turn, influences their willingness to contribute and produce. A recent study from the consulting firm Aon Hewitt confirms that the investment in Employee Engagement doesn’t just sound nice, but indeed pays off. For every 5 points of improved Employee Engagement, companies experienced 3% better revenue.
Engaged employees are more motivated, give their all to projects, and develop new, innovative ideas. They optimize office processes and work proactively, all together driving a better and more productive workplace. The full potential of a team is unleashed when employees don’t just understand what they need to do, but truly believe in it.
Worldwide Improvement in Employee Engagement
For their study “Trends in Global Employee Engagement,” Aon Hewitt surveyed over 8 million employees from more than 1000 companies in 60 different branches. The results show a positive trend: In comparison to the previous year, the rate of engaged employees rose 2% in 2017. But even with this good news, there are still kinks to be worked out.
The study showed:
Engagement by year
| 2016 | 2017 |
|---|---|
| 63% engaged | 65% engaged |
| 24% actively engaged | 27% actively engaged |
| 22% disengaged | 21% disengaged |
| 15% actively disengaged | 14% actively disengaged |
Engagement by region
| Region | Engagement |
|---|---|
| Latin America | 75% (-) |
| Africa | 66% (^) |
| Asia Pacific | 65% (^) |
| North America | 64% (-) |
| Europe | 60% (^) |
Not only is the state of engagement important, but the direction of progress. Even though it’s at the bottom, Europe is steadily increasing, along with Africa and Asia Pacific, while North America and Latin America have leveled off, showing that Employee Engagement is always a work in progress and needs constant adaptation and innovation.
Top 5 Engagement Drivers
There is no one-size-fits-all solution to Employee Engagement woes. The study does, however, provide main drivers that strongly influence engagement.
The top 5 are:
- “Rewards & Recognition”
- “Senior Leadership”
- “Career Opportunities”
- “Employee Value Proposition”
- “Enabling Infrastructure”
Engaged Employees, Positive Profits
The insights provided by Aon Hewitt show a direct connection between Employee Engagement and company earnings. Employers that invest in their employees and engagement see great returns not only through better productivity, but through less fluctuation, turnover, and more happy customers.
