5 Reasons Why Employee Engagement is Vital: Examples and Experiences

Employee engagement is an essential pillar in the long-term success of any organization. No matter the industry you’re in or how long you’ve been in the decision-making echelon in your company, you know and understand that engaged and motivated employees can make or break your business.

Engaged employees are more likely to be productive, satisfied, and loyal, leading to higher profits and better customer satisfaction, not to mention high talent retention. 

That’s why today we’ll talk about the reasons why employee engagement is important, how to properly engage your employees, and then we’ll sprinkle in some helpful examples from popular brands to put things into perspective.

Ready, set, let’s go.

Elevated Employee Productivity 

First, there’s no denying that engaged employees are more productive. Productivity leads to better outcomes and tasks done on time, which leads to higher profits.

A study by Gallup found that highly engaged teams had a 21% increase in profitability compared to teams with low engagement levels. Engaged employees are more committed to their work, take ownership of their responsibilities, and go above and beyond to meet organizational goals and objectives.

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Sounds good, doesn’t it? 

In order to improve productivity, you need to teach your employees how to have a productive day in and out of work. While also supporting their individual needs as a company. Here’s how Zappos, an online shoe and clothing retailer, does it.

Zappos is known for its highly engaged workforce. The company offers employee perks like free food, nap rooms, and fitness classes to keep employees happy and engaged. As a result, Zappos maintains high levels of productivity and customer satisfaction.

With HR Cloud, you can use the Workmates, Time Off and Time Clock tools to manage your employees’ productivity and performance efficiently and effectively. Use the Workmates software, for example, to gather feedback, elevate internal communication and drive engagement through recognition and rewards.

Better Employee Retention

Retaining top talent has become a huge challenge nowadays, regardless of the industry or size of the business. Simply put, the top-talented employees have plenty of job opportunities in the remote and local markets, while the prospect of fair compensation is but a single piece of the retention puzzle.

Yes, money matters, but so do other perks and group employee benefits you provide, along with organizational values, fit, and culture. The more you provide, the more engaged they are, and engaged employees are more likely to stay with the company, reducing turnover costs.

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Focusing on ensuring the right cultural fit over the long term, as well as ample opportunity for career advancement and employee development, are all great ways to retain talented and ambitious employees. Conduct pulse surveys regularly to identify their career goals and personal needs to improve and optimize your retention efforts.

Google is a great example of this. The brand is famous for its employee engagement initiatives, including free meals, on-site gyms, and massages. These perks have helped the company maintain a low turnover rate and retain top talent over the years - and it didn’t hurt their PR, either.

With HR Cloud’s Workmates and Recognition tools, you can connect your teams and empower them with the right resources and workflows, while providing meaningful work that will keep them engaged. You can use the Recognition tool to create truly engaging rewards that will make your employees feel seen and appreciated in your company. 

Improved Customer Satisfaction

Engaged employees directly impact your bottom line, making it one of the top reasons why investing in higher employee engagement should be a priority in 2023. High employee engagement leads to better customer service, in turn leading to higher customer satisfaction levels.

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When your employees are involved in your company’s culture, values, and goals, they not only provide better customer service, they are also better at representing the brand’s identity to the customer. In other words, they’re more inclined to follow brand style guidelines on all communication channels, ensuring brand consistency and customer satisfaction. 

You can keep your customer-facing employees engaged through employee training and development that focuses on their career goals and aspirations, but also by implementing software solutions that will make their jobs easier. Allow them to focus on complex tasks by automating repetitive customer-facing processes to free up their mental space over the long term.

For example, The Ritz-Carlton hotel chain is known for its commitment to employee engagement, with the aim to provide a better service to their guests. The company provides extensive training and empowerment programs to its employees, leading to high levels of customer satisfaction and repeat business.

Through HR Cloud’s suite of tools that boost employee productivity and performance, you can directly impact your bottom line in a positive way. Employees that work in a well-connected, efficient environment and are empowered with the right tools will provide a better service and experience to your customers, leading to better customer acquisition and retention. 

Increased Company Innovation

Innovation is the driving force behind organizational growth and success, because simply put, you can’t expect to stay ahead of the competition without continuous innovation. It’s a fast-paced business world, and the consumer trends, needs, and habits are constantly changing and evolving. 

This is where employee engagement can make all the difference for your business, as engaged employees are more likely to be creative and innovative, leading to new ideas surfacing and innovative products hitting the market. But it’s not just about inspiring innovation through engagement - it’s about capturing and capitalizing on the momentum.

Once you have achieved a high level of engagement, and you notice the spark of innovation kicking in, you need to support that process and empower your employees. Consider their goals during the brainstorming processes, and use an app for tracking goals to capture all ideas and how they’re progressing - not just at work, but when they’re brainstorming off-work as well. 

Be tech-savvy in your approach to innovation, and always focus on capturing fresh ideas before they’re forgotten.

A great example here is 3M, a global science company, that encourages employee engagement through its "15% rule," which allows employees to spend up to 15% of their time on personal projects. This policy has led to numerous innovations, including Post-It notes and waterproof sandpaper.

This is another great way to use HR Cloud’s Time Clock and Workmates tools, as they allow you to easily allocate time for individual innovation and personal projects, while monitoring everything on a centralized dashboard. You can then capture these ideas and projects, and use HR Cloud to help bring them to fruition. 

Improved Health and Safety 

Engaged employees are more likely to follow safety procedures and take care of their health, reducing accidents and injuries in the workplace. Likewise, companies that focus on improving engagement are also more likely to prevent work absence, as people are more motivated to show up every day.

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You need to not only educate your employees and have a concrete OSHA-approved health and safety policy in place, but you need to take a proactive approach to mental health in the workplace. Mental health is one of the most important factors that will affect your retention rate, employee productivity, and the long-term well-being of the individual.

It’s important to extend this program to your remote workers, which will attract top talent and retain your best remote workers. When you’re looking to hire a virtual assistant, a long-term freelancer, or to add a remote developer to your team, don’t look at them as external collaborators. They are integral parts of your team that require the same level of care as any other employee.

Johnson & Johnson is a good example, as the company has a comprehensive approach to employee health and well-being. They offer programs that address physical, mental, and emotional health. The company provides employees with access to on-site health clinics, fitness centers, and healthy eating options. 

They also offer resources for mental health, including counseling services and support groups. 

The company's commitment to employee health and well-being has paid off, with a low employee turnover rate and high job satisfaction levels. In fact, Johnson & Johnson has consistently been recognized as a top employer by organizations such as Fortune and Forbes.

HR Cloud is also committed to helping you build and nurture a safer workplace for every employee in your organization. Use our People, Perform, and Workmates solutions to capture essential employee information, conduct employee surveys and gather feedback, and leverage key data points to ensure workplace health and safety for all.

Over to You

Without a doubt, investing in employee engagement is one of the best decisions you can make for your business in 2023 and beyond. Not only do engaged employees tend to stick around longer, but they bring substantially more value to the company than their unmotivated counterparts. 

Now that you know why it’s important and how to do it right, go ahead and make employee engagement a priority this year to take your company to new heights of success.

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Author Bio:

This article is written by a marketing team member at HR Cloud. HR Cloud is a leading provider of proven HR solutions, including recruiting, onboarding, employee communications & engagement, and rewards & recognition. Our user-friendly software increases employee productivity, delivers time and cost savings, and minimizes compliance risk.