What affects employee engagement?

High levels of employee engagement have long been associated with improved business performance, including higher retention rates, higher productivity and lower absenteeism.

What is employee engagement?

Employee engagement can be defined as the level of commitment and enthusiasm that employees show toward the company. Engagement should not be confused with job satisfaction, which is only a measure of how satisfied employees are with their jobs. Employees can be satisfied with their duties and working conditions and yet not feel engaged in the workplace. On the other hand, employees can feel engaged at work, but at the same time be dissatisfied with their current position.

1. trust towards the company

Trust between employers and their employees is one of the key elements of employee engagement. If your employees don't place their trust in the company, it can be difficult, if not impossible, to build any meaningful engagement.

2. effective leadership

The right leadership within a company is critical to influencing engagement in the workplace. Managers often have the most direct contact with your employees, and can either foster workplace engagement among them or hinder it.

3. safe work environment

A safe work environment promotes engagement among employees, and high levels of workplace engagement can significantly reduce workplace accidents. Studies have shown that employees who are not engaged in the workplace are injured 60% more often than their engaged colleagues. As is well known, safety problems in the workplace can result in increased turnover, higher costs, lost productivity and reduced job satisfaction.

4. improving employee experience

Many employers mistakenly believe that employee engagement and employee experience are one and the same. The truth is quite different. The employee experience is the journey an employee takes from the time they first make contact with a company (when they apply for a position) to the time they leave. While employee engagement should be a key component of the employee experience, it is not a specific process, direction or timeframe.

5. investing in personal development

Engagement is a two-way process. If you want your employees to be engaged with the company, the company must be engaged with the employees. Employees who are already engaged want to know if their companies offer them professional development and training opportunities within the company.