Why Keeping Staff Engaged Matters

by Patrick Cataldo, Associate Dean for Executive Education

When they have a choice, do your employees make an extra effort to help your organization or company grow? In other words, are they engaged in their work—in your mission—and do they think about what they have to offer to the business rather than what they can get from it?

The filmmaker, comedian and well-known neurotic Woody Allen once said that "80 percent of success is showing up." Perhaps that was true 30 years ago, but it no longer applies. Today, "showing up" isn't even close to being enough. In our internationally competitive business environment, an organization needs dedicated individuals fully committed to its success.

In tough times, when companies are cutting costs, downsizing employees and finding ways to do more with less, retaining fully engaged employees is becoming a strategic imperative. According to the 2008 State of Employee Engagement survey conducted by Blessing White, a global leader in business consulting, fewer than one in three employees (29 percent) are fully engaged in their work while 19 percent are actually disengaged.

With news headlines like, "IBM to Cut U.S. Jobs, Expand in India," is it any wonder that all companies have to be concerned about managers and employees improving overall productivity? Prior to the early 1980s, companies offered what amounted to lifetime employment for worker dedication and loyalty. Times have changed. To deal with global competition and rising U.S. employment costs, companies had to take action to right size, downsize, and send jobs offshore. Once those corporate decisions were made, the contract with employees that included commitment was changed forever.

This new employment model forced high-caliber talent to leave organizations, with remaining employees reconsidering giving extra time and effort. Productivity, long a source of pride for the American work force, softened. Once businesses required something new, knowing that motivated and dedicated employees do more and get better results, we saw the emergence of the employee engagement movement.

Employee engagement poses many questions. Are employees giving "their all" to the business? Do they believe that their jobs have real value and are important? Do they show up for work enthusiastic about what they can do to make a meaningful contribution? Do they feel respected, valued, and appreciated? Do they step up when asked to do extra work? Do they want to stay with the organization and establish a career?

As an employer, if you can't answer "yes" to these questions, there is cause for concern. More importantly, as an employee, if you answered "no" to these questions, you must closely examine your long-term prospects with the organization.

An executive vice president and chief human resources officer for a financial services firm recently explained: "Employee engagement for us means assessing associate feedback in four basic categories: morale, working environment, learning and development, and retention. We have to determine whether our employer values match what employees view as their needs."

A majority of human resource professionals agree that to effectively address the engagement issue, a reliable measurement instrument is required. For example, Gallup, the research and consulting firm that has studied human nature and behavior for more than 70 years, created a feedback system called G12 that identifies and measures worker engagement. The results of their survey findings in multiple industries have shown a strong correlation between high survey scores and superior job performance.

So the challenge now is this: How do you reach the majority of employees who are not currently fully engaged in their jobs? If you can't afford a formal survey to help assess overall needs, gather employees and ask them what it will take to help them become passionate about driving revenue growth, lowering costs, increasing profits, and improving customer satisfaction. It is very important that you enter these meetings with an open mind. You may not like everything that you hear or be able to respond to all the suggestions you receive. However, you will find out what can be done to bring the employer value proposition more in line with worker expectations. A more engaged work force is likely to emerge, one that will produce better results for everyone.

This article originally appeared in the Centre Daily Times.