The Value of Employee Engagement 

Did you know that highly engaged employees are 87% less likely to leave their companies?  

 A study of 64 organizations revealed that [1]: 

• Organizations with highly engaged employees achieved twice the annual net income compared to those whose employees lag on engagement. 
• 70% of U.S. workers are not engaged at work.  
• There is 2.5 times more revenue for companies with engaged employee’s vs competitors with low engagement levels. 

More than 9.5 million Americans were unemployed and looking for work in June of this year. With priorities shifting and changes in expectations of company benefits and policies regarding work/life balance, time off, and culture, retaining talent during labor shortages can seem like a daunting and expensive task.  

There are simple things in life everyone benefits from: culture, connection, and recognition. Three things that are very often forgotten in the world of business, where profits are a priority. Would you believe that highly engaged teams show a 21% increase in profitability compared to those that are not? 

Employee engagement is taking center stage in the business world with the goal of enhancing employees’ commitment and connection to the company. Employee engagement promotes retention of talent, fosters customer loyalty, and improves organizational performance and stakeholder value. Employee appreciation events are a great tool to engage, show your appreciation, and celebrate one of your companies most valuable assets.   

How to Build A Strong Company Culture  

By definition, culture is described as “the customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other social groups”. Your company is its own social group. The customs, traditions, and celebrations you implement come together to create a culture in which your team can either thrive or suffer. 

Take time to celebrate your team members’ birthdays, anniversaries, and big life moments. Once you establish a culture of appreciation, the happiness of your employees will increase. 

Connecting with your team with innovative benefits and methods 

With Covid-19 came new ways of connection and methods of building trust amongst team members. With work-from-home mandates and priority shifts, many have grown attached to a flexible lifestyle, allowing for more time with family rather than commuting.  

A way to offer your team members benefits that will keep them on board is to continue allowing work from home or hybrid work. Most likely, last year your team members showed you how they can work from home and still do a great job. Perhaps offering a mixed hybrid work schedule would be an incentive to stay.  

Within our company, Innovate Marketing Group, our team members work from the office three days a week and work from home two days a week. This allows for the benefit of working from home and keeping that time to connect at the office. 

Employee Engagement and Culture Building Activities 

The easiest way to incorporate culture-building into the framework of your business is to set time aside once a month for a culture-building activity. During Covid-19 work from home restrictions, virtual culture event for an hour promotes connectivity and lets your employees know you care. When we curate these employee engagement series we are very intentional and we take into consideration the company culture. Demographics , like, and interests in order to design a successful program that produces results.  

These cultural events can comprise of: 

 A Competition: One of the many culture-building activities we have hosted was a Lego building competition. We sent the team a Lego building kit and set a timer. The team member who finished the Lego set first received a special prize and the team had a great team bonding time. 

Lunch and Learn: Have a professional come and offer your team training while you enjoy lunch together virtually. Recently, we had a Kon Marie Certified professional organizer provide tips to the team on how to declutter our workspace at home as we kick off the new year and tying to national organization day at the end of January. 

Get Creative: Offering a creative activity can be especially beneficial within creative workspaces. A popular activity amongst working teams is following along with a Bob Ross painting tutorial. Send your team members all the painting necessities, screen share the tutorial over zoom, and let the creative juices flow! For example, we sent our team boba-making kits and we made our delicious drinks together on zoom. 

Incorporate Wins and Recognitions– Celebrate big and small wins 

 Companies that see the positive statistics in employee retention and profitability effectively express their gratitude for their employees and their efforts. The best way to empower your employees and coworkers is to highlight their work. Your employees are working collaboratively every day to grow and increase the company’s value, and gratitude increases the connection.  

 When your employee feels connected to the company, their work will reflect that. However, a gratitude program is not only about celebrating the big wins but also the small wins too. At our agency, we make this an international effort by including this in our weekly meeting. Team members use this time and platform to recognize and celebrate with each other, from small to big wins. 

 The past year has offered us a chance to look at what is important to us and what kind of workspace we are willing to spend most of our day in. Finding innovative ways to connect and engage your team and adding additional benefits will save you the time, money, and trouble of dealing with high turnover, creating a solid team that will generate results and profit for years to come. 

Learn more about our work and get in touch to talk more about creating a tailored happy employee program for you

Source: 

[1] https://www.themuse.com/advice/10-shocking-stats-about-employee-engagement