Unlocking the 23 Benefits of Employee Engagement in the Workplace

It is no secret that employees are an organization's assets that fuel its smooth functioning. To keep them motivated and glued to the organization's interests, you need to take initiatives that boost their engagement levels. There are several benefits of employee engagement that will dawn upon your organization as a blessing and help you meet your organizational goals and success.

Before embarking on the benefits, let us garner a more proper understanding of employee engagement and its importance.

What is Employee Engagement?

Employee engagement is a catalyst for success and sustainability that cannot be ignored.
– Irene Becker

Employee engagement is a cognitive, emotional, and behavioral connection that the employees feel towards their work and organization. Engagement highlights the extent to which employees are enthusiastic about contributing to the company’s success, getting invested in their roles, and their willingness to go above and beyond their job descriptions.

Why is Employee Engagement Important?

The importance of employee engagement lies in the significant impact it can have on the organization’s performance and productivity.

In a changing and evolving work scenario, it is equally challenging to meet the preference levels of younger generations. This is where the idea of employee engagement comes into play. When your workforce's engagement level gets activated, you will witness how it stimulates their motivation levels and increases job satisfaction and productivity.

Engagement not only enhances individual well-being but also boosts an organization’s success and competitiveness in a rapidly evolving business scenario.

23 Benefits of Employee Engagement

Employee engagement is a storehouse of benefits that can boost your employees' morale and simultaneously take your organization to the next level.

Let's delve deeply into the myriad benefits that can empower you to shape and enhance your organization in the long run.

1. Increases Productivity

The study serves as a testimony to the fact that employee engagement is directly proportional to increased productivity. Engaged employees find their work meaningful and, hence, will make efforts that will drive them to be productive in their work.

Employees simply need stimulation to push them to deliver and increase productivity.

So, engaging employees can be your first step to creating a productive workforce.

2. Improves Retention Rates

According to a 2021 study, 73 percent of employees would consider leaving their jobs even if they weren’t looking for a job at the moment. Some reasons are lack of recognition, internal office conflicts, and lack of pay raise.

Employees join a company with expectations and desires. And when you fail to provide those, they start looking for better options. However, if you take suitable measures to engage employees, you can help them improve their satisfaction levels. This will further make them stick to the organization in the long run and help increase the retention rates.

Therefore, engaging employees helps reduce the cost of turnover and improves retention.

Learn More 10 Eye-opening Employee Retention Statistics You Should Take Note Of

3. Increases Revenue

A good company culture is one particular factor that keeps employees engaged. Hence, when they feel engaged, they naturally go beyond to achieve what is expected of them.

Employees get the zeal to work more invested in their work. This newfound motivation level pushes them to go the extra mile for the company.

As a result, it is only natural for the company to witness a growth in their revenue levels.

4. Happy Employees, Happier Customers

In the words of the great Richard Branson,

Clients do not come first. Employees come first. If you take care of your employees, they will take care of the clients.

The quote sums up the central idea. Engaged employees are those who try to derive happiness from their contribution. They focus on improving your customer service and increasing your engagement level.

If you give all the reasons for your employees to be happy and productive by keeping them engaged, they will willingly take a positive approach to keeping their clients and customers happy.

Such employees take fewer leaves and are more attentive and friendly. All these factors build up good customer relationships.

5. Lowers Absenteeism

A couple of absences for sickness and unforeseen events are appropriate. However, repeated absence can be a result of dissatisfaction and disengagement. An increase in absence rate hampers the productivity and performance of the employee. If the employees are regularly missing from the office, the work will get delayed, eventually stampeding the outcome.

Providing your employees with a good work-life balance will help them strike a balance between their professional and personal lives. This will create a sense of accountability in them, and in return, they will give their best in their work. Besides, you will witness a drastic reduction in the absenteeism rate.

Good vacation policies and wellness programs are some great strategies to reduce employee absenteeism.

6. Makes them Loyal

A long-term benefit of keeping employees engaged is that it makes them loyal.

Kyle LaMalfa, Loyalty Expert, and Allegiance Best Practices Manager, says that employee engagement is the most important component of loyalty. As per the definition, engaged employees are emotionally attached to the organization. And when they are emotionally attached, they’ll naturally be loyal.

You can earn their loyalty in the following manner:

• Recognition and Appreciation,

• Development opportunities,

• Work-life balance

• Wellness programs

• Job security

• Transparency in decision-making
  Autonomy,

• Decentralized power distribution, etc.

7. Better Quality of work

Employees who feel engaged always do their best while getting involved in any given task. These employees are much more motivated than others. They perform each task with the same amount of dedication and precision.

As a manager, your efforts in keeping your employees engaged can positively influence your employees. To be precise, they feel valued, and there is a rise in their confidence levels. As a result, they enjoy working.

Since they enjoy their job, they become much more efficient in their work. They constantly develop new ideas, learn from mentors, and work in teams.

Furthermore, they constantly upskill themselves by taking courses and attending seminars. This is how you witness a better transition in the quality of their work.

8. Employees Work Harder

An engaged workforce will work harder, faster, and more enthusiastically. The urge to work harder results from the emotional connection employees develop for their organization.

This engagement instills them with a sense of responsibility that pushes them to willingly align their goals with the company and work the extra mile.

9. Positive Vibes

Highly engaged employees bring positive energy to the workplace. The positive energy is a result of the environment they work for. A positive workplace comprises an environment that encourages and prioritizes open communication, respect and inclusion, teamwork, fair compensation, flexibility, social activities, etc.

When you take special measures-

• to help them develop a sense of belonging,

• keep them satisfied,

• Push their motivation levels in the workplace,

they will showcase their happiness and create a positive work culture to thrive. Moreover, their motivation and drive to succeed don’t take long to catch up with others. Such employees motivate others to achieve their tasks and are much more active in taking lessons and participating in activities.

10. Employees are Innovative

These zealous employees are at their best when engaged. They continuously develop new and dynamic ideas to help build the company’s image. Since they are so involved with their work, they always find new ways to make work enjoyable.

When you give the autonomy to your employees to experiment with new ideas, they develop the instinct to engage in creative and brainstorming sessions and bring unique concepts to the table.

11. Drives Employee Advocacy

A major benefit of employee engagement is that they naturally become the company's advocates. They develop a sense of pride in associating with the organization. Therefore, they actively and willingly promote the brand. They talk about the products and brands to their family and friends.

Moreover, a person is more likely to buy a product or take up a course when their friends tell them about it. And with the influence of social media in the present generation, it is the perfect time to make employees your advocates. Give them a meaningful reason to feel pride in associating with your company.

The following points will assist you in winning their advocacy:

• Creating a positive work culture

• A clear and shared vision of the organization

• Recognition and rewards

• Transparency in policies and decision making

• Encouraging employee feedback

• Support personal branding

12. Employees Offer Positive Suggestions

These are employees who are genuinely concerned about the organization.
They take active participation in company meetings to understand more about the company. They involve themselves with the company. In addition, they offer suggestions to advance the company’s growth.

When you showcase genuine care and concern for your employees by keeping them engaged, it is only natural for them to reciprocate to you by working for the company's best interests.

13. Cost Saving

We know hiring new employees costs time and money.

This works in two ways. When employees leave a company, hiring and training a new employee is expensive. Another situation is when an existing employee does his/her work halfheartedly but still takes the fat paycheck.

To avoid both situations and retain the current employees for cost-cutting purposes, you must keep your employees engaged and involved.

14. Intrinsically Motivated

Engagement levels increase when employees are intrinsically motivated.

Some employees don’t work for a hefty paycheck. They do it because they enjoy their work. Their work fulfills them internally. It aligns with their beliefs and aspirations.

Therefore, engaged employees are mostly intrinsically motivated. They share an emotional connection with their work.

You can ignite their intrinsic motivation in the following ways:

• Foster a sense of autonomy in the workplace

• Provide them opportunities to learn and grow

• Offer constructive feedback

• Emphasize the purpose and meaning of the work they indulge in

• Encourage teamwork and collaboration

• Promote flexible work arrangements

• Celebrate small wins

15. Increases Profitability

Employee engagement can impact and influence your profit levels.

The more the employees are engaged, the more enthusiastic and productive they become, and work harder to deliver higher outputs.

As a result, you can witness a boost in your organization’s profit levels.

16. Improves Efficiency & Streamlines Operations

Engaged employees undertake a proactive lead in identifying those areas and processes that can be optimized. Taking ownership of their work, they seek ways to reduce waste, eliminate bottlenecks, and enhance operational efficiency.

This initiative of taking ownership, analyzing, and fixing issues results from employee engagement measures. Your efforts take the form of the blossoming confidence and expertise in your employees that, in turn, works as a boon for your company.

17. Enhanced Employee Well-being

Engaged employees are likely to experience a reduction in stress levels and burnout.

When you prioritize your employees' health more, it is natural for the employees to get engaged and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

With their well-being prioritized, they will surely witness an improvement in their mental and physical health.

You can take the following measures to ensure the well-being of your employees:

• Provide mental health resources

• Ensure workplace safety

• Promote work-life balance

• Regular health check-up facility

• Proper time-off and leave policies

• Frequent celebration of achievements

• Organize wellness programs (and incentivize it!)

18. Enhances Corporate Reputation

Organizations with highly engaged employees bask in the limelight of having a positive employer reputation. This reputation facilitates attracting and retaining top talent and skilled professionals more easily.

However, the reputation mainly rests on your efforts to engage your employees. The more the employees get involved and engaged at work, the more they align their goals with your organization and contribute towards it. As a result, your organization witnesses a boost in its reputation, thereby enhancing its credibility and overall image.

It is a given that when organizations consider their employees as their strength, they are sure to witness a positive response in the form of a boost in their reputation.

19. Boosts Leadership Development

Engaged employees are more driven to undertake leadership roles within the organization. The commitment and dedication they reflect make them ideal for leadership development programs.

The commitment and dedication come from the company’s engagement initiatives that boost confidence in their work and drive them to experiment with leadership development programs.

This not only boosts personal growth but also strengthens leadership within the company. These newly strengthened leadership skills will further undertake more effective measures for employee engagement.

20. Strengthens Workforce Flexibility

When you keep your employees happy and satisfied at work, they will be more open to accepting flexibility and adapting to the changing scenario in the work culture.

The level of happiness and satisfaction employees receive at the workplace develops a stronger sense of loyalty and commitment toward their organization. This form of emotional connection drives willingness in them to embrace flexibility and adapt to the evolving work culture.

This goes on to strengthen workforce flexibility as they showcase their willingness to embrace new technologies, strategies, and processes on par with the evolving market conditions.

21. Promotes Inclusion & Diversity

Companies that embrace diversity and inclusion in all aspects of their business statistically outperform their peers.
– Josh Bersin

When employees feel engaged, they likely play a significant role in promoting diverse and inclusive workplace cultures.

As engaged employees, they would want to create an equally warm, welcoming, and nurturing environment for their peers.

Hence, they take initiatives on inclusion that lead to a more equitable environment for employees who come from diverse backgrounds.

22. Improves Cross-Departmental Collaboration

Engaged employees are always enthusiastic to participate and actively contribute to anything related to work.

They also become open to collaborating with colleagues from within and beyond different departments. Sharing knowledge and achieving common targets become their collective goals.

23. Drives Social Responsibility

Engaged employees believe that if the organization is undertaking practices to keep them engaged and involved, they should equally be involved in a cause that can help build a positive image for the organization.

They show eagerness to participate in CSR activities, volunteering, and community outreach programs.

This positively impacts the community by enhancing the organization’s reputation and driving the workforce's zeal to undertake social responsibility.

Recommended Read: Best Employee Engagement Software for Employee Surveys, Wellness, Recognition, and more

Conclusion

By now, you must have garnered a comprehensive and clear understanding of employee engagement, its importance, and the variety of benefits it offers.

The benefits not only give you the outcome you receive from implementing employee engagement measures, but they simultaneously address the reason behind the benefits.

As you read through, you might have come across how the benefits are intertwined with each other, where the benefits are interconnected to one another.

You come up with initiatives for your employees, and they, in turn, reciprocate by working for you and helping your organization attain heights.

This article is written by Riha Jaishi, a Content Writer at Vantage Circle. Apart from being an active and keen writer, she is generally found reading books and articles, feasting her eyes on food videos, and binging on her favorite shows and discussing them. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com