For some employers, having happy employees is a want-to, not a have-to – it isn’t a priority. Making payroll, launching new campaigns and pleasing shareholders seems a more necessary than trying to create engaged, fulfilled employees. But happy, engaged employees are far more important to the success of a company than one might think.
A Gallup study reported a measurable link between employee engagement and eight common metrics used to measure a business’ success:
- Customer Ratings
- Profitability
- Productivity
- Turnover
- Safety
- Theft Prevention
- Attendance
- Quality of the final product
In fact, companies with engaged employees show 22% higher profitability and 147 % higher earnings per share than companies without them.
Let’s agree that happy employees are an integral part of your company’s success — so how do we cultivate them?
How to Engage Your Team
While creating an engaged team won’t happen overnight, here are three ways to begin:
1.Equip your employees
Equip your team with tools like engagement surveys to find and improve weak points. Use goal-setting tools that empower employees to reach new heights in their careers.
2. Educate your employees
People love to learn, so host a brown-bag lunch once a week and offer industry-related classes in the office. Give them tools like the Myers-Briggs personality assessment so they can learn how they work best and how to work better with others. Teach corporate culture with high-quality online learning tools that employees can work through at their own pace.
3. Empower your employees
The days of people being cogs in a machine are over—happy, creative individuals make your business better. According to Seth Godin’s Linchpin, today’s employees crave responsibility, opportunity and the authority to make decisions. Create a culture that tells every employee he or she matters. Offer chances for everyone to pitch their big ideas. Give employees control over their own career decisions with employee self-service tools.
Look at your employees as individuals — individuals who want to learn, share their talents, know they’re making a difference and be part of a business they believe in. When your employees are happy, you, your investors and your customers will be, too.