How to Cut Costs and Engage Employees

Often times when we speak to candidates that are on the hunt for a new job opportunity, money is no longer the driving force behind their desire to leave an organization; but rather the level of disconnect employees feel with their leaders or colleagues.

Why does this matter to you?

 These negative feelings fuel employee disengagement and drastically impact the overall success of a company and more importantly, the economy.

Employee engagement is the commitment, passion, and effort each employee brings to work, everyday. But the problem we’re seeing is that only 31.5% of U.S. employees are engaged in their job and the other 68.5% who are not engaged cost the American economy up to $350 billion per year in lost productivity. The solution? Create a ‘human’ workplace, cut costs, and engage employees.

What is a ‘human’ workplace?

It is the assurance that each employee identifies as an individual contributor to the organization. The employees are engaged and their opinions, feelings, and business related concerns are encouraged, acknowledged and addressed.

It’s the environment in which the transfer of energy, ideas, gratitude, empowerment, experience, and personal relationships fuel the organization to achieve maximum success.

How will this help you?

According to Globoforce’s “2015 Employee Recognition Report,” engaged employees work harder, stay twice as long in a job, spend double the amount of time at work, take ten times less sick leave, believe they are achieving their potential twice as much, and show a 31% rise in productivity.

How can you create a more ‘human’ workplace and avoid the high cost that comes along with disengaged employees?

Encourage "Employee Dating." Now, I’m not saying that you have to marry your co-worker, but a company in Toronto, Freshbooks, experimented with "employee dating." They brought two employees together, that typically would not interact, and set them up on a blind coffee or lunch date. Freshbooks’ theory is that employees with more friends at work, experience a greater likelihood of trust with their colleagues and have pride in their company. 100% of the employees who joined, loved it!

Convey meaning and purpose through recognition and appreciation. Celebrate your employee’s service anniversaries and congratulate them on a ‘job well done.’ Employees that are recognized and appreciated for their contributions are often times energetic in nature, more committed to their company, workgroup, and their role. Organizations with high levels of enablement and engagement experience greater financial success, customer satisfaction and employee performance.

Empower the people. Take it from Gregg Lederman, “people do not leave companies; they leave managers.” Don’t always just issue orders and blast out emails, ask your team how you can help them achieve success. Success is in the eyes of the beholder, but rarely can we achieve this alone. Good managers are dedicated to the success of their employees – be a ‘builder’, use your talents to develop productive and beneficial relationships within your team to drive innovation.

The BIG “G” - Gratitude. Showing gratitude and appreciation to your employees helps them to identify their worth and value in the workplace. Exchanges of admiration and gratitude enable better relationships across the company, improve psychological health, and increase happiness and self-esteem, all of which help employees perform at their highest level.

Let’s face it, having a disengaged workplace is debilitating.  Strive to create a more engaging environment that empowers and enables employees to ‘go the extra mile’ each day at work.