Why employee engagement key to attraction and retention of talent
Employee engagement at the workplace is designed to improve employee enthusiasm and dedication to the company, their job, position, colleagues, and corporate culture.
Every year, many companies are at a loss on how to stem resignation notices from employees leaving for greener pastures. Many try to understand why the staff left and put pro-employee measures in place to stem the loss of highly effective and productive workers.
According to a 2024 survey by Gallup on the state of the global workplace, low employee engagement costs the global economy nine percent of its gross domestic product. Only 20 percent of employees in sub-Saharan Africa are engaged, with 15 percent actively disengaged.
Globalisation, access to information and technological advancements are revolutionising the workplace. Now more than ever, employees know their rights and have more options. This means that the single most important resource that is highly sought is an engaged employee.
Employee engagement at the workplace is designed to improve employee enthusiasm and dedication to the company, their job, their position, their colleagues, and the corporate culture.
Many organisations grapple with high turnover traced to employee disengagement, among other factors.
As a leader responsible for a team (s), aligning expectations right from the recruitment stage is the basis of building an engaged team.
First, outline and communicate clearly what you expect from employees. When doing this, remember that employees are individuals with different backgrounds, desires, expectations, mindsets, emotions, and needs and that everyone wants to be recognised as unique and separate, albeit a part of a team (need for belonging).
The same should also happen to employees. They should clearly state and align their expectations with the said role, their supervisor and the organisation in general. As an employee, be clear about your expectations before you join an organisation.
Secondly, evaluate your corporate culture, leadership model, clarity of roles, growth opportunities, fairness, communication system, employee value propositions, and especially whether your staff understands how their work contributes to the organisation’s mission and vision. The level of your team engagement will show through their output.
The quality of the service or productivity will tell your story.
Thirdly, manage trust levels by being mindfully present to what’s actually happening with your team. Communicate clearly, and continuously align expectations, incorporate internal surveys as one of your tools to gauge how engaged your team is, and then implement feedback.
