BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY

The latest survey labelled 23% of the world’s workforce as engaged, which actually was a record high since the survey debuted in 2009. Eighteen per cent were actively disengaged, partially defined as employees who “take actions that directly harm the organization”.

While that adds up to a roughly 1-to-1 ratio of engaged to actively disengaged employees, the latest Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award featured companies that on average had an 18-to-1 ratio in favor of engaged employees.

That’s where the largest group in the survey, those defined as not engaged (59%), can play a pivotal role in employers’ efforts to retain talent. The survey report offers some advice on how to turn that “low-hanging fruit” into employees that are engaged and therefore are more likely to remain with the company:

Recognize the potential impact of engagement. Among not-engaged employees, a survey-high 41% mentioned an engagement or culture-related change when asked for one change that would make their workplace better. And while many companies are pouring resources into managing the impact of work location (remote vs. on-site vs. hybrid), the survey found that when it comes to stress in the workplace, employees’ level of engagement is 3.8 times more impactful than work location.

Focus on engaging managers first. Thirtyone per cent of managers surveyed were labelled as engaged. While that’s higher than the 20% of individual contributors who were engaged, that still means that the large majority of managers weren’t engaged. Why does that matter? Because the survey found that 70% of team engagement is attributable to the manager.

Seek ‘true engagement’ for your employees. Factors such as reduced stress level and increased pay are important to employees, but general satisfaction doesn’t have the same impact as engagement, which leads to employees reaching their potential and choosing to stay put as a result.

“True engagement means your people are psychologically present to do their work,” the report said. “They understand what to do; they have what they need; and they have a supportive manager and a supportive team. They know why their work matters. They are work ready.”

To comment on this article or to suggest an idea for another article, contact Bryan Strickland at Bryan.Strickland@ aicpa-cima.com