Banish Burnout & Elevate Engagement - November Voice 2022

Banish burnout and elevate engagement

Investing in your employees improves your bottom line

The financial cost of neglecting employee wellbeing has become glaringly apparent. A Gallup study found that burned out employees cost $3,400 out of every $10,000 in salary because of disengagement.

This is a BIG issue for employers, and the monetary stakes are clearly high. Besides the cost of disengagement, replacing employees is expensive. According to Gallup, the average employee replacement cost can range from 50% to 200% of the annual salary for that position.

This is why measures to support employee wellbeing have increasingly become a ‘must have’ for companies that want to hold on to their best people and attract qualified job seekers. Here are some tips on how to increase employee engagement as well as your bottom line:

■ Help employees better manage their workload. Set clear priorities and goals together at the start of the week. Schedule short check-ins to assess progress and to help prevent any hiccups. Take care not to overwhelm people with tasks or projects you know are not a good fit for them. Be realistic, as some projects take longer than expected. And know that it’s impossible for people to succeed at absolutely everything.

■ Outline exactly what’s expected of someone in their role and try to provide any additional training or support they need. As the old saying goes, give your people clear goals and then get out of their way. Allow them to decide the best way to complete their tasks. It’s important on several levels that people have the freedom to pursue their work in what they believe is the most effective manner, especially when they’re committed to producing meaningful results. Work together to find the sweet-spot between support and autonomy.

■ Besides paying people well, recognition is the best and most costeffective way to have a positive impact on performance. Employees need to be recognized for specific actions, results or behaviors, not just given feedback. Most importantly, express gratitude. Say it. Out loud. Daily, if need be. It sounds so simple, right? But when was the last time you verbally thanked your employees for their day-to-day work? Wouldn’t we all prefer to work in an environment where the leaders routinely said thank you?

■ Be objective about unfairness. Fairness communicates respect and helps to confirm people’s self-worth, which is vital to building a shared sense of community. Unfairness in the workplace can occur when there is inequity, or perceived inequity, of workload or pay, poor handling of evaluations, promotions and grievances. Long gone are the days when unfair or unkind behavior can be dismissed with, “Well, that’s just how they are.” Proactively manage employee expectations by establishing clear rules for everyone and owning any previous missteps you may have had in handling situations unfairly. Being transparent and consistent in implementing rules will build trust. Make the effort to understand your employees’ expectations and focus on better processes and better outcomes for all.

When your employees are engaged and not burned-out, they have incredibly positive effects on your business. Organizations where employees were highly engaged had, on average, double the annual net profit, 2.5 times greater revenue growth than those in the bottom quartile and 12% higher customer advocacy. Those businesses also had 40% lower turnover than companies with low engagement and high burnout in their workforce.

Employees may come on board for the pay and benefits, but they stay for meaningful work and an environment that fosters accomplishment, growth and a sense of purpose through values, mission, vision and clear goals.

Jeanine Woyner is senior vice president of human resources at Blackhawk Bank in Beloit

The views expressed are those of Woyner and do not necessarily represent those of the Rockford Chamber of Commerce.

Statistics and sources: Gallup.com; Forbes. com; Workday.com