The average person spends about 90,000 hours of their life working, so making that time enjoyable and satisfying is of the utmost importance.
Even so, the term “employee engagement” is one that can be challenging to define. After all, people have different views on what job satisfaction and work fulfillment means to them. Still, we all can agree that when engagement is high, that’s when the magic happens almost instantaneously. Productivity goes up as does the pure joy of accomplishing goals as a team. Conversely, “employee disengagement” is relatively easy to explain, but there’s no presto chango in the world that can fix it overnight.
Changing a workplace culture for the better takes time, but it can be done. Perhaps it’s even a topic you discuss with some of your small and medium-sized business (SMB) clients.
Engagement at Work
First, we need to journey back to the origins of where the concept of workplace engagement all began. While it was common for employees to spend their entire careers with one company in previous generations, today it’s obviously very rare. And that’s why engagement is so important for SMBs to be able to keep the best workers longer and to attract top talent as well in a competitive marketplace.
5 Reasons Employees Leave Their Job
- They need more of a challenge.
- They want a higher salary.
- They feel uninspired.
- They want to feel valued.
- They want a better relationship with their manager.
Source: Indeed
Today, the median number of years that an employee stays at a job is 4.1, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, but it’s lower for younger workers: just 2.8 years. That regular turnover has been a problem for many years now—and we all know how expensive it can be to replace an employee who has left an organization. That’s why engagement is so important to keep employees longer.
It’s a concept that William Kahn, a professor at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business, first addressed in 1990. He is credited with coining the term “employee engagement” in his research article titled Psychological Conditions of Personal Engagement and Disengagement at Work (registration required to read).
As Kahn stated, “I defined personal engagement as the harnessing of organization members’ selves to their work roles; in engagement, people employ and express themselves physically, cognitively, and emotionally during role performances. I defined personal disengagement as the uncoupling of selves from work roles; in disengagement, people withdraw and defend their personal selves.”
That dog-eat-dog mentality also leads to stress and disinterest, of course, which affects performance and ultimately the company’s bottom line.
A Little More Engaged
In 2023, 50% of employees were not engaged (aka “quiet quitting”) while 33% were engaged (up slightly from 2021) and 16% were actively disengaged (down slightly from 2021).
The recently released Gallup State of the Global Workplace: 2024 Report (registration required to read) found that 41% of today’s employees are experiencing “a lot of stress.” It also found that people working in organizations with bad management processes are almost 60% more likely to be stressed than people in companies with good ones. The survey looked at data from 183,000 business units in 52 industries from 90 countries.
According to the report, employee engagement has “stagnated” while “overall employee wellbeing has declined.” And global employee well-being for younger employees (under the age of 34) dropped slightly to 34% from 35% the previous year. For employees aged 35 and over, the number went up a bit to 36% from 35%. The report also states that employee disengagement is the “equivalent to or worse than being unemployed,” which should be a real eye-opener for any of your SMB clients.
PrismHR Director of Talent Management Solutions
“Engaged employees are not just the heartbeat of an organization,” said Michele Lindsay, PrismHR’s director of talent management solutions. “They are the passionate change-makers who drive innovation and success, especially among the workforce under 35 who seek purpose and connection in their careers.”
Gallup estimates that low employee engagement costs the global economy almost $9 trillion, which is 9% of the global gross domestic product.
So what’s an employer to do?
3 Ways to Improve Engagement
Here are a few ideas on how your SMB clients can improve employee engagement:
- Just Listen: We live in a world where people are constantly bombarded with messages on their social channels, emails, texts, Slack, Teams, etc. Even though more people are working remotely than ever, it’s no less important to have real conversations. A 30-minute chat every week or two where managers give their employees the opportunity to discuss what’s on their minds could give managers a glimpse into what’s going well and what’s not. When actions are taken to address those issues, it makes the employee feel heard, which is so important for morale and engagement.
- Understand the Business World is Changing: As industry analyst Josh Bersin wrote earlier this year, the median age of the U.S. workforce is 33 years old. Younger workers tend to have a much different perspective on the employer-employee relationship than previous generations. As Bersin wrote, “Almost 60% of workers now believe ‘the company should accommodate their needs,’ not vice-versa.”
- Allay Fears About Automation: Each and every day, AI and machine learning get more and more powerful—and sometimes scary. Not to worry: The fear that AI, robots and computers will replace human workers is not new and it’s just not true. As workplace experts Ravin Jesuthasan and John Boudreau wrote in their book, “Work Without Jobs: How to Reboot Your Organization’s Work Operating System”: “Focusing only on how automation replaces jobholders misses the point: automation seldom neatly replaces human jobholders with automation. Rather, the most innovative and optimal solutions are combinations of automation and human workers.”
PrismHR’s Performance Management solution fits the bill when it comes to automation. It helps organizations align employee performance with organizational goals while helping to increase engagement.
We’re not saying technology can turn a bad situation into a good one overnight, but it certainly can help steer the ship in the right direction. A smoother Performance Management experience can boost productivity and relieve frustration for managers and employees at SMBs. According to the Gallup report, employees are more likely to be engaged if their managers are engaged, and reducing Performance Management headaches sure doesn’t hurt in that regard.
“A new Performance Management system might not solve all engagement problems, but it can go a long way,” Lindsay said. “A good system engages employees by aligning their goals with the organization’s strategy, providing clear communication on progress, and effectively measuring results to drive continuous improvement and success.”
Perhaps it’s time to put this “potion” in motion for when your clients get a notion to help improve their employee engagement promotion.
Learn more about PrismHR’s Performance Management solution.
