What Is Employee Engagement?

Think about the last time you received the personalised attention of a retail assistant. It’s likely that it was their attentive service, their friendly demeanor or possibly their suggestions that made the shopping experience pleasant – and it likely resulted in a sale.  

It’s your employees who build loyalty and win over new customers. They can turn leads into customers thanks to their enthusiasm, knowledge, and problem-solving skills. 

The key is employee engagement. What is it? Gallup defines employee engagement as the involvement and enthusiasm of employees in their work and workplace. When engagement is tracked and assessed, it helps leaders measure and manage employees’ perspectives on key elements of your workplace culture. 

This article will outline why engagement is so critical to business success, what the benefits of an engaged workforce are, what the typical drivers of engagement are, and how employee engagement software can help. 

What are the different types of engagement? 

Engagement can also be defined in terms of the desired end result. This approach breaks engagement into three categories: cognitive, emotional, and physical engagement. 

• Cognitive engagement occurs when an employee is fully aware of and aligned with the company’s values, goals, and mission. Their confidence level and creativity play a key role in helping them engage with their work at a cognitive level. 

• Emotional engagement occurs when an employee feels a genuine emotional connection with their work, their team, their manager or their company. These workers bring an element of their personal feelings and emotions to work; they feel confident, trusted and secure in their workplace – and more important, they feel a keen sense of belonging. 

• Physical engagement occurs when an employee invests both their physical and mental energy into their work. It’s reflected in the activities they take part in, how they interact with others, and the interest and initiative they show in their roles. 

Why is employee engagement important? 

Engaged employees contribute more discretionary effort, which in turn leads to customer satisfaction and positively impacts business results.  

Discretionary effort is the ‘secret sauce’ that every organisation should aim for. Why? It means your employees are willing to go above and beyond the expectations of customers.  

Engaged employees are typically more productive, healthier and happier, have fewer workplace accidents, and will take fewer leaves of absence. They are also more likely to stay with their employer for longer. 

According to Gallup’s State of the Global Workforce report, business or work units that score in the top quartile of their organisation in employee engagement have nearly double the odds of success (based on a composite of financial, customer, retention, safety, quality and absenteeism metrics) when compared with those in the bottom quartile. Those at the 99th percentile have four times the success rate of those at the first percentile. 

 What are the benefits of an engaged workforce? 

Gallup’s research revealed the following range of benefits that flow from an engaged workforce: 

Attendance and performance 
Engaged employees want to show up to work and be productive. Highly engaged business units can achieve:  

• A 41% reduction in absenteeism 

• A 17% increase in productivity 

Customer outcomes 

Engaged employees also offer better customer service. They are committed to helping their organisation improve customer relationships and obtain impressive organic growth. A highly engaged business can achieve: 

• A 10% increase in customer ratings 

• A 20% increase in sales 

Safety 

Engaged employees are more focused on the tasks at hand; they are mindful of their own safety and the safety of those around them. Top-quartile business units will see:  

• A 58% decrease in patient safety incidents (mortality and falls) 

• A 64% decrease in safety incidents (accidents) 

Loyalty 

Engaged workers are also more likely to stay with their employer. Low engagement teams typically endure turnover rates that are 18% to 43% higher than highly engaged teams. 

Profit 

It’s no surprise that the previous areas combine to produce increased profitability. Engaged employees are more present and productive; they are more attuned to the needs of customers; and they are more observant of processes, standards, and systems. When taken together, the behaviours of highly engaged business units result in 21% greater profitability. 

Wellness 

Engagement and wellness are inseparable. Healthy employees are generally happier and show higher rates of job satisfaction. Engaged employees are less vulnerable to stress, a significant driver of poor health. According to a Harvard Business Review article, while a high-pressured culture of fear can ensure engagement – and sometimes even excitement – for some time, research suggests that the inevitable stress it creates will likely lead to disengagement over the long term.  

What is employee engagement software? 

Here are some typical examples of employee engagement software: 

Assessing engagement 

It’s important to ‘take the pulse’ of where engagement sits in your organisation. That’s the only way to assess current engagement levels and where you might move to – and whether your initiatives are working. 

Humanforce’s Employee Engagement solution allows managers to customise survey forms, collect feedback, and measure and improve engagement across the entire employee lifecycle. Users benefit from shorter, targeted Pulse surveys or more in-depth engagement surveys, while advanced analytics and reporting tools enable engagement trends and outliers to be tracked. Remember, if you’re asking for employee feedback, make sure you take action on it or at least keep employees updated on steps being taken.  

Bolstering communication 

Communication is king in any business, let alone frontline workplaces where employees may be geographically dispersed and located far from head office. Humanforce’s Work App gives employees all the information they need to do their jobs via their mobile phone. In addition to being able to check rosters, bid on shifts and review leave balances – and apply for leave – the app has a messaging function so that key updates can be sent from managers and the wider organisation.  

Offer greater flexibility and autonomy 

Empowering your team members to work the shifts that suit their personal circumstances is worth its weight in gold. Humanforce’s Rostering & Scheduling solution makes it easy for staff to see their rosters and input their availability (via the Work App). The shift offer and shift bidding functionality enables managers to message employees with available shifts, and for employees to accept or decline that shift, or to make bids on open shifts, ensuring that work-life balance can be prioritised.    

Understand your employees better 

Engagement comes down to understanding your employees, and that means gathering and interpreting data. Do you know who your high potential talent is? Are you aware of where turnover is occurring and why people are leaving? Are resources being allocated to the right areas? Humanforce’s People Analytics solution provides intuitive visualisation tools to deep-drive into your analytics. Sentiment analysis can uncover the human factors that impact business performance and can ultimately be used improve individual performance and team dynamics. 

Improve feedback and enhance performance management processes 

Goal setting, facilitating regular 1:1 catch-ups and providing structured performance management processes are all keys to engaging employees. Humanforce’s Performance Management solution helps with those tasks, in addition to facilitating 360-degree peer evaluations, identifying skills gaps and development opportunities, and aligning individual goals with organisational OKRs. 

What are the drivers of engagement? 

We all know there is no silver bullet that will magically improve engagement – there are too many elements to consider, and what engages one person may not engage another. However, there are some underlying foundational blocks which, if prioritised, can improve engagement. These foundations include: 

Mission, values and belonging: In a culture of belonging, everyone appreciates you for what you bring to the group, there’s a genuine desire for meaningful relationships, and there’s an appreciation for the differences between people. That fosters engagement.  

In addition, don’t underestimate the power of values alignment, whereby an individual’s personal values align with the organisation’s values. Having a purpose-driven organisational mission to work towards also plays a key role. Research from McLean & Company shows that employees who resonate with their organisation’s values and mission are 3.71 times more likely to be engaged. 

Leadership and management: You’ve heard the saying, ‘people join organisations and leave managers’? The skills and competence of a direct manager can make or break engagement. According to Gallup, the manager or team leader alone accounts for 70% of the variance in team engagement. Similarly, trust in senior leadership can erode or enhance the level of engagement across the board, because people want to be in ‘safe, steady’ hands, be inspired and appreciated. 

Recognition and rewards: It’s revealing that just 45% of frontline (or ‘deskless’) workers felt they had received recognition from their employer recently, and just 26% said that recognition was meaningful, according to a report by O.C. Tanner. Simply being appreciated for doing good work and providing meaningful recognition and rewards for that effort goes a long way. 

Career development opportunities: O.C. Tanner’s report highlighted that just 45% of frontline workers feel supported by their organisation in learning new skills (vs. 69% of corporate workers). If people can’t see a future in your organisation, with opportunities to learn and develop new skills, why would they be engaged, and why would they stay? 

Work-life balance and wellbeing: A 2022 study by Boston Consulting Group found that lack of flexibility or work-life balance was the number one reason why frontline workers would consider leaving their current role. Giving people greater flexibility and autonomy over the hours they work, and wherever possible, where they work, can make a significant difference to engagement.  

Holistic wellbeing, but especially financial wellbeing, can also impact engagement. For example, a report by PwC found that 44% of those who are stressed about their personal finances are also distracted at work. Providing health and wellbeing benefits can have a genuine impact on quality of life for employees – and that can only enhance engagement. 

Strategies to drive employee engagement  

Every employee is different. Today, thanks to the plethora of workforce data and smart technology, it’s possible to create personalised employee experiences for every worker. This means that everything from roster preferences to learning opportunities can be tailored to everyone. 

Here are 5 strategies to drive employee engagement. 

Continuous learning and development 

Many deskless workers, including those working in hospitality, care industries and manufacturing, require certifications and qualifications that are critical for their job. Provide the time and the tools for people to undertake learning from anywhere at any time. Consider the digital learning tools required for on-the-job learning to strike the balance between productivity and on-the-go access, especially keeping in mind the essentials of: 

• Experience: Stretch projects or tasks employees can take on to help them learn 

• Exposure: Job shadowing, cross-functional collaboration, networking, professional associations 

• Education: Courses, online / mobile learning, books, podcasts, workshops 

The learner experience will factor in how people can access learning apps on their smartphones, offline availability, incentivised or “gamified” learning opportunities, and plenty of communication tools.  

Flexible work arrangements 

While frontline workers need to be onsite to do their jobs, that doesn’t mean flexibility over hours worked can’t be offered. Giving people the opportunity to choose which flexible work option suits their unique needs can have major benefits relating to work-life balance and overall health and wellbeing. 

When Gallup asked frontline workers which types of flexibility their employer offered and which they would leave their current employer to gain, the answers fell into four categories: 

• More expected (more valued, more offered) 

• Choice of which days per week you work 

• Differentiating (more valued, less offered) 

• Increased PTO or vacation time 

• Four-day work week (e.g., four 10-hour days) 

• More common (less valued, more offered) 

• Flexible start and/or end times 

• Flex-time (some choice over the hours you work) 

• Relaxed dress code 

• Nice-to-have (less valued, less offered) 

• Remote work or work-from-home options 

• Choice in which hours per day you work 

• Three-day work week (e.g., three 12-hour days) 

• Shorter shift lengths 

• Work at any location (on-site) 

Rewards and recognition programs

Formalised rewards and recognition programs show appreciation for a job well-done. They can be used to callout exceptional work, reward high performers and reinforce company values. These programs do not need to be expensive to operate. Indeed, a mere ‘thanks’ can go a long way. For example, Workhuman research has found that people thanked at work in the last month are:  

• Half as likely to be looking for a new job  

• More than 2x as likely to be highly engaged  

• More than 2x as likely to feel respected at work  

• More than 3x as likely to see a path to grow in the organisation

Employee wellbeing programs

Employee wellbeing impacts your organisation’s reputation and brand. According to Gallup, 71% of employees who strongly agree that their organisation cares about their wellbeing strongly advocate for their organisation as a great place to work (vs. 12% who do not strongly agree), making wellbeing initiatives not just a ‘nice-to-have’ but an essential component of work and win-win for employees and employers.  

Consider offering a holistic wellbeing suite of benefits that covers physical, emotional, emotional and financial wellbeing. Read more in our eBook here. 

Use of technology and digital tools 

Frontline workers have traditionally been poorly served by technology providers. Desk-based employees have access to digital tools that make communication and collaboration easy; they also have everything they need to do their job on their desktop computers or laptops.  

Frontline employees do not have that benefit. However, they do have mobile devices, which means that a mobile-first approach is vital to connect, communicate and engage with this cohort. A mobile app such as Humanforce’s Work App can give these deskless workers access to everything they need to do their jobs – from checking rosters to swapping shifts and applying for leave. 

Conclusion 

If you’re a HR leader, you’ve likely invested in technology to help solve your biggest challenges: enhancing data analytics for your HR team and the business; winning the war for talent; modernising HR through a move to the cloud; and so on. Now is the time to utilise HR tech to engage and empower your deskless workforce. Get in touch below to see how Humanforce can help!  

About Humanforce 

Humanforce is the best-in-one platform for frontline and flexible workforces, offering a truly employee centred, intelligent and compliant human capital management (HCM) suite – without compromise. Founded in 2002, Humanforce has a 2300+ customer base and over half a million users worldwide. Today, we have offices across Australia, New Zealand, and the UK.