A global Gallup Report reveals that only 20% of employees worldwide are engaged at work, highlighting an obvious issue that isn’t always obvious to solve. Employee engagement is a crucial driver of organisational success, driving productivity and profitability, improving retention, and driving business growth. With the ‘evolved worker’ expectations, HR leaders must stay ahead by implementing strategies that resonate with their teams.
Employee engagement is essential for organisational success, driving productivity, profitability, retention, and customer satisfaction. HR leaders face significant challenges in increasing engagement, including adapting to evolving expectations, maintaining engagement in hybrid work models, recognising and rewarding employees, providing continuous learning opportunities, supporting mental health and well-being, building a diverse and inclusive workplace, and personalising the employee experience.
Addressing these challenges requires a proactive and flexible approach, ensuring organisational strategies align with the needs and expectations of the modern workforce.
Why employee engagement matters!
Engaged employees are game-changers! They’re more productive, motivated, and committed, driving team profitability up by 21%. Plus, recognising their efforts, offering growth opportunities, and creating a positive work culture can significantly reduce turnover—since 78% of the reasons people leave are fixable.
The Challenges
Keeping employees engaged isn’t easy. Today’s workforce wants flexibility, mental health support, and a sense of inclusion. Hybrid work models add complexity, making communication and connection tougher. Recognition, ongoing learning, and personalising experiences take effort but make a huge difference. Creating an inclusive, mentally healthy, and adaptable workplace isn’t just nice—it’s essential to thriving in today’s world.
The Importance of Employee Engagement
Boosting Productivity and Performance: Engaged employees are more productive and perform better. According to Gallup, highly engaged teams experience a 21% increase in profitability. These employees are motivated, committed, and willing to go the extra mile, significantly contributing to organisational goals.
Enhancing Employee Retention: Work Institute reports that 78% of the reasons employees leave their jobs can be addressed by employers. By recognising employees, providing career development opportunities, and fostering a positive work environment, organisations can substantially reduce turnover.
Challenges in Increasing Employee Engagement
Adapting to Evolving Expectations: Today's workforce values flexibility, work-life balance, career development, mental health support, and diversity and inclusion more than ever before. Organisations must continuously adapt to the rapidly evolving expectations of employees to meet these changing demands.
Maintaining Engagement in a Hybrid Work Model: The shift to hybrid work models, combining remote and in-office work, presents a challenge in maintaining engagement levels. Ensuring consistent communication, fostering a sense of belonging, and monitoring productivity and well-being in a dispersed workforce require new approaches and tools.
Recognising and Rewarding Employees: Creating a culture of recognition is essential for boosting morale and engagement, but many organisations struggle to implement effective recognition programmes. Regular, meaningful recognition that resonates with employees can be challenging to maintain, especially in larger organisations or those with remote teams.
Providing Continuous Learning and Development: While employees increasingly prioritise career development, providing continuous learning opportunities that align with their goals can be difficult. Ensuring that training programmes are relevant, accessible, and engaging requires ongoing effort and investment.
Building Mentally Healthy Organisations: Mental health and well-being is critical for employee engagement, yet many organisations find it challenging to provide adequate support. Addressing the stigma around mental health, offering comprehensive resources, and fostering a supportive culture are ongoing challenges.
Building a Diverse and Inclusive Workplace: Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are vital for employee engagement. Creating a truly inclusive environment can be difficult. Organisations must work to overcome biases, implement effective DEI training, and develop policies that ensure all employees feel valued and respected.
Personalising the Employee Experience: Tailoring the employee experience to meet individual needs and preferences is becoming increasingly important. However, providing personalised development plans and customised benefits packages that align with each employee’s unique expectations can be complex and resource-intensive.
