Recent studies have shown that only about 30 percent of employees are really engaged with their work. That means the other 70 percent either don’t care about their work and are simply going through the motions or are downright mad about their work environment.
Companies realize the importance of having an engaged workforce. Companies with engaged employees usually have better bottom lines, greater customer satisfaction, and less turnover of employees.
Engagement isn’t an easy thing to deal with because of it’s very nature. It’s something personal and emotional. Nevertheless, it’s something companies need to confront if they are going to perform as well as they can. There are several steps companies can take to increase engagement, according to business analysts.
To help increase the engagement of employees, management, first of all, needs to be conversant with the psychological research behind what motivates people, and there is plenty of it. For example, research has shown that people who are given more responsibility and authority tend to be more motivated and engaged. This fits with psychological research that shows a general human need to independence. Other factors that affect engagement include management support and feedback. So, managers and human resource professionals need to learn about this body of work and be able to put it to use.
This psychological research is something that is geared toward employees in general, but managers also need to be attuned to the particular atmosphere of their company and their particular employees and what motivates them. Managers need to find employees who are engaged where they work and find out why, and then use that as a model for companywide engagement initiatives. In this way, managers can make their engagement efforts fit their particular culture.
Engagment is obviously something you cannot simply order people to do. But what might help is using employees who are engaged also to share their stories about what gets them motivated. Connecting employees with each other like this can make your program more of a grassroots effort.
And engagement is not a one-time thing. It is something that managers need to address on an ongoing basis. Circumstances change and this affects how employees feel about their work. So managers need to keep their antennae up as to how employees are doing.
When your company needs temporary, temporary-to-hire or direct-hire workers in the Anchorage area, send a message to the Opti Staffing Group. We would love to discuss how we can help your company with its contingent staffing needs.