Happy employees equal happy customers
Although companies across the globe are battling with the current economic instability, according to an international corporate study, employee engagement worldwide and perceptions of their work experience improved in 2012.
Aon Hewitt, a global talent solutions business, found that a study of more than 2 500 organisations (about 3.8 million employees) concluded that engagement levels rose to 60% in 2012, from 58% in 2011 and 56% in 2010.
I am surprised that there is only a 2% rise in employee engagement scores given that in our current environment, where the war on talent is increasing, it becomes vital that businesses keep top performers at all costs. It is an added bonus to have happy employees as it keeps an environment healthy in real terms – in other words, the bottom line.
So what is employee engagement really?
Simply put, it is the extent to which employees commit to something or someone in the organisation, how hard they will work and how long they will stay according to that commitment.
Satisfaction is not employee engagement, and vice versa. While the two certainly reinforce and complement each other, there is value in studying both. Satisfied employees may come to work and do their jobs, but may not work at their highest capacity if they are not engaged. These employees are a flight risk. Business needs to focus on developing satisfaction and engagement which will result in higher customer satisfaction, reduced turnover, increased productivity and improved profits.
The Aon survey positively shows that the highest employee engagement improvement areas are effective communication and leadership. These two areas are vital in increasing employee engagement. Leaders must understand their people as individuals and manage them in a way that best suits their requirements:
- Some employees like to work remotely because of childcare needs, while
- Others like to be in the office collaborating face-to-face with others.
Every employee is unique and should be treated as such.
Make sure your communication is crystal clear
Clear communication and relationship-building also ensures that people understand what is expected of them and details their performance expectations around any reward schemes associated with performance. When this is all communicated effectively, employees are happy as their expectations are managed.
Customer relationships have deteriorated
One concern from the survey is the drop off in the area of customers (-2 points). The customer relationship is vital to business. In keeping customers happy, you maintain your business pipeline.
Only 55% of employees feel that their performance is enabled, explaining that performance management enables people to:
- Deliver their best,
- Keep your customers happy, and
- Remain happy themselves in the understanding that they have what they need to perform.
Make information clear to your employees. Ensure that they understand their goals and their succession capabilities if they want to grow in the business. Leaders must improve in this area and enable their businesses to allow people to perform optimally.
According to Gallup's employee engagement work, companies with engaged staff have:
- 30% higher customer satisfaction,
- 22% higher productivity, and
- Up to 27% higher profits.
In addition, the Gallup study also proves that organisations with actively engaged employees boast approximately four times the earnings per share growth rate in their industry. The world's top-performing organisations understand that employee engagement is a force that drives performance outcomes. In the best organisations, engagement is more than an HR initiative - it's a strategic foundation for the way they do business.
While there is a huge drive behind technology, social collaboration and cloud being the future of work, it's important to understand that technology is simply an enabler. The future isn't digital, it's people and employee engagement remains one of the most critical areas that will define the success of an organisation in the future.
