Most business owners have an idea of what employee engagement is, but not enough make it a priority. In most cases, it’s because they don’t fully understand it or don’t think that it’s important. But, in a time when employees have more power and options than ever, overlooking engagement could be a fatal mistake. Having disengaged employees can directly affect your bottom line and you need to take all the steps necessary to improve engagement if you want to stay competitive. Here are some of the ways poor employee engagement could be hurting your business.
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Less Productivity
The most direct way employee disengagement will affect your business is when it comes to production. One particular study found that engaged teams were 17% more productive than disengaged ones. It was also found that employees who were disengaged were 60% more likely to make errors.
Disengaged employees don’t really care about meeting their role’s expectations. They may not even feel like they play a real role within the organisation, and that’s often because there’s a lack of communication with upper management.
This is why you need to do everything you can to get your people’s sentiments on the floor. One of the best ways to do this would be to use employee engagement platforms and collect data from employee surveys. This will allow your employees to tell what they think about the organisation, their role, and things they would like to see improve.
Disengaged Employees are More Likely to Quit Out of the Blue
One of the things employers often overlook is that nothing is stopping their employees from looking at other options or forcing them to let them know when they do. One study by Gallop found that 73% of disengaged employees were actively looking for other jobs while still working with their current employees. You don’t want to see one or multiple of your employees leave with no warning as it will put pressure on your HR team and your remaining employees. They could then be tempted to leave because of the increased workload. So, if you want to avoid this disastrous domino effect, monitor engagement closely and take concrete steps to boost it.
Disengaged Employees Are More Likely to Call in Sick
If you’re currently dealing with big absenteeism issues, then employee disengagement might be the cause for them. Research shows that over half of UK workers have pulled a “sickie”, and in many cases, dissatisfaction with their jobs was the reason why. Fake sick days will cost your organisation in terms of compensation and loss of production, and it might also affect your overall team’s morale.
Disengaged Employees Commit More Malicious Acts
Did you know that about 30% of IT security breaches are caused by employees, and that a large portion of them are triggered by issues in the workplace? Security breaches can put your business in serious jeopardy, open you up to litigation, and even bankruptcy. So, if you thought that employee engagement was just a small detail, think again.
These are all reasons why businesses should spend more time on improving their team’s engagement. It all starts by making small meaningful steps and listening to what your people have to say.