Human resource management courses also point to other indirect advantages of employee engagement. An engaged workforce can drive innovation and freshness in business ideas. There can also be an increase in high-value activities like process improvement or product development.
A study at Gallup concluded that low employee engagement can cost a company a big buck. Across the world, low engagement rates cost the global economy around $8.1 trillion per year.
Let’s try to understand this human resource management concept in further detail.
The definition of employee engagement in 2022
While the working understanding of employee engagement can change over the years, the core definition remains the same. Essentially, employee engagement refers to the level of commitment and satisfaction that an employee derives from their work in a company.
In 2022, employee engagement may include more than just work satisfaction. It refers to the workforce’s emotional commitment to the organisational goals. Employee engagement today is also used to refer to the morale among the workforce.
Why is employee engagement a priority for top organisations today?
The reason’s simple—engaged employees believe in the end purpose of their actions. Therefore, they are more likely to act in their company’s interests. A business that engages with its employees earns more profits than its competitors.
An article published in Engagement Multiplier suggests that companies with higher engagement levels can earn up to 4X higher dividends than businesses with disengaged employees.
There are other added advantages to good employee engagement. Studies show that it can contribute to fewer accidents, better employee retention and better health outcomes for the workforce.
Here are the primary reasons why good employee engagement can add value to a business:
- An increase in annual turnover
- Reduced safety incidents
- An increase in customer ratings
- A decrease in absenteeism
- An increase in the quality of output
- An increase in innovations
- An increase in overall productivity
What are the top priorities for employee engagement in 2022?
Despite employee engagement being a top priority for most businesses, the recent pandemic has made it difficult to achieve high engagement levels. Over the last two years, businesses found it an uphill task to engage with employees stressed out by their own health or sick relatives.
Even with the worst of the pandemic behind us, it could still be challenging to achieve high employee engagement. Businesses will want to focus on the following employee engagement issues in 2022.
- Coming up with a system to accurately measure employee engagement.
- Educating employees about the importance of good engagement levels.
- Focusing on developing a strong company culture in the post-pandemic world.
- Optimising the onboarding process in a hybrid work model universe.
How can companies boost their employee engagement levels?
There are several ways that a business can improve its employee engagement levels. Here are the top ones:
- Have a strong feedback-driven policy system.
- Work on employee-friendly core values and company vision.
- Provide multiple opportunities for employees to grow and improve.
- Focus on creating a good work-life balance for employees.
- Include the health and wellness of employees among the organisational goals.
- Recognise the efforts of the top-performing individuals and teams and reward them for their performance.
- Conduct frequent employee engagement surveys.
- Plan virtual or offline company events or outings.
- Create employee resource groups to help the workforce feel visible in the workplace.
Every corporate worker wants meaningful work and would stick with an organisation that makes them feel their efforts are valid. Employee engagement is even more important for companies today since millennials are proven to be twice as likely to quit a job than their predecessors.
Employee engagement is an integral concept taught in most human resources courses and is a must-know for aspiring HR professionals. It can pay off to choose the right HR courses in Dublin that focus on employee engagement in-depth.
If you’re interested in HR courses in Ireland, the Diploma in Human Resource Management from the IBAT College Dublin may be right up your alley. This programme can help you understand how to have a strategic impact on your organisation as an HR professional.
The programme delves into key areas of human resource management, including employee engagement, recruitment, training processes and payroll. The faculty is experienced in different aspects of HRM and have extensive teaching and industry certifications.
Click here to check out other facets of the HRM programme at IBAT College today!