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Guest post by: Jennifer Loftus Become an Author

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A business week online reader respondedto a 2009 article entitled “Making Employee Engagement Fashionable” by Robert Polet, the CEO of Gucci, by reminding us of certain facts. Highly engaged employees tend to have a 26% higher productivity rate, a lower turnover rate, and miss 20%fewerwork days. In monetary terms, Towers Watson reports that significant improvements in employee engagement in an S&P 500 company can equate to a revenue increase of up to $95 million. Certainly, employee engagement isworththe investment!

A key notion mentioned in Theresa Welbourne’s article“Employee Engagement: Doing It vs. Measuring”is making sure employee engagement isnota “corporate initiative,” rather something that the employees and management control. This notion is supported with the idea that by tying engagement with day to day practices, more is accomplished, and employees don’t feel as though they are going through another “HR fad.” Katharine Esty and Mindy Gewirtz listed tips to help management includeemployee engagementin daily activities:

• Enthusiastic Managers– Managers who want engaged employees are going to put their best foot forward in efforts to engage employees. To this end, managers themselves must feel like they are being engaged withtheirhigher ups. Employee engagement has to begin from the top of the channel, funneling throughout the organization.
• Communication– Communication is important in employee engagement. It is the means by which we canactuallyengage the employees. We also use communication to measure the amount of engagement in the organization.
  • Communication must be done consistently and not in a tiresome routine. It should be done frequently and through a variety of channels such as:
    • A mentoring or coaching program within the organization
    • Regular conversation
    • Monthly meetings
    • Yearly employee input survey
• This communicationhasto include feedback. Employees should know that their interactions are truly valued. An excellent way to demonstrate that value is to provide genuine feedback.
• Address factors that may be demotivating employees.Such factors can vary depending on the organization and the people within it, including both managers and employees. Empathetic listening conveyed with sincere concern will go a long way. There must be careful consideration of possible solutions to these demotivating factors as well.
• Trust in leadership– Employees who do not trust their managers will not freely communicate with them. Managers must build trust in their employees.

Keep in mind that employee engagement isnota year end activity. Building and maintaining employee engagement happensthroughoutthe year. Employees will feel more comfortable with sharing and be motivated to work if they know their input is actually being considered, versus being recorded just for the sake of saying an opinion is “on record.”

Employee engagement can reap rich results, not only in profits, but also in positive organizational culture. Engagement requires both time and effort, and can be achieved by any organization. The level of engagement enjoyed, however, is directly linked to that organization’s sincere efforts.

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