Sadly, this glib comment validates what Gallup has been stating for years. Employee engagement levels have hovered around 30% since about 2000, with the most recent statistic at 32% in 2015.
Engaged employees are enthusiastic about their work, dedicated to the success of the company and willing to go the extra mile to ensure it succeeds. They can take a company from good to great.
On the flip side, 50.8% of our employees are disengaged – putting in their time and doing the minimum required. The other remaining 17.2% are actively disengaged, busily working against our businesses every day. This overall lack of employee morale is leading to between $450 and $550 billion per year in lost productivity.
The result is a crisis of engagement, and most business owners and managers aren’t even aware of it.
Imagine if most of your employees were actively engaged. What would that do for your business?
According to 30 years of research and 30 million employees surveyed, Gallup shows a strong connection between employee engagement and company performance:
Now here’s a statistic that packs a punch: Companies with highly engaged workforces outperform their peers by 147% in earnings per share!
If we look at the most impactful way to reverse the engagement trend, all roads point to great bosses – versus profit-sharing, work-life balance initiatives, and other perks like ping pong tables and yoga classes.
In the book First, Break All the Rules, Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman show that if an employee’s relationship with his or her manager is compromised, then no amount of perks will persuade them to perform at top levels.
Further, a study by Accenture found that the number one reason people quit companies is because they didn’t like their boss. Multiple studies also say that being cared about by a boss is the strongest predictor of employee engagement.
The newly released book, How to be a Great Boss, by Gino Wickman and Rene Boer, claims that successful companies have engaged employees – but it all starts at the top.
The book shows how to use the Entrepreneurial Operating System® (EOS®) to create and maintain an environment where employees feel pride and loyalty for the company, and go the extra mile to finish a piece of work. These employees are in alignment with the organization’s values and committed to helping the company achieve its goals.
Studies show that direct interaction from leadership, recognition for accomplishments, strong bonds between coworkers, a sense of purpose and a sense of autonomy all contribute to improved engagement. Here are some facts to support these claims:
So how about having fewer sick days, accidents, errors, conflicts and grievances – while watching productivity and retention go up? Having passionate people won’t just improve your bottom line, it will give you a better, more enjoyable place to work, which will literally make your life better.
Have you done everything possible to make your people successful? Get more help by downloading the first chapter of How to be a Great Boss.
This article originally appeared on the B-Better Business Coaching blog.