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Employee engagement is very important in ensuring transfer and retention of knowledge. That’s because employee engagement:
- Drives customer loyalty, which creates business profitability;
- Aligns the goals and concerns of the employee base with those of the organization;
- Makes use of discretionary time; and
- Transforms “just a job” into an important part of the individual’s personal identity.
For these reasons and more, understanding and managing employee engagement can help businesses make more with less and do a better job in the process.
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How can you tell if you don’t have a high level of employee engagement? Typical symptoms of employees who are not engaged include:
- Absenteeism;
- Sense of entitlement;
- High staff turnover;
- Poor time utilization;
- Poor work quality;
- Low productivity;
- High number of employee complaints;
- High number of customer complaints;
- Conflict in the workplace; and
- Resistance to listening and changing.
A great employee experience deepens our commitment, heightens our engagement, and reminds us why we choose to work for a particular organization. While reasons for wanting to work for a particular company vary from employee to employee, the desire to be happy and feel passionate about what we do is a shared feeling among many.
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Employers can create opportunities, including training, for their employees that remind them of their passions and encourage them to go above and beyond in their work. Employers can use employee engagement surveys to find out what motivates their employees.
Michael D. Lawrence of Summit Safety Technologies (www.SafetyProgramNow.com) assists businesses in developing Safety Management Systems, including training programs. He can be reached at mike@safetyprogramnow.com.
Why It Matters
- Employee engagement is essential for effective training.
- Trainees always need to know “What’s in it for me?” (WIIFM?) if they’re going to pay attention and adopt safety practices.
- Spend time at the beginning of training sessions to ensure that employees are completely engaged before attempting to train them on safety procedures and equipment.