6 Mind-Blowing Stats on Employee Engagement: Why It Matters More Than Ever

Today, the employee engagement movement is the line in the sand that separates mediocrity from excellence in a fast-moving world. But seriously, what is employee engagement, and why does one really care? Let’s run through six mind-blowing statistics that prove keeping a workforce engaged and motivated really does matter.

1. Employee engagement in work: Only 21 percent of the world’s employees really are engaged in work.

Indeed, you read that right. As many as 79% worldwide in its workforce either are not really engaged or actively disengaged from work—a figure, according to the Gallup State of the Global Workplace report.

Global Employee Engagement Breakdown

This statistic is amazing, considering what it means. Actually, most of the world’s workforce is “checked out,” and that can have severe implications on productivity, innovation, and overall business performance.

2. Highly engaged teams show 21% greater profitability:

Now, here is the good news. Gallup also found that organizations with highly engaged workers perform radically better than their peers in almost every category.

This figure speaks volumes to prove that there indeed is a straight line between the bottom line of a company and employee engagement. Since they are much better engaged, they grow up to be a lot more productive, serve their customers better, foster good working environment – drivers of profitability.

3. 92% of employees believe that empathetic leadership retains them

According to Businessolver, 78% of the employees would stick with their current employers if they feel the empathy directed at them. Just this very fact gives way to better retention of key talent within an organization.

Thus, leaders who are more emphatic make the work environment much more conducive and foster job satisfaction and employee loyalty.

4. Engaged employees are 87% less likely to leave their organizations.

Corporate Leadership Council quotes a research which states that engaged employees are much more likely to stay with the current employer.

This statistic emphasizes the role of engagement in reducing turnover costs and maintaining institutional knowledge within an organization.

5. Companies with Engaged Employees Outperform by up to 202%

This longitudinal research by Dale Carnegie Training proves that companies with the presence of engaged employees, in contrast to those who don’t have any, outperform their peers significantly.

What this simply amazing statistic says for itself about how engagement impacts a business’s performance over time, accumulatively.

6. 69% of employees would work harder if they were better appreciated

It’s what Globoforce found out: recognition and appreciation are two of the main motivational drivers that get employees to try harder at their job.

Thus, the need for this stat to come up with something very simple yet helpful in increasing engagement—appreciation for the hard work of employees.

Conclusion

These mind-blowing statistics drive home a very real point: employee engagement isn’t some feel-good metric; it’s actually a business must-have.

From increasing profitability and retention to overall business performance, the advantages of having a highly engaged workforce are pretty hard to dispute. The leaders and managers really do have to work on employee engagement strategies.

You do this by bringing to the fore leadership that is empathetic in nature. To a slight degree, recognition programs chip in with their might. Another way this can be done is by developing a positive work environment.

Hence, the investment you make in the employees’ engagement really does pay dividends in the long run. Remember, an engaged employee does not necessarily have to be a happy one. They are quite literally the jewels in any firm’s crown and really do hold the key to extraordinary business success.