Most successful contact center managers will tell you that they watch individual employee performance metrics very closely because they affect the company’s bottom line. If an employee is struggling to meet his or her productivity goals they could be out the door tomorrow. After all, there is no shortage of people looking for work these days, right?
Employee Engagement’s Affect on a Company
The reality is, turnover affects a company’s bottom line, too. So what can your operation do to boost the productivity and reduce turnover of your current workforce? Work on employee engagement. According to research that Gallup conducted in 2012, employee engagement has a clear impact on a number of performance outcomes. The study looked at nearly 50,000 business/work units in 192 organizations, in 49 industries and across 34 countries. In total, 1.4 million employees were surveyed in the research.
When they compared the bottom quartile of business/work units to the top quartile, these nine performance outcomes were affected:
These results were in line with Gallup’s 2009 study, which also showed a clear relationship between employee engagement and the key success metrics that companies measure: profit, productivity, customer engagement and employee retention. Another interesting point that Gallup brings up is that the results don’t vary based on the state of our economy.
It depends whom you ask, but the gist is typically the same: An engaged employee is someone who is willing to put forth the effort required to achieve great results for their employer. They are happy working for their employer. Why they are engaged is a totally different question. What did their employer do to engage them?
To determine engagement levels, the same Gallup study asked employees a number of questions regarding:
Through her research at the University of Kentucky’s Institute for Workplace Innovation, Meredith Wells-Lepley, PhD, has concluded that meaningful work is key to employee engagement. According to Wells-Lepley, “People have strong motivation to seek meaning in their work. Employees want to feel worthwhile, useful, valuable and as though they make a difference.”
When employees feel as if they are making a difference, they are more likely to have a better attitude about their work and seek ways to improve their performance and the work at hand.
Entrepreneur and author David Sneed specializes in teaching entry-level employees about the personal benefits of a strong work ethic. In a recent article on the website TLNT, Sneed talks about the importance of getting employees to think like business owners to bolster engagement. He also states the importance of rewarding employees (whether it is through recognition or a financial perk) and helping them understand the actual value of the work they do to the company’s success. This helps the employee feel a sense of ownership.
Having the resources and tools necessary to learn and grow was also important to employees in the Gallup research. KOVA Corporations workforce management solutions can integrate eLearning and coaching into your enterprise solution plans. Visit our contact center page for details.
