How To Measure Employee Engagement to Maximize Retention and Productivity

Employee engagement is now at an all-time low as workers increasingly feel disengaged from their jobs. This lack of engagement has given rise to various concerning trends, such as "Rage Applying" and "The Great Gloom.”

With more employees feeling disconnected, companies need to measure different factors such as employee wellness, productivity, workplace culture, and other aspects that affect employee engagement levels.

What’s more, companies need to create strategies and implement changes to improve employee engagement, retain top talent, and boost productivity.

Explore the importance of employee engagement, its impact and benefits, and how businesses can measure employee engagement to maximize retention and productivity.

What is Employee Engagement?

Employee engagement refers to the level of commitment, involvement, and enthusiasm that employees bring to their work and organization. It serves as a measure of employees' commitment to their roles and responsibilities, as well as the overall success of the company.

Employee engagement is also a reflection of the company's workplace culture and the support provided to employees. It goes beyond job satisfaction and encompasses the emotional connection an employee has with their work, colleagues, and organization.

Why Employee Engagement Matters:

When employees are engaged, they develop a profound commitment to the success of their company and are more likely to make decisions that positively contribute towards achieving the organization's goals.

However, according to Sprout's Quiet Quitting Report, only 21% of workers across the globe are engaged in their work. In the Philippines, overall employee engagement was high, with an average score of 4.30 over 5, but notable trends showed a different story. The Financial Services sector experienced a significant 86.9% increase in attrition, Healthcare and Social Work saw a 20.01% reduction in overtime hours, and the BPO industry saw an increase in tardiness from 254,017 to 492,488 minutes.

In addition, more than half of employees (53%) decided to leave their jobs due to dissatisfaction with their salaries. This emphasizes the importance of prioritizing employee engagement for employers, given that 80% of employees express a willingness to stay with their organizations if they are offered better benefits and salaries. A focus on employee engagement can indeed have a significant impact on the company's bottom line.

The Impact of Employee Engagement

Employee engagement directly influences key workplace metrics, serving as a crucial driver of productivity and efficiency. Here's a closer look at its impact.

Better Employee Retention

Employee turnover is a major concern for organizations, with high costs associated with hiring and training new employees. According to the Work Institute's 2020 Retention Report, voluntary turnover cost employers over $630 billion in 2019 alone. Employee engagement plays a crucial role in solving this issue. 

Actively engaged employees are less likely to seek new job opportunities, resulting in lower turnover rates compared to low-engagement teams. In fact, highly engaged teams experience turnover rates that are 18% to 43% lower. 

Lower turnover means less time and resources spent on recruiting, hiring, and training new employees. It also leads to increased knowledge sharing within the organization, as experienced employees can contribute their expertise and mentor newer team members.

Increased Workforce Productivity

Engaged employees demonstrate stronger commitment, have a clear understanding of their responsibilities, and feel motivated to contribute to their organization's success.

According to Gallup, organizations with high levels of employee engagement experience a 41% reduction in absenteeism and a 17% increase in productivity. This increase in productivity can lead to significant cost savings for the organization and contribute to its overall growth.

Enhanced Employee Satisfaction

Research consistently shows that job satisfaction is important for organizational success. A study published in Perspectives on Psychological Science showed that higher job satisfaction among employees predicts positive outcomes for companies, including employee retention, customer loyalty, and financial performance.

Further supporting this, findings from Procedia Economics and Finance revealed that greater job satisfaction is associated with increased commitment, effectiveness, efficiency, loyalty, and productivity.

These studies highlight the significant link between job satisfaction, employee engagement, and overall organizational success. It is evident that when employees are satisfied with their jobs, they are more likely to be dedicated, productive, and loyal to their organization.

Improved Customer Satisfaction

Did you know that companies that have more than 50% of their employees engaged retain 80% of their customers? 

This is because engaged employees are more likely to provide excellent customer service, leading to higher levels of customer satisfaction. Customers who receive excellent service are more likely to have a positive perception of the company, which can result in increased customer loyalty and positive word-of-mouth recommendations. 

Positive Company Image

When deciding where to apply for a job, 86% of employees and job seekers check company reviews and ratings to get a sense of the company's reputation and culture. 

Having bad reviews can hurt a business's chances of attracting top talent and can also deter potential customers from doing business with the company. In fact, 50% of job seekers and 90% of customers say that they won’t work or buy from a company with a bad reputation.

Since having a positive company image is crucial for attracting both talented employees and customers, businesses need to focus on employee engagement to stay competitive. Engaged employees are more likely to speak positively about their company, leading to better reviews and ratings. Plus, engaged employees are also more likely to go above and beyond in their work, providing exceptional customer service and driving customer satisfaction. 

Measure and Improve Employee Engagement with Sprout

Effective measurement allows employers to identify areas of improvement and implement strategies to increase employee engagement. However, to fully understand and improve engagement, it's crucial to use automation solutions like Sprout, which offers various features to measure and boost employee engagement. 

Here are some of Sprout's recommended solutions to help organizations measure and improve employee engagement:

Employee Survey with Pulse

Conducting regular surveys to gather employee feedback is an essential part of any successful organization. Surveys provide valuable insights into employee satisfaction, engagement, and overall experience with the company.

While traditional annual surveys may be time-consuming and cumbersome, Pulse eliminates manual data gathering and automates the whole survey process on a centralized dashboard. It helps uncover deep-seated engagement issues and pinpoint areas of concern, as well as which departments are the least engaged. 

Through this, leaders can make data-driven decisions based on the different engagement analytics and trends.

HR Analytics with Insight

Insight provides managers and leaders with a comprehensive overview of their employees' engagement levels, enabling them to identify patterns and trends. This tool also allows for benchmarking against other organizations in the same industry.

Managers and leaders can save time by reducing time spent on data processing and focusing more on comprehending and analyzing the user's data. Insight gives the user full visibility on absenteeism, attrition, daily attendance, the general workforce, headcount, planned leaves, and salary. Having access to this data enables users to make well-informed, impactful business decisions based on actionable insights.

Insight empowers organizations to enhance workforce planning by:

• Enhancing retention and attraction
• Boosting performance and productivity
• Creating fair and competitive compensation and benefits package

Performance Evaluations and Development with Performance+

Measuring employee performance and providing feedback is a vital aspect of employee engagement. Performance+ creates a platform that doesn't just give feedback but also gives actionable learning material to address them.

Moreover, Performance+ aids employees with their career development plans and motivates them by giving them a direct source of feedback, KPIs, and goals. This not only helps with improving employees, but it also increases retention and makes the company more attractive as an employer.

Performance+ enables leaders to streamline the entire performance management process, providing them with access to digital tools and reports that can enhance their teams' productivity and learning.

Employee well-being with Wellness

Ensuring employee well-being is crucial in maintaining high levels of employee engagement. Wellness gives employees access to a holistic wellness solution that provides different services tailored to help address various physical and wellness concerns.

In addition, Pulse-Wellness surveys help employers gain insight into their employees' overall well-being and identify areas for improvement. Providing services that promote employees' mental and physical well-being leads to increased retention and productivity. 

Additionally, advocating for mental health and offering accessible solutions enhances the employer brand and company culture and attracts more applicants who have the same advocacies.

Say Yes to Success: Partner with Sprout for Unmatched Employee Engagement

Employee engagement is crucial for creating a positive work environment and driving success in various areas, such as retention rates, productivity, and overall employee satisfaction. 

Sprout’s comprehensive suite of solutions is designed to accurately measure, improve, and sustain high levels of employee engagement in order to foster growth and success within your organization.

Here's why our client chose Sprout:

“One of the things that we’re continuing to look at is how to optimize the current facilities and equipment that we have. If you automate some of these processes, you can take talented individuals, great company members, and redeploy them into new innovations you were coming up with. Growth becomes part of this equation; we need all the good people we can get, so let’s get rid of the mundane jobs and get them into things that are really value adding.”

- Michael Suprick, CEO for Johnsonville, LLC

Johnsonville and Sprout collaborated on several initiatives to improve their workplace environment, such as conducting anonymous surveys to evaluate employee engagement and addressing key workplace issues. They also worked on effectively managing overseas HR and payroll data while encouraging cross-functional learning and strengthening internal company relationships.

Ready to boost your team's engagement? Talk to us and experience the difference of having a highly engaged workforce.For more stories on how our solutions are transforming workplaces, visit our Customer Success Stories page.