Employee engagement can be defined as, “the emotional commitment the employee has to the organization and its goals”. Employee engagement is the behaviour of an employee that shows they aren’t just filling a seat to collect a paycheque, but are truly invested into an organization and care about the direction it is heading and the work they are doing to contribute to those goals.
The foundation of employee engagement is based on trust and the commitment between an organization and its workforce. Establishing a discourse between the two parties that facilitates communication and participation will increase business success. It contributes directly to the success of an employee and the organization as a whole.
An engaged workforce will lead to better business outcomes. It has been reported that organizations with engaged employees have 6% higher net profit margins.
In 2016, 27% of Canadian workers were said to be highly engaged in their current role.
Needless to say, all employees are not created equal. There are several distinctive traits that an engaged employee will possess. Many of these traits are individual characteristics, but many will come from experience in the workforce and skills learned or developed on a personal or professional level.
Employees that are happy in their role and actively look to progress their career will naturally be more engaged and remain at an organization for a longer period of time. They also tend to put in extra effort into their work and strive to build relationships with other employees and customers alike.
Industries like retail, restaurant, and warehousing are largely driven by metrics and goals. With tight budgets and goals to be hit daily, micromanagement can easily be perceived as the only way to ensure success. However, letting an employee do their tasks without necessarily telling them directly how to do it can be an empowering way to engage staff. Employees that make decisions on how to perform their tasks are typically more engaged and will require less hand-holding.
An employee that can demonstrate that they can lead not only others but also segments of the organization’s daily tasks will be more engaged. Responsibility can be an incredibly powerful way to motivate employees and have employees think proactively.
The ability to adapt and solve problems and/or adapt to any situation are signs of an engaged employee who genuinely cares about the work that they do. They will strive to acquire the skillset to solve these problems and will do so enthusiastically. This is because they feel more content and acknowledged for who they are in the workplace than those with low engagement levels.
Employee engagement promotes a culture of unity and belongingness towards the organization and makes it the task of every employee to make an effort in solving any potential problems that might pose an obstacle in a business’s path to success.
Mindfield recommends implementing a behavioural assessment tool to gain initial insight into the personality and behaviours of a potential employee before they even move into the interview process. Behavioural assessments can be automated into the application process and act and a great way to screen out candidates that do not align with your organization’s values and ideal candidate profile.
About Mindfield
Mindfield is a Recruitment Outsourcing solutions provider that partners with companies to create powerful hourly workforces. Our solutions combine a recruitment team, simple to use technology and a data-driven hiring strategy that promises to improve the quality of your hourly workforce. This approach focuses on tying business outcomes such as sales performance, tenure, and engagement to the selection, hiring and measurement of quality candidates.