Club Insure Risk Management’s HR Advisor, Claudia Williams, talks about why employee engagement is extremely important to every business, whatever its size, and how it can increase productivity and profitability.
Around a decade ago it was identified that the UK had an “employee engagement deficit” in that only one third of UK employees felt engaged. This disengagement was contributing to a severe decline in productivity and it is estimated that the UK potentially loses £60 billion per year due to lack of engagement. In addition, research demonstrates that organisations with higher engagement scores average 18% higher productivity than those with low engagement scores. With these figures in mind, we can see why increasing engagement became a priority for UK leaders.
ACAS defines engagement as ‘having a motivated workforce who display positive behaviour and attitude at work’. Those who are actively engaged will not only perform their job to the best of their ability, but will go above and beyond to contribute to the overall success of the company.
Key benefits of increased engagement include:
- greater employee happiness and satisfaction
- reduced absenteeism
- higher retention
- better quality, productivity and customer service
- increased sales and profitability
Of course, we include volunteers under the umbrella term of ’employee’ in this context. Anyone who works for your club, whether in a paid capacity or not, should be engaged and proud to work for you.
How can we achieve strong employee engagement?
ACAS say some of the most effective methods to increase engagement are:
- To ensure you have strong leaders who communicate the organisation’s vision and goals. “A vision that is good for the organisation and that means something to staff” needs to be communicated on an ongoing basis so that your workforce are all working towards the same common goal.
- Ensure line managers support employees and can relate to their staff. It needs to be ensured that “managers are equipped and confident in the skills needed to effectively manage staff and get the best out of them.”
- Speak to your staff and allow employees to have a voice – “your employees know first-hand what works and what doesn’t. If you can harness that knowledge productively, you will get better decision making and more innovation. It’s a fantastic way to start motivating your staff.”
- Make sure that when the business makes promises, it keeps them. This creates a culture of integrity and trust. “Policies on things like quality and diversity have to be seen to work. Are managers practising what they preach?”
For further information on the benefits of engagement and how to achieve this at your club, please refer to ACAS’ Advisory Booklet, The People Factor.
If you have any queries regarding the above, or any other health & safety or HR matters, please feel free to contact the Club Insure Risk Management team for help and guidance.