By Michael Gidlewski

Employee engagement is becoming increasingly recognized as a critical component of business success.

The evidence is clear: Not only does employee engagement significantly affect retention, productivity, and loyalty; it also strongly links to your customer’s satisfaction and loyalty and to your company’s reputation and stakeholder value.

The latest engagement research indicates that approximately 70 percent of all American workers are either not engaged or actively disengaged in their jobs. The financial impact of disengagement, estimated to be hundreds of billions of dollars annually, is staggering.

Can you imagine how your organization would perform if seven out of 10 employees were not engaged in their jobs? Conversely, can you imagine how you would soar if 70 percent of your people achieved at the same level as your very best performers?

For these reasons, leaders like you around the world are concentrating more efforts on proactively managing employee engagement and commitment.

Employee engagement is a complex concept with many definitions. One of the most commonly used definitions, according to the Corporate Leadership Council, describes employee engagement as “the extent to which employees commit to something or someone in their organization, how hard they work, and how long they stay as a result of that commitment.”

While each organization may define employee engagement differently, the keys to effectively managing engagement are the individual factors (drivers) that increase overall engagement. By managing these drivers, organizations can effectively manage the engagement levels of their employees.

Some of the key drivers that affect employee engagement include:

• Communication
• Performance clarity and feedback
• Organizational culture
• Rewards and recognition
• Relationships with managers and peers
• Work/life balance
• Career development opportunities
• Knowledge of the organization’s goals and vision

Next week, I will discuss what leaders can do to increase employee engagement.

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Michael Gidlewski is President of West Chester-based Achievement Unlimited, Inc., as well as a growth catalyst and motivational speaker. He works with motivated business owners and entrepreneurs to clearly define the elements of what they dearly want their businesses and lives to look like, then helps them connect all the moving parts that make up those visions to consistent action and habits. Michael can be reached at 610-793-6609 or via e-mail at michael@achievable.com.

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