Reports show that disengaged employees cost companies between $450 and $550 billion a year, so it’s clear employee engagement and employee connection with the mobile workforce is more important than ever. A vast amount of research on this subject is conducted annually, offering some key insights into the current state of employee engagement statistics in companies like yours. Let’s take a look at the numbers to see why getting a workforce app is so important to help engage frontline workers.
Get a free demo of the Beekeeper employee engagement platform here to see how you can improve employee engagement in your organization.
What Is Employee Engagement and the Importance of Transparency?
According to Forbes, employee engagement is the “emotional commitment the employee has to the organization and its goals.” In 2018, Gallup reported that only 34% of the U.S. workforce consisted of engaged employees. Gallup also found that high engagement levels lead to decreased turnover, lower absenteeism, fewer workplace accidents, higher productivity, and increased profitability. In fact, businesses in the top engagement quartile experience 21% higher profitability with the importance of transparency.
Desk Workers vs. Frontline Workers
Employee engagement numbers for non-desk workers are even lower since they don’t communicate with colleagues as much as if they were in an office. A mere 22% of non-desk workers think their role is important to the company vision, and only 10% have a strong connection to the company overall, meaning that the total number of engaged employees is very small. By implementing an employee engagement platform, frontline workers can communicate with their colleagues and allow them to build a stronger connection to the company.
Women vs. Men
A 2016 Gallup study found that women were collectively more engaged than men. 35% of female employees were engaged as opposed to 29% of men. Overall participation was higher for managers with 41% of female managers reporting to be engaged, while only 35% of male managers were.
The Cost of a Disengaged Workforce
Actively disengaged workers are 73% more likely to report they are looking for jobs than engaged workers who reported 37%. According to one Harvard study, toxic workers (described as the most disengaged) cost companies $12,489 in turnover per employee, whereas productive employees are more likely to add profit to a company. Turnover costs vary greatly depending on an employee’s hourly or salaried wages. An employee engagement software allows you to fully understand how engaged your employees are.
Improve Employee Engagement
A SilkRoad study found that 53% of Human Resources professionals believe that improved onboarding is the key to workforce engagement. Lack of of budget for HR systems and training proves to be the biggest obstacle to strengthening employee engagement according to 15% of HR leaders.
Actively involved staff members are some of your company’s greatest assets, but if the numbers are any indication, employee engagement is still an area that needs critical attention. If you want to retain your team while simultaneously improving your bottom line, increase focus on employee engagement by using an employee engagement software. You’ll be in good company – 88% of companies surveyed plan to expand engagement efforts in 2017. Trust us, it’s worth it. Companies with highly connected workforces outperform their peers by 147% in earnings per share.
