[aa_subtitle_display]Employee engagement is a hot topic that no company irrespective of its size can choose to ignore. There has been an increasing awareness among organizations about the importance of employee engagement for business performance.

Disengagement can hurt businesses in many different ways. A key effect of disengagement is increase in the absenteeism rate. The accumulated impact of this can be overwhelming. Companies lose billions of dollars when employees are absent from work for prolonged periods. This can have an adverse effect on productivity too.

Failing to engage employees can affect employment brand too. Disengaged employees may not choose to recommend their company as a place to work. The adverse word of mouth publicity ensures that talented job aspirants choose to work somewhere else.

Negative Impact of Low Engagement

• Low engagement companies saw a decline of 32.7% in operating profits whereas highly engaged companies saw an increase of 19.2%.
• Companies with low engagement lagged in the average revenue growth of their industry by at least 2%.
• Companies with low engagement levels below 25% reported negative shareholder return whereas those with high engagement levels of 60 – 70% averaged higher shareholder return.
• Disengaged employees were found to take twice as many sick leaves as their engaged counterparts.
• Low engaged manufacturing units are found to have an average of 62% more accidents compared to highly engaged manufacturing units.
• Only 12% of disengaged employees said that they had no plans to leave the job and 31% said that they were actively looking for a job. In comparison 66% of engaged employees said they had no plans of quitting and only 3% were actively looking for another job.

Before companies start the process of employee engagement they need to be aware of the types of employees working in their organization. This can help them come up with strategies to deal with it.

One important thing that all organizations and managers need to remember is that you cannot have a single strategy to deal with the situation and it may vary depending on the industry and the size of the organization.

Types of Employees

Engaged

These employees are the real assets of the company as they work with passion to fulfil all organizational goals. They are motivated, enthusiastic and increase productivity and profits. They have an emotional connection with the organization and put in an extra effort in their daily work.

Not Engaged

These employees are bored with their work. Although they are present at the workplace they do not show any passion or commitment towards their job. They have mentally quit their job yet stay with the organization resulting in a big financial drain. This can result in loss of productivity as the employees are no longer interested in contributing at the workplace.

Actively Disengaged

These employees are not just unhappy at work but also demonstrate their unhappiness. They tend to undermine what their engaged team members have accomplished on a daily basis.

Tackling the issue of engagement in any organization is challenging. Companies can choose to make use of PEO tools and strategies to come up with a game plan to tackle poor employee engagement. With the right initiatives, it is possible to change your organization from a low engaged one to a highly engaged one.