The Importance of Employee Engagement for Business Success
December 30, 2022
As a business owner or manager, it's important to understand the value of having engaged employees. Engaged employees are those who are committed to their work and the success of the organization. They are motivated, productive, and often go above and beyond to ensure that the company is running smoothly.
So, what makes an employee engaged, and why is it so important? Here are a few key reasons:
- Increased productivity: Engaged employees are more likely to be productive, as they are motivated and invested in their work. This can lead to higher levels of output and a more efficient workplace.
- Better customer service:Engaged employees are more likely to provide excellent customer service, as they are motivated to do their best work and ensure that the company's customers are satisfied.
- Lower turnover: Employees who are engaged with their work are less likely to leave the company, which can save the business time and money on recruiting and training new employees.
- Improved financial performance:Companies with high levels of employee engagement tend to perform better financially. This may be because engaged employees are more productive and provide better customer service, leading to increased sales and profits.
So, how can you improve employee engagement in your organization? Here are a few tips:
- Offer opportunities for growth and development: Employees who feel like they are learning and growing in their careers are more likely to be engaged. Consider offering training and development programs or opportunities for advancement.
- Foster a positive work culture:A positive work culture can go a long way in promoting employee engagement. This includes creating a supportive, collaborative environment and recognizing and valuing the contributions of your employees.
- Encourage open communication:Encourage open communication between employees and management. This can help employees feel heard and valued, and can also lead to better problem-solving and decision-making.
- Provide meaningful work: Employees are more likely to be engaged when they feel like their work is meaningful and contributes to the overall mission of the company. Make sure that your employees understand the purpose of their work and how it fits into the bigger picture.
In conclusion, employee engagement is crucial for the success of any business. By fostering a positive work culture, offering opportunities for growth and development, and encouraging open communication, you can help ensure that your employees are motivated and invested in the success of your company.
Book a call with Barbra today to explore how Glee Coaching can help your business boost it's employee engagement.
Ideas and thoughts on how to lead well through complexity and change
The Intergenerational Advantage: Why Construction Firms Who Blend Ages Will Outperform Everyone Else
If you’re worried about not having enough young people, including women coming into construction, you’re asking the wrong question. The real risk is what happens when you don’t use the people you already have properly. The Crisis No One Is Solving Properly Across the UK, the construction workforce is ageing faster than it’s being replenished. There are 20% more workers aged 55+ than under 25. And it gets worse: 35% of the workforce is now over 50, and only 20% is under 30. Yes this presents an industry risk, but closer to home we see organisational risk. Leaders worry about recruitment, apprenticeships, T levels, Skills Bootcamps all useful, but none of them address the real issue: Experience is walking out of the door every single day, and new capability isn’t being integrated fast enough. This is exactly what my conversation with Colin McEllin MCIOB of Clan Contracting highlighted. When a 21 year old commercial graduate joined Clan Contracting, Colin didn’t roll his eyes or think, “another kid who’s never been on a site.” He leaned into it and welcomes thoughts, ideas and advice from 'young Aaron'. Massive benefits for him, and Aaron, and the wider team. Why Intergenerational Leadership Is Now a Strategic Priority The construction sector is staring at a workforce cliff edge: • 140,000+ vacancies lie unfilled. • By 2036, 750,000 skilled workers will retire, stripping the industry of vital capability. • The UK will need nearly 1 million additional construction workers by 2032. Yet recruitment alone isn’t enough. You cannot hire your way out of this crisis. We must integrate generations on purpose, not by accident. What Younger Workers Bring (That Leaders Ignore at Their Peril) Younger talent offers: • Modern thinking around sustainability and digital tooling • Analytical approaches and better documentation habits • A willingness to question processes that haven't been updated since the 90s • A commercial lens shaped by newer training systems In Colin’s words, their thinking “took him right back to when he was 21” eager, energetic, ideas driven. You want that energy before they lose it. What Older Workers Bring (That You Can’t Replace) Your experienced people have: • 30+ years of instinct • Pattern recognition that no textbook teaches • Quiet influence that stabilises teams • Technical fluency on heritage, concrete, structure, sequencing, conservation, problem solving These people are your institutional memory. Once they go, they’re gone. And currently, UK engineering employers admit they only retain knowledge effectively from 57% of retiring staff. That is a crisis hiding in plain sight. Leadership Actions That Works 1. Create deliberate two way mentoring (not hierarchical mentoring). Younger staff teach digital skills, new processes, sustainability thinking. Older staff teach technical judgment, site sense, risk spotting. Both feel valued. 2. Give young people actual responsibility, not token tasks. The CITB plans 40,000+ industry placements a year. It means nothing if leaders hide young people in the corner. Let them make decisions, with support. 3. Systemise knowledge transfer. You cannot afford to rely on “ask Dave if you need help.” You need processes, templates, technical walkthroughs, shared documentation. 4. Remove the “that’s not how we do it here” reflex. 76% of construction workers say current training doesn’t adequately prepare people for the job. So your way probably isn’t the best way anymore. Your Competitive Advantage Is Sitting Right Under Your Nose When generations work in isolation, capability leaks. When generations work together, capability compounds. The firms who win over the next decade won’t be the ones who grab the talent, it will be the ones who blend talent. Listen to the full episode of the podcast here or watch on You Tube here About me I write about topics that my podcast guests bring to the podcast. They have years of experience with challenges and opportunities along the way, highs and lows and are in the thick of leading with purpose and passion, faults an'all. As a coach and trainer I work with leaders and their times to help them thrive, laugh, enjoy their work, be productive and to build teams of all ages.
We love what we do so we grow in that role, we end up as leader with people around us but we want to stay doing the thing we love doing. Balancing leadership is hard.
