Employee Engagement and Corporate Wellness

Corporate Wellness SolutionsThe recent Business Journal Gallop Poll confirmed what I’ve suspected for a long time about the mediocre reality of employee engagement.

With engagement flat since 2000, the percentage of U.S. workers in 2015 who Gallup considered engaged in their jobs averaged just 32%, squeaking up only .5% from 2014, reflecting little to no improvement.

The remainder of the 100% tells the story, with 50.8% of employees “not engaged,” and the remaining 17.2% “actively disengaged.”

So what’s going on here? What are the numbers really telling us?

The Gallop’s definition of “engaged employees” is that they are involved in, enthusiastic about, and committed to their work. So the fact that half of America’s workplace is not engaged is troubling, and should in itself be a wake-up call to employers.

It appears we have a long way to go.

The Rinse and Repeat Problem

Improving employee engagement to a healthy level of job satisfaction and fulfillment is a good concept, but evidently the methodology is flawed and outdated.

It’s not just about surveys and worn out initiatives that will improve engagement. As the Business Journal aptly states, “When companies focus exclusively on measuring engagement rather than on improving engagement, they often fail to make necessary changes that will engage employees or meet employees’ workplace needs. Companies that base their engagement strategy on a survey or metrics-only solution can find themselves caught in a “rinse and repeat” pattern, focusing on engagement periodically — usually around survey time.”[1]

What’s the solution to improving employee engagement, and leave these depressing statistics in the past? Companies can either take this information and shrug, or decide enough is enough.

Up Your Employee Engagement with Corporate Wellness

Ideally, employers should actively listen and fully understand what their employees want to see change in order to be engaged. Without that bridge of understanding, employers will simply miss the mark and risk another rinse-and-repeat scenario.

Ultimately, the most comprehensive method of employee feedback is by way of surveys, either internally or, if there is little to no response, bringing in an outside source to collect responses and summarize the findings.

An ongoing, company-wide corporate wellness program is the perfect catalyst to create a culture of healthy and productive employee engagement.

The right corporate wellness strategy will be customized to your employees and organization.

How to increase employee engagement.

  1. You have to commit to really digging in and find out why your employees are not engaged.
  2. You must actively LISTEN to the feedback that they give you or a 3rd party.
  3. You have to be willing to address the issues that come up and create a short-term and long-term plan that will create more engagement as well as respect and trust for your employees.
  4. You need to constantly check in and evaluate your company and its programs especially as your business, employees and leaders change over the course of time.

What you did 1, 2, 5, or 15 years ago is not going to get you the results you want. You need to develop a PROCESS and a PLAN that keeps your employees engaged and motivated.

This post barely scratches the surface of how you can engage your employees, but hopefully these statistics prove that you need to address issues (if relevant to your business) sooner rather than later.

When you’re ready. Here are some next steps:

  1. Grab a copy of Fatal Flaws of Employee Wellness Programs. Create a wellness strategy that will actually get results. Available on Amazon here. 
  2. Let’s skip theory and talk about your company. Set up your call here at www.speakwithalison.com 
  3. Employee wellness, healthy workplace culture and bringing companies to the next level of performance is what I’m passionate about. Check out my previous blog posts “Creative Ways to Increase Employee Motivation”, parts 1 and 2 for more tips.

[1] Source – http://www.gallup.com/businessjournal/188033/worldwide-employee-engagement-crisis.aspx?g_source=position2&g_medium=related&g_campaign=tiles

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