The Results of the Poll Are In
Your Employees might not be!
Everyone knows who the Gallup organization is, right? You remember those “Gallop Polls?” Well, according to their State of the Global Workplace Report, employee engagement has been taking a hit the last couple of years.
Employee engagement reflects the amount of involvement and enthusiasm employees have as they engage in their work, either individually, or in teams. Gallup found that engaged employees and their teams drive productivity and profitability. They estimated that low engagement costs the global economy US$8.9 trillion, or 9% of global GDP. Can you imagine that you are losing up to 9% of your organizational capability?
When asked, 41% of employees felt stressed the previous day of work. Only 34% felt that they were thriving and felt positive about their overall well being. Workers are currently facing record-high levels of stress, a persistent childcare crisis, and a challenging mental health epidemic.
Oh, but your employees are different, right? Well maybe. But what if they are not? Have you checked lately? In the words of Steven Covey sometimes we get so busy sawing that we forget to sharpen the saw. We are all working hard, but are we fully engaged and truly being productive?
Here are a few questions to ask yourself:
- Who is/isn’t contributing new ideas or suggestions for improvement?
- Who is/isn’t offering to take on new responsibilities?
- Who is/isn’t demonstrating a lack of focus?
- How are your customer satisfaction scores doing lately?
- Who is/isn’t late or absent on a regular basis?
- Who is/isn’t being a great individual/team performer?
- What is your employee turnover rate?
Having regular feedback can be highly motivating. Per author Rebecca Parker, you can also create a greater sense of workplace belonging, by asking an important question:
“What do you need?”
And here’s a good second question: What else do you need?
Parker believes that “the simple act of asking this single question holds the potential to cultivate a profound sense of belonging among workers.”
Do your employees feel connected to you and your business?
Ask them, silly. And then carefully listen to what they say. You never know what you might learn…
