What is Employee Engagement and Why is it Important?

Employee engagement: a fundamental driver of performance and business success. It's a workplace approach that was designed to describe the level of dedication and enthusiasm a worker has toward their job, but what does that actually mean?

The approach intends to measure and manage how employees feel about their careers, what they think of the company and its leadership, and whether or not they're likely to perform better because of it. It aligns employees with the company's core values, inspiring them to want to do better, even if it's for their own personal gain or satisfaction.

Once employees have all the right working conditions, they become more engaged and will become productive with a powerful drive to succeed by giving their all. Ultimately, this type of engagement will lead to an increased emotional connection to the company, which will result in a more favourable business outlook.

Employee engagement also refers to employees' emotional commitment to the organization and its goals. When employees feel an emotional attachment to the company they work for, they will have increased productivity and improved quality to their work, therefore becoming instrumental to the organization's success.

In fact, according to Towers Perrin research, companies with engaged workers have 6% higher net profit margins. And, according to Kenexa's research, engaged companies have five times higher shareholder returns over five years.  

With this in mind, it’s clear that every company will use the employee engagement strategy despite their unique and different goals, but why is it essential? And how exactly does it impact work performance?

Let's find out.

How Employee Satisfaction Impacts Work Performance

The importance of employee engagement is a topic that is vastly talked about throughout the business world. But, it’s often difficult to understand how to achieve employee satisfaction.

Employee satisfaction is measured by how content employees are with their jobs, but let's take note that satisfaction doesn't equal high performance or engagement. There are plenty of other factors that come into effect when it comes to how satisfied employees are in their workplace.

Let's take a detailed look at the key factors that lead to satisfied workers.

Good Relationships Between Colleagues

When employees don't get along, the work environment becomes tense. This leads to employees being excluded as they will have no one to share a laugh or smile with, and no one to turn to when they need help with work issues or if things aren't going well. It's crucial for staff morale to have conflicts resolved swiftly.

Career Development and Learning

When employees know that they can continue professional development through training courses and other learning methods, they will become even more productive. Again, this is due to knowing that they can progress up the career ladder.

Good Work-Life Balance

Ever heard of the phrase "work to live, not live to work"? Well, that's what it all boils down to. For example, when those who work for a company are satisfied with their work-life balance, they not only feel happier and more fulfilled, but the quality of the work they produce also increases.

We at FUEL call it "the ultimate performance enhancer" because employees with a good work-life balance tend to be less stressed about their jobs. This allows them to take greater pride in what they do, resulting in a more effective work environment.

In fact, we even found that events can support the delivery of employee engagement, showcasing and reinforcing the purpose and culture of the organization through content.

For example, FUEL worked with AIB to maintain this connection with their employees for their 2021 awards and town hall. The rewards enabled AIB, despite the pandemic, to still recognize and celebrate their employees.

Foster Collaboration and Creativity With FUEL Events

What better way to motivate your employees than to encourage collaboration between them? Of course, teams adept at communicating with one another perform better, but how do you ensure this happens? How do you get people out of their comfort zones and into something new?

FUEL inspires creativity through our events, which provide a platform for staff to learn from each other's skills, taking their professional development to the next level. FUEL events also encourage employees to share their knowledge and skills with others in a relaxed way, where they can pick up some new tricks along the way. It's networking at its finest!

If you would like FUEL to spark creative collaboration between your employees, or you would like to browse through our virtual events, please go to our website here for further details. Or if you have any questions, don't hesitate to get in touch with us.