Having an engaged workforce is much more than simply a ‘nice to have.’
The commercial advantages for companies with engaged employees include profits and productivity that are 20% higher, lower staff turnover and absence, better customer service and satisfaction, and a range of health and wellbeing benefits.
It’s a significant impact. So much so that in a recent webinar on workforce trends in 2021 hosted by Quinyx, with Forrester's David Johnson as keynote speaker, viewers heard that engaged employees generate 81% higher customer satisfaction, employee turnover is reduced by 50% and the secrets to transforming employee engagement is to ‘empower, enable, and inspire.’
These are the trends to follow in 2021 in order to empower, enable, and inspire your employees and transform your employee experience:
1. Tech-powered communication
2020 showed just how important clear and concise communication is. Across industries, the fluidity of the situation and the ongoing response to COVID-19, meant companies had to find a way to easily and quickly communicate with employees - with many turning to tech for the answer. Furthermore, your employees expect you to communicate with clarity about what’s expected of them while at work and how their work contributes to company success.
Alongside having a dedicated employee communication platform or app, you should easily be able to see how your employees are feeling at any given time. Pulse surveys are a great solution to measure employee engagement. They allow you to get live feedback from your workforce, drive engagement across your organisation and identify trends and challenges in your workforce before problems arrive.
2. Redefining your purpose
When you understand what the purpose of your business is, you can define the context around it, and from there, give your employees autonomy, which in turn will fuel business growth and employee engagement. A clear purpose makes it easier for employees to buy-in to what you’re doing, helps them understand the role they play in helping your business succeed, and leads to higher retention rates. When your senior leaders and managers live your purpose, it will inspire your workforce to do the same.
3. Doubling down on health and wellbeing
Mental health is a growing issue for a huge number of employees. According to our report The State of the Deskless Workforce 2020, nearly 40% of the UK’s shift workers say their job has had a negative impact on their mental health in the past 12 months - a figure that topped 50% at the height of the pandemic.
From practicing mindfulness to encouraging healthy eating and regular activity, promoting wellbeing at work is a sure-fire way to improve mental health in your workforce. These are even better when they are group activities - either in person or virtually. Weekly workouts, team breakfasts, or half an hour of group yoga are all examples of the different activities you could implement to improve happiness and wellbeing.
With the tools you have at your disposal, from software through to research on the benefits of promoting wellbeing in the workplace, improving employee engagement - and as a result retention and customer satisfaction - in 2021 should be a top priority.
