Overcoming talent shortages through employee engagement
With 33 million Americans leaving their jobs in 20211, have you been able to avoid The Great Resignation?
What percent of your workforce is actively engaged? If you’re not sure or you know the number is low, it’s time to make employee engagement a priority. Many organizations use engagement to evaluate company culture and gauge the threat of turnover. Engagement is often measured through pulse surveys, employee evaluations and productivity, but that leaves a missing piece — benefits.
What is employee engagement?
Employee engagement is defined by Gallup as the involvement and enthusiasm of employees in their work and workplace2. We prefer to also consider the quantity and quality of involvement and enthusiasm when defining that term. It’s fueled by a positive culture and drives collaboration and employee happiness, all of which are the foundation of a sustainable organization.
There are a lot of different components to measure employee engagement. Many organizations will use pulse surveys, conduct employee evaluations, review productivity and retention scores, and more. These are all great aspects of an employee engagement strategy, but there is one key piece missing and that’s benefits.
How benefits affect recruitment, retention and engagement
Benefit programs have a unique ability to create a bond between the employer and employees that other engagement components can’t. A robust benefits package and a comprehensive education strategy creates trust between you and your employees, leaving them more likely to stay.
And when employees can confidently select the options that fit their unique needs, they feel a greater sense of security in being able to take care of themselves and their family. When all these pieces start fitting together, employees begin to view their benefits as part of their total compensation.
What happens when benefits are an afterthought?
When benefits aren’t at the forefront of measuring employee engagement, you could be missing out on key data. When employees view their total compensation as just an hourly wage, there’s a greater risk of turnover. Because when employees don’t understand their benefits, they don’t value them.
Don’t let The Great Resignation come to your doorstep by ignoring a key component of employee satisfaction. If you value your benefits program by providing education to your employees, they will feel valued too.
This blog is up to date as of June 2022 and has not been updated for changes in the law, administration or current events.