While it’s been proven that over-working your employees decreases their productivity, under-working them isn’t the answer either. The sweet-spot between these two polar opposites is “engagement” — that is, having a workforce that’s actually interested in what it’s doing as well as the fortunes of the company for which they work.
An engaged employee is someone who thinks about ways to improve the company even when he/she isn’t on the clock. Who identifies existing or potential problems and cares enough to report and try to fix them. And who doesn’t jump ship to a competitor because they offered them a 2% salary bump.
The benefits of an engaged workforce are extensive and well known — Gallup found that employee engagement is directly tied to an organization’s productivity and profitability.
Yet, according to a more recent Gallop Poll, only 30% of American workers are engaged in their jobs.
In other words, over two-thirds of your employees are just “going through the motions” while on the job. And, seriously, that’s kind of a lot.
Yikes.
How to engage a checked-out workforce.
Getting someone to do their job well requires “attention” — it’s the core of all innovation, efficiency and productivity. And, since someone who isn’t interested in their job isn’t going to pay attention — the key word here being “pay.”
Attention ain’t free.
Employee attention has real mental costs. For example, spending Attention To The Job comes at the expense of Attention To Fun Things like office gossip, cake in the break room, or surfing the Internet for cat memes.
And since employees only have so much brainpower to dedicate, they’re going to spend it where they get the most ROI (or cake). So you have to make their job more engaging than — or at least as engaging — as other distractions.
Engage people the way flowers engage bees.
Obviously, you can’t force employees to pay attention (just ask OSHA). No, you have to attract their attention. You have to draw your employees into the company conversation and involving them more in the company culture. One of the best ways to do that is with an Enterprise Social Network like tibbr.
tibbr creates a private, secure space that’s irresistible. Like other addictive social networks, tibbr becomes a single window into everything that’s happening everywhere. It’s a focal point where all of your people, business apps, and files are all connected and all part of the company conversation. Where everyone feels involved and included. Where everyone has an equal voice. And to your employees, nothing’s more attractive than that.
To experience all the engaging benefits of tibbr first-hand, sign up for a free trial here.
