Employee Engagement- 2018, A Year in Review & What to Expect in 2019
According to Bersin by Deloitte, “employee engagement has become the top issue on the minds of business leaders, directing us to an entirely new model of management”.
While 2018 was a year full of change in the workforce, employee engagement still stood (and continues to stand) at the forefront for attracting and retaining top talent.
2018 Major Trends:
- 15% of employees worldwide are engaged in their jobs. (Gallup)
- 42% of employees say learning and development is the most important benefit when deciding where to work. (Udemy)
- Offering career training and development would keep 86% of millennials from leaving their current position. (Bridge)
- Businesses with a strong learning culture enjoy employee engagement and retention rates around 30-50% higher than those that don’t. (Robert Half)
What can employers do?
Integrating employee engagement efforts throughout your organizations is a key way in which employers can increase engagement and as a result retain top talent.
Communicate Engagement!
Find unique ways to track employee engagement. This can be done through pulse surveying, openly communicating the organizations engagement efforts, and finding ways and touchpoints to recognize the organization’s commitment to employee engagement.
Be a Learning Organization
As we can see from the 2018 data, learning and development play a key role in actively engaged employees. A culture of continuous learning not only improves employee resiliency and drives innovation, but it can promote loyalty and increase retention rates. Lack of investment is one of the main reasons that drive employees to look elsewhere.
Promote Diversity & Inclusion
Diverse and inclusive teams are more innovated, creative and in result lead to an increase in team collaboration and commitment. Data also shows that inclusivity can have a direct impact on engagement: Gallup found that a combination of employee engagement and diversity results in 46%-58% higher financial performance. Furthermore, an increase in individuals’ feelings of inclusion translates into an increase of 17% in perceived team performance, 20% in decision-making quality, and 29% in collaboration.
2019 promises to be a big year for employee engagement. Organizations looking to grow and build high-performing cultures with key talent will need to incorporate employee engagement as a key strategic focus.
Sources:
https://www.15five.com/blog/7-employee-engagement-trends-2018/
https://about.udemy.com/ideas-and-opinions/2018-millennials-at-work-research-report/