5 Proven Strategies to Increase Employee Engagement in 2023

The importance of employee engagement in the workplace cannot be overstated. Research indicates that companies with engaged employees outperform competitors by over 200% in revenue growth⁽¹⁾. However, a Gallup survey⁽²⁾ showed that only 15% of employees worldwide are engaged at work. So how can organizations improve employee engagement in 2023? Let’s explore some evidence-based strategies.

Improving Employee Engagement

Contents

What is Employee Engagement?
Why is Employee Engagement Important?
How to Improve Employee Engagement
The Bottom Line

What is Employee Engagement?

Employee engagement refers to the emotional commitment and involvement an employee has towards their organization and its goals. Engaged employees care about the future of the company and are willing to invest discretionary effort – going “the extra mile” beyond the requirements of their job description⁽³⁾.

The research of William Kahn, professor of organizational behavior at Boston University, defines engagement as “harnessing organization members’ selves to their work roles; in engagement, people employ and express themselves physically, cognitively, and emotionally during role performances.”⁽⁴⁾

Some key characteristics of an engaged employee are:

Enthusiasm for their work and organization
Full investment of their physical, cognitive and emotional energy into work
Immersion and focus on their role performance
Persistence and resilience despite challenges

When employees are disengaged, they withdraw physically, emotionally and cognitively from their roles. Disengaged employees just log hours without passion, drive or a connection to the company. This leads to higher absenteeism and turnover.

Why is Employee Engagement Important?

Research clearly shows that high employee engagement results in better organizational performance. Companies with engaged workforces have:

Higher productivity – Engaged employees meet goals and expectations. A Gallup study found that business units in the top quartile in engagement had 17% higher productivity than bottom quartile units ⁽⁵⁾.
Increased sales – Engaged employees build stronger relationships with customers leading to continued business and increased sales. Gallup found that organizations with engaged employees saw an increase in sales of 20% or more⁽⁶⁾.
Higher retention – Engaged employees have higher attachment and commitment to the company. Gallup found that organizations with engaged workforces have 65% lower turnover⁽⁷⁾.
Better safety records – Engaged employees have fewer accidents on the job. Gallup found that companies with engagement in the top quartile had 49% fewer safety incidents⁽⁸⁾.
Higher profits – All of the above factors of higher productivity, better customer loyalty, lower turnover and fewer safety incidents contribute to stronger company financial performance. Organizations with high engagement see 21% greater profitability⁽⁹⁾.

How to Improve Employee Engagement

Here are 5 key strategies that can help leaders improve engagement levels based on scientific research:

1. Strengthen Perceived Organizational Support

Perceived Organizational Support (POS) refers to employees’ beliefs that their organization values their contributions and cares about their well-being⁽¹⁰⁾. When employees have high POS, they are more likely to reciprocate with higher engagement as part of their exchange relationship with the employer.

Ways to improve POS include having a people-first corporate culture, effective HR practices, work-life programs, empowering leadership and fair treatment. Software company FactSet implemented initiatives like employee appreciation events and 90 days parental leave which led to 97% employee retention.⁽¹¹⁾

2. Enrich Job Design

Research shows that certain job characteristics motivate employees and satisfy their intrinsic needs. Jobs that are enriched through empowerment, variety in work, significance and feedback can compel people to bring more of themselves into their work roles⁽¹²⁾.

When LinkedIn redesigned their compensation structure to make individual sales representatives responsible for full client accounts end-to-end, employee engagement shot up. Reps felt their work was more meaningful and empowering, leading to 35% growth in sales.⁽¹³⁾

3. Build Trust in Leadership

Leaders shape the work experience of employees. When employees have trust and confidence in leadership, they feel psychologically safe to fully engage, take risks and speak their mind without fear of negative consequences⁽¹⁴⁾.

Leaders build trust by having integrity, providing stability and clarity, promoting transparency and encouraging open communication. At heritage insurer USAA, leadership built trust by making information easily accessible to all employees and involving them in key decisions. USAA has consistently high engagement levels of 95% according to Gallup.⁽¹⁵⁾

4. Select for Personality

Meta-analytic research found that certain personality traits predict work engagement. In particular, employees high on conscientiousness, proactivity and positive affect are more likely to invest themselves in their roles. They have the natural tendency to be focused, energetic and achievement-oriented.⁽¹⁶⁾

Hiring managers can incorporate valid personality assessments into their selection process to choose candidates with an intrinsic drive to excel and commitment to their work.

5. Enable Thriving at Work

Thriving employees experience learning, vitality and growth in their roles. Thriving leads to positive emotions like passion, excitement and enthusiasm – the kind of energy that fuels engagement. Leaders can promote thriving by providing development opportunities, optimal challenges, resources and removing obstacles ⁽¹⁷⁾.

For example, Intuit’s unique unstructured time program allows engineers to work on projects outside their role for 10% of time. This freedom to experiment and learn drives intrinsic motivation and growth.⁽¹⁸⁾

The Bottom Line

Employee engagement has a tremendous impact on organizational success. Fortunately, there are evidence-based best practices that companies can implement in 2023 to foster engagement. These include strengthening perceived organizational support, enriching job design, building leadership trust, hiring for engagement-oriented personality traits and enabling thriving at work. By making engagement a priority, companies can gain significant strategic advantages.

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