Employee engagement at a record low

Employee engagement in the UK has been declining steadily over the last decade and has now reached a record low.

Time to prioritise employee engagement

As we get closer to a normal ‘post-covid’ world, a focus for the remainder of 2022 for HR professionals must be to build and sustain a highly engaged workforce and a thriving workplace. Over 70% of HR professionals in the UK have already said that they are going to prioritise improving employee engagement and experience in the workplace.

Employee engagement can be described and measured by how much employees are motivated and invested in their work and the company that they work for. It helps to connect an individual to the company they work for and their co-workers. If this connection is built, employees are likely to be happy and fulfilled in their work.

The UK currently has one of the most dissatisfied workforces in Europe with only 9% of UK workers feeling enthused by their work and workplace, the average for Europe is 14%. The UK worryingly only ranked 33 out of 38 European countries. Countries such as Spain, France, and Italy also have engagement levels below 10%. Some countries have significantly higher employee engagement rates such as Romania with 33%.

Signs of disengagement

It is important to be able to recognise when your workforce is disengaged, signs include:

• Productivity and quality of work drops as a result of less concern for the work they are producing
• Constantly missing deadlines
• Increase in more breaks and time off without good reason
• Disregard the normal working hours, for example turning up late and leaving early without good reason
• Withdrawal from the team such as spending time on their own, missing work socials, working solo frequently
• Shying away from a challenge and responsibility
• Negative attitude
• Increased absenteeism
• Disinterest in learning and developing
• Change in behaviour or routine

However, it’s important to note that there may be other reasons that are more personal to the employee as to why they are showing signs of disengagement. Therefore, it is a good idea to have an open and honest discussion with employees who are underperforming in case there are personal or external reasons for this. As a result of this conversation, employers may be able to offer support to them.

Although, employers should address these issues as soon as possible after spotting them. This is so that the behaviour of the disengaged employee does not start to rub off on surrounding engaged employees. If employers allow disengaged employees to continue behaving the way they are, engaged employees may become disgruntled due to their co-workers getting away with not working hard and following the company rules.

What triggers disengagement?

There are many things that can cause disengagement, some include:

• Lack of feedback and recognition
• Limited investment in resources and technology
• A culture that does not value employee wellbeing
• Lack of empathy amongst managers
• Poor communication
• Excessive workload
• Limited training and career growth

Impact of low employee engagement on your organisation

• Loss in productivity – disengaged employees are thought to cost the UK £52-70 billion per year
• Loss in profit – research has shown that companies with disengaged employees have an income that is 33% lower than those with high engagement
• Bad customer experience – can create a bad reputation and poor feedback for the business
• Errors in work – disengaged employees make 100 times more errors than their engaged colleagues
• Poor employee retention

Benefits of an engaged workforce  

Employee engagement is a significant driver of overall organisational success. Specific benefits include:

• Higher productivity as well as less chance of burnout
• Better customer relationships, consequently leading to higher customer loyalty
• Lower employee turnover
• Lower absenteeism
• Lower accidents – engaged workplaces have 70% fewer safety incidents
• Higher profitability – organisations that have engaged workers have 23% higher profits compared to those with workers who felt miserable
• A happier set of employees

It is a popular belief that employees are a company’s greatest asset, therefore employers should invest in them.

How can oneHR help?

How are you spotting trends of employee disengagement? With oneHR, you can generate reports on any data collected within the system to track employee performance reviews, absences, and leave from work. This offers key insight into your organisation which makes it easy to be able to identify disengaged employees and take action to prioritise improving employee engagement within the workplace. Above all oneHR will help HR professionals to avoid the costly impacts of low employee engagement.

peopleHUB Event

Do you want to reengage your employees? We are sponsoring an online peopleHUB event – ‘Employee engagement workshop – Nurturing your most valuable asset’. Come along to receive invaluable advice on how you can boost employee engagement within your workforce and reap the rewards later. We will be joined by guest speaker Matthew Shaw – MD of Raiys, an online app to help employees develop, grow, and fulfil their potential. Matthew will be discussing this topic and offering expert insight into how to reengage your workforce.

Secure your place at the workshop here.

If you would like to learn more about how oneHR can help you to boost employee engagement within your company and reduce related costs, please contact our team here.

Email: Contact@onehrsoftware.com

Twitter: @oneHR_