b'ployees cost organizations $483-$605 billion per yeareas of opportunity to focus on to drive the employee in lost productivity. If turnover has not impacted youexperience. yet, during the pandemic 55% of the American work-force said they play on looking for new employmentWhatarebestpracticeswhenmeasuringengage-over the next 12 months (Source: Bankrate Augustment?2021 survey). Keep participation high.ThecomparisonsgeneratedfromthesemetricsBe clear about privacy rules.demonstrate dramatic differences between engaged vs. less engaged colleagues. Culture Amp, an engage- Have a clear executive and manager level plan for mentandperformanceplatform,reportsengagedcommunicatingsurveyresults,actionsthatare employees perform 34% higher on customer satis- taken, and outcomes.faction metrics and are 57% more likely to do workKeep progress moving by using annual baselines overjobrequirementstoachievegoals.Organiza- surveys to identify opportunities.tions with highly engaged employees have 20% fewer on-the-job accidents, 27% less physical absenteeism,Use a validated tool backed with solid research and 5X less turnover.and science.Soft metrics associated with employee engagementPutting the Data to Usecan also be traced to the bottom line through the hardmetricstheyaffect.Employeeswhoareen- When applying the data obtained through metrics, gaged create a healthy and profitable environmentfocus on four key areas to elevate engagement in the that benefits every corner of the organization. Orga- workforce:SharedMission,PeopleDevelopment, nizations with a strong culture increase the likelihoodValued Voice, Earned Trust.thatemployeeswillrecommendandreferstrongShared Mission gives a clear sense of where youre job candidates and potential customers. Other softgoing as a company and why youre working so metrics contributing to business success include fos- hard to get there.tering an overall sense of pride and positivity in an organization. We spend over 90,000 hours workingPeopleDevelopmentdemonstratesyoucare in a lifetime, and creating a workplace that developsabout your people, and youre invested in their people, values opinions, and creates a trusted envi- growth. ronment that impacts the overall well-being of yourValuedVoiceencouragesstrongtwo-waycom-workforce.Whenemployeesfindpurposeintheirmunicationwhereeveryonefeelscomfortable rolesandfeelvalued,theycanbethecompanyssharing their thinking and values the input of oth-greatest brand promoter. In the war to win the besters.talent, Glassdoor reports that 86% of employees andEarned Trust promotes transparency which gives job seekers research company reviews and ratings toyour people confidence in company decisions and decide where to apply for a job.faith in the integrity of their leaders.Engaged employees are a valuable brand driver inOften organizations find that outside programs and recruitment, customer experience (CX) and in the ev- partners provide a different perspective and can de-er-prevalent social media ecosystem. liver initiatives without organizational bias.Culture and Engagement SurveysBringing in a Culture and Engagement Specialist team Reliable data allows you to identify opportunities toto work with your senior leaders and human resource elevate your teams engagement and determine theprofessionals will allow you to more successfully plan, actions you can take for success.develop and execute an engagement initiative and it will have a profound impact on your organization no Assessing engagement offers a window into perfor- matter how you measure the success. mance, development, and retention and targets ar- The Hard and Soft Metrics of Engagement 143'