8 Employee Engagement Statistics You Need to Know in 2020

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Employee engagement is the key to building a successful business. But driving employee engagement doesn't come easy: worldwide, only 15% of employees are engaged with their work. So what went wrong?

There are hundreds of interesting statistics on employee engagement.

To make things easier for you, we've picked top 8 stats you should definitively know about if you want to create an engaging company culture.

Are you ready? Let's dive in!

1. 85% of Employees Are Not Engaged in the Workplace
According to Gallup's State of the Global Workplace, only 15 percent of employees are engaged in the workplace.

This means that the majority of workforce around the world are either viewing their workplace negatively or only doing the bare minimum to make it through the day, with little to no emotional attachment.

The study also reveals remarkable geographical differences - 33 percent of U.S employees are engaged at work - more than double the global average.

On the other hand, in Western Europe, only 10 percent of employees are engaged at work. The situation looks especially alarming in the U.K, where the amount of engaged employees is as low as 8 percent — and the number has been in steady decline for the past few years.

Related: Diversity and Inclusion Best Practices to Focus on in 2020


2. 81% of Employees Are Considering Leaving Their Job
According to a 2017 study, 81 percent of employees would consider leaving their job for the right offer, even if they wouldn't be looking for a job at the moment.

Changing jobs isn't all about the money, either, as 74 percent of younger employees would accept a pay cut for a chance to work at their ideal job, and 23 percent of those seeking a job wouldn't need a pay increase to take a new position.
In order to stay on the job, employees need to have relationships with other people in the workplace, and the work life needs to be balanced with their personal life.

Employees are also more likely to look for another job if their co-workers are doing so as well, so companies should be careful of a domino effect taking place in their workforce.


3. Low Employee Engagement Costs Companies $450-500 Billion Each Year
According to a study on workplace engagement in the U.S, disengaged employees cost organizations around $450-550 billion each year.

Disengaged workers take less responsibility and ownership of their attitude, behavior, and motivation, and drain overall productivity.

The study recommends that companies focus on encouraging personal agency and that they use tools to monitor and maintain personal engagement.

It is also important to connect the employees' job to organizational missions, provide recognition and encourage collaboration.


4. Companies with High-Engaged Workforce Are 21% More Profitable
Employee engagement isn't just about soft, intangible and feelings-based reviews about employee well-being.

Employee engagement has a very real impact on business success, and employee engagement should be considered a part of a business strategy.

According to Gallup's meta-analysis, the business or work units that scored the highest on employee engagement showed 21 percent higher levels of profitability than units in the lowest quartile. Companies with highly engaged workforce also scored 17 percent higher on productivity.

Successful organizations focus on employee engagement by ensuring all employees have the best knowledge and tools available to perform their jobs as well as possible.

Managers in successful organizations also make sure all employees know what is expected of them, and support their employees' professional development.

Effective communication leads to more productive employees and through this, to a more profitable workplace.

However, we're not there yet: a recent Interact/Harris Poll shows that 91% of the surveyed employees think that their leaders lack communication skills. What's more, almost 1 in 3 employees don't trust their employers, according to the Edelman Trust Barometer. That's pretty alarming, isn't it?


5. Good Company Culture Increases Revenue by 4X
In a major long-term study, companies that had the best corporate cultures, that encouraged all-around leadership initiatives and that highly appreciated their employees, customers and owners grew 682 percent in revenue.

During the same period of evaluation — 11 years — companies without a thriving company culture grew only 166 percent in revenue. This means that a thriving company culture leads to more than four times higher revenue growth.

Company culture and employee engagement go hand in hand and a business focusing on employee engagement and improving their company will enjoy the benefits of increased revenue, increased productivity and increased employee engagement.

47 percent of people actively looking for a new job pinpoint company culture as the main reason for wanting to leave, so if you want to improve both employee retention and profitability, improving company culture should be one of your business priorities.


6. 1 in 3 Professionals Cite Boredom as Their Main Reason to Leave Their Jobs
According to a 2018 Korn Ferry Survey, the majority — 33 percent — of those changing jobs cite boredom and the need for new challenges as the top reason why they are leaving.

The second most common reason was the fact that the work culture didn't fit the employee or their values, with 24 percent choosing this as their main reason. The quest for a larger salary came fourth, with only 19 percent choosing it as their main reason for leaving.

Making sure employees have enough challenges and variation in their workday is one of the most important managerial tasks. Without the ability to develop themselves and learn, employees lose motivation and start to look elsewhere for a job.

Personal development is naturally good for the company as well, and as employees develop their skills and competencies, their work product becomes more refined and the company becomes more profitable.


7. 37% of Employees Consider Recognition Most Important
One study asked what would be the most important thing a manager or a company could do that would help the employee be successful and 37 percent — the majority — cited recognition as the most important method of support.

Other solutions lag far behind — 12 percent want more autonomy, 12 percent more inspiration, 7 percent more pay, 6 percent more training and 4 percent a promotion. This means over a third of the workforce need first and foremost to be recognized.

According to a survey on rewarding and recognition, 43 percent prefer to receive recognition privately on a one on one with a manager, 10 percent would prefer to receive recognition publicly in front of their peers, and 9 percent would prefer recognition privately, in written form.

Taking employees for granted is a surefire way to drop down the levels of employee engagement.

Instead, you need to make sure that your employees feel heard and valued. Recognition leads to increased motivation, a sense of pride and to increased self-confidence at work, which in turn increase employee initiatives and taking responsibility of one's own work product.

A recent report shows that 84% of highly engaged employees were recognized the last time they went above and beyond at work compared to only 25% of actively disengaged employees.

A company that actively recognizes and rewards their employees is more likely to see increased levels of accountability, responsibility and leadership initiatives.


8. Only 29% of Employees Are Happy with Career Advancement Opportunities
According to SHRM's 2017 Employee Job Satisfaction and Engagement Report, only 29 percent of employees are "very satisfied" with current career advancement opportunities available to them in the organization they work for.

However, 41 percent consider this a very important factor to job satisfaction, so companies should pay close attention to making sure employees feel they can advance in their careers without leaving the company.

According to the SHRM study, 30 percent of employees considered career development opportunities for learning and personal growth in general very important, yet only 30 percent were happy with their current situation.

The chance for professional development on the job is especially important to the younger generations: according to a Gallup survey, up to 87 percent of Millennials consider development in a job important.

The importance of professional development to employee engagement is undeniable, and managers and HR personnel need to provide tools and resources to support their employees' professional development.


Source: https://blog.smarp.com/employee-engagement-8-statistics-you-need-to-know