Why is employee engagement such a big deal for 2022?

Truthfully, employee engagement is always a big deal. Disengaged employees limit organisational growth massively, if not take down an organisation altogether. Even just one disengaged employee can cause setbacks within their teams and can cause issues with their colleagues. Disengagement chips away at the culture you’ve taken so long to build; disengagement spreads! Not only do organisations want to avoid people-related problems, but are aware of how much more they can do with an engaged workforce. The beauty is, organisations now have the tools and knowledge to improve engagement. An engaged workforce is driven to meet targets and reach goals, they’re productive, communicative, hard-working, loyal; all the factors critical to team and organisational success. 

Employee engagement can be improved in a number of ways through maintaining people-centric practices in the workplace. But, communication will always be most important. It’s the beginning of understanding issues and acting upon them in the most favorable way for the people and management. Communication is the key to creating a harmonious balance between management needs and employee needs, and the only way to give employees a voice. Communication can be established in many ways, but what’s most effective is communication. It’s measurable and draws data that can be used for decision-making. 

Decisions made based on employee feedback, rather than management’s idea of what employees need, will help you to achieve desired results in a much shorter time. And beyond that, historical employee data ensures an accurate evaluation of progress.

It’s management’s time to unlock employee potential

In 2020 organisations were forced to make massive changes and were trying to find their feet amidst the chaos of the pandemic and remote work. In 2021 most organisations were doing damage-control. In 2022, organisations are ready to rise from the ashes and attend to the areas that were put on the back-burner. We’ve seen team leaders concerned about employee growth and unlocking employee potential. In part because they’re eager to develop their talent and accelerate growth, but also because the pandemic has sparked a ‘great resignation‘. Employees are not as flexible to waver from their needs. Those that want to develop and be invested in will be hyper-aware of their organisation’s approach to it this year.

Regular pulse surveys help to answer the burning questions about your people, who they are, what they want and need, and uncovers what can be done to unleash their full potential.

Gen-Z’s entering on remote working calls for enhanced communication for greater engagement and company culture 

The next generation of talent are entering the working world at a very different time – remote working is the norm and ways of communicating with their managers and teams is totally different. Some forms of communication are more beneficial for engagement than others. We always believe in in-person communication because it’s personal, achieving greater engagement results and working to establish a better company culture. But, the way of the world is such that many GenZ’s will be working remotely. This calls for much tighter, more robust communication channels, especially to keep a pulse on employee needs and to help them form a relationship with the organisation that’s worth being loyal to, as well as to improve and maintain engagement for the long haul. 

The great resignation has sparked a war on talent 

For HR, there are no downsides to knowing more about their people and the talent they wish to attract. This year it’s incredibly important for organisations to be people-centric. The great resignation has meant a loss of talent, ofcourse, and an unbelievable rise in competition amongst employers. Talented, high-performing employees have realised they can work from anywhere – many are considering freelancing or starting their own businesses. The talent pool is shrinking rapidly. If your people are seeing more and more of their colleagues leave, while also feeling disengaged, the chances of them staying are slim. But, if HR is open to improving engagement through enhanced communication, and are willing to make changes to meet employee needs, retention and recruitment of talent is possible. 

Retention is predicted to be the #1 people-related issue of 2022 

As mentioned, retention is already a huge problem for organisations. However, pulse surveys can help to avoid a great resignation within your workplace, because managers will be able to:

• Understand and meet the needs of the people
• Attract talent
• Develop more attractive incentives 
• Improve culture
• Create a bond between management and people
• Improve employee engagement 

Greater engagement will mitigate issues of low retention and lack of staff

If retention is a problem and there’s a dire lack of staff – which is absolutely going to be the reality for many businesses this year – then engagement is the only thing holding the fort. The employees that are still there – even if they’re junior, can still reach targets and drive growth if they’re engaged. Employee Engagement truly is a big deal in 2022!