Deficit in Employee Engagement Costs Businesses Nearly $2 Million for Every 1,000 Employees
Paul Fairlie
Shepell-fgi Research Group, April 2007
Shepell-fgi Research Group's spring 2007 report finds the effort and commitment that people have in their jobs is not strongly related to pay. However, it is strongly related to how people are treated, and how they view their managers. These "psychological" engagement factors have almost twice the impact on motivation and results than pay and benefits. Among other things, this means that more money won't move the productivity meter upwards.
The report, titled "Employee Engagement & Health: An EAP's Role & Perspective," finds seven key indicators that can be empirically linked to a company's bottom line. They include trust in senior management, being asked for input, and a clear say in decisions that affect and impact their work.
Support programs for employees can effectively improve the engagement factor. Shepell-fgi's research finds that companies with Employee Assistance Programs (EAP) achieve:
The group's finding suggest that employers and managers need to recognize that they also play an active role in their employee's engagement at work and that this metric is directly linked to their company's bottom line – to the tune of $1.8 million annually for companies with 1,000 or more employees. Further, the report indicates, disengagement associated with withheld effort, lateness, absence, and turnover accounts for a loss of 17 percent of before-tax annual income in mid-sized companies.
Shepell-fgi is Canada's leading provider of workplace health services, including prevention-focused Employee Assistance Programs. Since 2004, the Shepell-fgi research group has published thirteen issues based reports and seven sector based reports.
