Why SME’s Should Care About Employee Engagement

Employee Engagement is as crucial to SME’s as it is to larger organisations. SME’s make up the majority of private sector businesses in the UK so it’s important that Employee Engagement is taken seriously.

I came across this report that had some staggering statistics:

  • UK SME’s accounted for 99.3% of all private sector businesses at the start of 2016 and 99.9% were small or medium-sized (SME’s).
  • Total employment in SME’s was 15.7 million; 60% of all private sector employment in the UK.
  • The combined annual turnover of SME’s was £1.8 trillion, 47% of all private sector turnover in the UK.

It would be interesting to know how many of these SME’s are good at Employee Engagement but it’s a fact that it aids business growth.

Gallup has found out that 25% of business units with the highest Employee Engagement (compared to the rest of the units with lower Employee Engagement), showed:

  • 22% higher profitability
  • 65% lower turnover (in low-turnover organizations)
  • 48% fewer safety incidents
  • 41% fewer quality incidents (defects)
  • 10% higher customer metrics
  • 21% higher productivity

I think the statistics speak for themselves about why you should care about Employee Engagement!

But where do you even start to better engage with your employees?

employee engagement

5 Tips On How To Improve Employee Engagement

  • Ensure Everyone Has Clarity

Lack of clarity in a business can reduce performance, often in an invisible way.  It is a common issue that I see in the businesses that I work with.  Those good old words ‘I thought’ often crop up in conversations.  Be sure that the whole company knows who is doing what and when etc.

  • Involve Employees In Business Plans

Don’t just set the plans and objectives and expect your employees to deliver.  Involve them.  As them their opinions.  Remember they are often the ones that have the hands on experience of the business and the way it works so they will have invaluable insights.

  • Ask More Questions – Do Less Telling

Happy employees aren’t the ones that are ‘micro managed’.  I actually wrote a full blog post on this topic.

  • Have Regular Meetings/Updates

I recommend to hold regular meetings to update everyone on progress and identify any issues.  As you get into the habit of doing this you will find that small issues don’t turn into big ones as everyone will have the opportunity to air any concerns and plans can be put into place to resolve them.

  • Give Credit Where Credit Is Due

I don’t know anyone that doesn’t like to receive good feedback for their work.  In fact what you will find is that if you credit good work it will boost morale and also productivity.

 

I’ve got plenty more tips but these 5 will set you on the right track to better engagement with your employees to help your business to grow.

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