Human Resources 101

Employee engagement “deficit” costs companies $1.8 million for every 1000 employees

A recent report from the Shepell·fgi Research Group finds most Canadian employees value being engaged in their job more than a pay raise.

The report found that how employees are treated and how they view their managers had almost twice the impact on their satisfaction than pay and benefits—meaning more money doesn’t move the productivity meter upwards.

“Total employee engagement won’t happen one hundred per cent of the time,” says Rod Phillips, President & CEO of Shepell·fgi. “We all like some parts our job more than others. But when overall engagement is low and when your staff prefer to not come into work or aren’t performing at their full capacity, it costs the organization money – up to an average cost of $1.8 million for a company of a thousand employees.”

Shepell·fgi’s report, Employee Engagement & Health: An EAP’s Role & Perspective, identifies seven key indicators of employee satisfaction that can be empirically linked to a company’s bottom line:

1. Trust in senior management
2. Being asked for input on workplace decisions that affect their work
3. Clear understanding of vision and strategy
4. Trust in supervisors
5. Recognition and praise for good work
6. Clear say in decisions affecting their work
7. Caring and considerate supervisors

“Given their importance, these indicators should be on every employers’ radar screens – but fewer than half of executives report their workplaces achieved healthy levels within these indicators,” says Paula Allen, Vice-President, Health Solutions and the Shepell·fgi Research Group. “This suggests a significant engagement deficit in Canadian workplaces.”

Support programs for employees can effectively help mitigate part of the problem and improve the engagement factor. The report finds that companies with Employee Assistance Programs achieve:

• lower levels of employee anxiety, dissatisfaction and turnover
• higher perceptions of fair compensation
• higher levels of growth and development opportunities
• higher levels of meaningful work.

Employee Assistance Programs can play a role in a healthy workplace strategy. However, employers need to recognize that the way employees are treated at work is important.