Employee engagement is crucial to the health of the organisation in many different ways. For one, it is common knowledge that engaged employees translates to higher productivity in the workplace. At the same time, engaged employees reduces turnover rates and create a positive culture within the workplace.
It is commonplace for HR to take on the role of keeping employee engaged. After all, HR is meant to be the bridge between the organisation and its employees. However, employee engagement goes beyond merely trying to achieve full employee satisfaction. Instead, it should focus on investing in creating a valuable employee experience. And this should not be just a HR strategy but also a financial strategy as well.
Here are some reasons why employee engagement should be part of any organisation’s financial strategy
Budget
Investing in your people can be a costly matter as organisation will need to understand that drives and motivate employees. It may be compensation or offering certain rewards but either way, there are bound to be additional costs involved. In order to ensure that employees are kept engaged at work, there should be sufficient budget allocated to meet their wants and needs.
Emergency fund
In every workplace, there are bound to be disgruntled employees. However, when it becomes too much for leaders to handle, there should be a backup plan in place. And similarly, this involves time and money. Time – whereby senior leaders and HR have to address these unhappy employees. Money  – as organisations have to find ways to tackle these sudden issues that come up. On the other hand, organisations might sometime have to open their wallets for items that are not budgeted for. For instance, throwing a celebratory party for employees after winning a big project or upgrading the office facilities for employees.
Future investments
For employees to value-add to the organisation in the long run, senior leaders and HR have to be forward thinking as well. And this means investing in employees as part of the long term employee engagement strategy. Investing in employees could include providing more learning and career development opportunities for employees. Organisations need to set aside a budget for employees career development to ensure long-term returns.
People are the organisation’s most valuable asset and investing in employees should be part of the organisation’s overall strategy. Engaged employees will certainly bring about immense long-term positive returns.
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