There has been a lot in the news and online lately about employee engagement. It’s hard to talk about being a boss or an employer without mentioning employee engagement. There are a lot of theories floating around about what employee engagement is and what it looks like, but why is it so important?

You could answer that question in several different ways, but really the answer comes down to three key things: retention, money, and reputation. When you look at these three things, you’ll discover just how crucial employee engagement really is to you and your company.

Retention

No one likes having to go out and find a new employee. From resumes to interviews, it can take a lot of time, but the time and cost don’t stop when you finally hire a candidate. It can take months to properly onboard a new hire, which means that keeping an employee is much cheaper. By engaging your employees, you can help keep them happy and in turn, keep them working for your company.

Money

Mentioned above, hiring a new employee can cost a lot of money. You may think that you can just hire a new employee and pay them the same salary of the person that left. While the new hire may be happy with their salary, you also need to realize it takes time for a new hire to adjust to the work, the environment, and whatever internal structures they need to learn. Time really is money, so instead of losing your employees, engage with them and find out what you can do to keep them happy, healthy, and working for you.

Reputation

While retention and money are both important reasons to engage your employees, perhaps the most important reason is reputation. Not only is employee engagement crucial to your reputation as an employer, but your reputation as a company. With websites like Glassdoor, potential employees, customers, clients, and partners can get an inside look at how you treat your employees. By putting an employee engagement program in place, you can begin managing your reputation.

What do you currently do to engage your employees? Leave your stores and questions in the comments section below!

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