Dear members,

Many organizations are not aware of just how much low engagement is costing them. Several experts have noted that it costs approximately three times the salary of an executive employee (i.e. knowledge talent) to replace him or her. When replacing an hourly-waged employee, it costs approximately 1.5 times their salary.

The impact of low engagement cannot be underestimated; it can lead to reduced employee commitment to company objectives and goals, decreased productivity, decreased quality of work, decreased innovation, decreased customer and partner satisfaction, decreased ability to attract new employees, lowered boomerang rate for returning employees and increased talent turnover. And if that doesn’t sound bad enough, all of these factors lead to decreased profitability.

On the other hand, research supports a connection between increased engagement and improved business outcomes. Emera, a large energy company with more than 2,000 employees, provides compelling proof of this connection. When Emera took action to improve engagement scores, and when those scores almost doubled in two years and their stock value reached an all-time high, Emera saw the link between increasing engagement and realizing outstanding business outcomes.

“We see a very clear link between our increased stock value and the actions we took to improve engagement,” says Janice Sutton, HR Communications Administrator, Emera. “When employees understand their company’s goals and how what they do impacts those goals, they are aligned and more committed to the company’s – and their own – success.”

Rajasekar