13 Reasons Why – #7 Engagement

Engagement. I recently did a series of short videos on LinkedIn entitled 13 Reasons Why exploring why every organisation needs to invest in building and sustaining a workforce that is resilient in the face of constant, uncertain, complex, volatile and ambiguous change.

I received positive feedback on the series and was asked to augment it with a series of articles on the same subject. Here you are.

Engage and thrive
The importance of employee engagement can’t be overstated – employee engagement strategies have been proven to reduce staff turnover, improve productivity and efficiency, retain customers at a higher rate, and make more profits.

Now, more than ever, investing and supporting your workforce to develop and maintain resilience will equip your organisation to not only face current challenges now but to thrive in an uncertain future.

Show you care
A fundamental requirement for employees to feel engaged, enthusiastic and invested in their work is to feel that their organisations and leaders truly care about them.

A 2018 report from Proclinical states:

“It appears that many of the factors commonly attributed to employee engagement are ultimately rooted in employee mental health and wellbeing. For example, employees want to the chance to innovate because this keeps them feeling mentally challenged; employees want to be compensated fairly because this makes them feel that their skills are valued and their hard work recognised. Therefore, companies should reference mental health in every single aspect of their employee engagement strategy to ensure a happy, engaged and productive workforce.”

https://www.proclinical.com/blogs/2018-5/does-mental-health-at-work-affect-employee-engagement

Good engagement does not mean good health
There is a common mistake many employers make and that is assuming that good employee engagement strategies will result in good mental health of employees.

This will only be true if employers embed specific approaches to workplace mental health into the engagement strategies. Without recognition that employee mental health issues are on the rise, and need to be addressed, employee engagement will not improve.

Employees will be engaged and prepared to face the uncertainty and ambiguity of constant and volatile change when they know that you have their back.

They will not be engaged when their employer appears unaware, or unconcerned, about the stress and anxiety many experience in the modern workplace.

All the perks you can offer will not result in a workforce that is engaged and connected to the organisational goals and values if their mental well-being is not seen as a priority.

Research
UK research revealed that 60 per cent of employees say they’d feel more motivated and more likely to recommend their organisation as a good place to work if their employer took action to support mental wellbeing.

https://www.mind.org.uk/media-a/4808/how-to-promote-wellbeing-and-tackle-the-causes-of-work-related-mh-problems_walesv2.pdf

Action
This relationship between employee mental health and engagement, motivation and productivity cannot be overlooked, so organisation must incorporate appropriate systems and strategies to support their

Leaders at all levels of an organisation need to take action and take it now.

They can start to manage mental health in the workplace by:
1 Promoting well-being for all employees
2 Tackling the causes of work-related mental health problems
3 Supporting staff who are experiencing mental health problems.