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Why is only 13% of the workforce committed?

blog contributors engaged in niikiis
It should be simple: pay a fair wage, treat your employees well, give them an important mission and they will be loyal and productive for many years to come.

So why isn't it working? Today, companies seem to be competing to offer ever more elaborate incentives to attract and retain the best workers. Bersin estimated in 2012 that companies spend $720 million a year on programmes to improve worker engagement.

Yet despite dog grooming or laundry services, or free ping-pong tables, only a small proportion of employees feel engaged in their work: 13% globally. The least engaged age group? Millennials. They are almost twice as likely to be bored at work as baby boomers.

Why is this problem so prevalent today? Gallup believes that resistance to change is a key factor: companies are not adapting fast enough to new technologies, globalised and dispersed workforces, the gig economy and the particular expectations of younger workers. Or maybe we are just patching things up and not tackling the root of the problem.

Keep the team happy to increase their commitment

Do you really need your staff to be happy? In a word, yes. Lack of engagement is associated with a range of problems that can affect a company's bottom line, including low retention, poor quality, poor customer service and loss of business. In fact, it is estimated that disengaged employees cost companies between 450 and 550 billion per year in the United States alone.

Companies with high engagement are reaping the financial rewards: Best Buy found that a 0.1% increase in employee engagement saved it $100,000 per year per shop.

And Gallup found that companies with highly engaged teams had 21% higher profitability, 20% higher sales, 17% higher productivity and 40% fewer quality defects. They also experienced up to 60% less staff turnover, 41% less absenteeism and 70% fewer safety accidents.

And another study found that investing 10% more in employee engagement could increase profits by $2400 per employee per year, and that higher employee motivation meant a higher share price.

So if we are all aware of the problem, why aren't we moving forward? It's true that there are strategies that have proven to be effective, but unfortunately they are often poorly implemented, which, instead of helping to improve, makes the problem worse. Download the niikiis app on Google Play or the App Store and start increasing the participation and engagement of your workforce.

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