The answer every employer wants to hear is “because I wanted to”, or better yet, “because I was excited about doing my job”.

The unfortunate answer might be more along the lines of, “because I had to” and the numbers back this up.

Around 35% of Western European employees say they feel engaged at work.

Wait…that can’t be right can it?

Sadly, yes. As we pile on more policies and rules it is easy to forget that in reality, the majority of people come in to work to try their best. Most will not intentionally show up and make mistakes in a secret sabotage mission. I say most…

That shocking 35% statistic comes from Oracles latest report, although CIPD research seems to tell a slightly different story. They reveal that only 3% of people are actively disengaged and 59% don’t really feel one way or the other…which to me, is even worse.

CIPD also reveals that the majority of employees are actually looking for a business with a family culture that is built upon loyalty and traditions, but only 26% of people feel that their current employer sits under this umbrella.

Instead, they felt that their working life is only barely held together because of strict and formal structures and procedures which govern what they do.

It isn’t a leap to say that this is why the UK workforce feels disconnected and getting out of bed to go to work is filled with dread instead of joy.

It’s important though, to not get this confused with a “can’t be bothered” attitude. They want to do well at work and succeed for their employer, but there is nothing in it for them.

So how do we improve my employee engagement?

  • Examine your company culture – Is it actually working? Employee surveys, when done right, can help you look deeper and find the little things that can make all the difference. Take a look at our employee survey page to find out more
  • What do your employees actually want from you and their work? – By finding out what your people actually want to achieve within your business you can make sure that the work they are doing is aligned with their goals
  • Employees excel when they value their organisation – they can see that the work they do is meaningful. Find your purpose and connect it to every employee and the work that they do so that they can see why they matter. Take a look at our employee engagement page to find out more
  • Get creative – Think about ways to reward staff and show recognition for their hard work. This doesn’t have to sit with you, give the power to the people. For example, we offer a cloud-based HR management tool that has an internal recognition scheme. Take a look out our HR Outsource page to find out more
  • Find out what procedures are actually working – again this does not have to sit with you. Develop a team to identity processes that are not working and then remove them from your business

You can read another one of our other posts about employee engagement here.

Find out the improvements that you could make to your business with Reality HR on your side. Fill out the form below or give us a call straight away for a free fifteen minute phone consultation on 01256 328 428.