The term was first used by William A. Kahn in his 1990 article, Psychological Conditions of Personal Engagement and Disengagement at Work, it became the go-to phrase to describe the attitude employees displayed about their job. Kahn’s article examined how an individual’s perspective on safety, meaningfulness and availability had an impact on their level of engagement or disengagement.

Over the next few decades, companies would invest billions of dollars to discover the secret to retaining quality employees.

The era of job satisfaction had ended in the mid 1970’s and made way for the idea of job commitment. Employees (and employers) were looking for long term relationships, where they could settle in over the course of a career and go the distance with a company.

The development of technology and the growing global workplace sparked the idea in the early 1990’s that employees no longer had to settle for a lifetime career with one company.

With the rise of service industry jobs and a decline in traditional industries, employees discovered that they needed to be flexible in their skills and availability. Employers were facing a shifting workforce as employees moved from job to job, often capitalizing on their skills to move from one short term job to another.

Business managers realized that they were losing valuable employees, and as a result, time and money as they tried to build teams of workers who could help their business grow. Kahn’s investigation into the working habits of employees became a pivotal element into the development of modern human resource departments.

Employers scrambled to determine how to retain their employees and ensure that the ones they kept were fully engaged in their jobs. After decades of surveys by groups such as Gallup’s, employers know more about what makes their employees tick and how to cultivate engagement.

A recent study revealed that employee engagement in Canada is shockingly low. According to the report, only 25% of employees are actively engaged, leaving 15% of employees as actively disengaged and 60% of employees as not engaged.

With over half the workforce not engaged, corporations are losing real dollars in revenue and are faced with a revolving door of employees.

What can companies do to re-engage their employees?

Focus on employee strengths. Today’s employees want to do more than punch a time clock. They want to make a difference and are looking for a place where they can use their strengths to effect change. Invest in employee development programs that help team members identify their strengths and discover how to maximize those strengths in their job. Be inclusive. Management has a responsibility to their team to demonstrate their appreciation for the unique personality and qualities of everyone on staff. Evaluate your employee assessment program to ensure that it focuses on what makes each individual an important part of your team.Communicate corporate goals and purpose. Goal setting and vision planning are essential to helping employees re-engage with their job. By demonstrating how their job fits into the overall vision for the company, they can feel connected to the business. Teaching employees how to use goal setting will allow them to take responsibility for their job performance and work to achieve success.

Developing an employee engagement program can be intimidating, but you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Take advantage of proven systems that can increase your employee engagement and motivate your employees to reach new heights.

Michele Bailey is president and CEO of Blazing Agency and My Big Idea®. These two lines of business work congruently to support her clients’ success.

In today’s competitive job market, it has become harder and more complex to find employees who will be an asset to your corporation. One of the largest problems facing business managers is the high volume of turnover that they face.

Why do people leave their job? A survey of Canadian employees revealed the top five reasons that people give for quitting their job.

Pay (we were surprised to see this as #1)Dishonest or unethical practices of employerDistrust of leaders Lack of work/life balancePoor corporate culture

Employers who wish to retain their top employees should evaluate their business to combat these issues. While preventing employee drain is essential, another, and in some ways more urgent issue is facing business managers.

According to a recent Gallup poll, one of the most concerning issues that business managers must deal with is a lack of employee engagement.

What is employee engagement? Employee engagement has been defined as an employee’s “psychological investment” in their work. Employees who are engaged at work are more productive, look for new opportunities to succeed and contribute to the company’s overall success.

A lack of engagement, however, can have a detrimental effect on a company’s employee morale, staffing and profit levels.

A 2016 poll revealed that only 27% of Canadian employees consider themselves engaged at work. Of the remaining 73% of employees, 60% are not engaged, while 13% are actively disengaged.

These numbers paint an alarming picture of the reality of the workplace: over half of employees are simply going through the motions every day. In addition, nearly one-third of employees self-report that they are either looking for a new job or would be willing to leave their current job if a better offer came along.

With such large numbers of employees either looking for a new opportunity or disengaged with their job, employers must look for ways to improve their employee engagement.

How can employers improve employee engagement?

To combat employee disengagement, employers must address the issues the prevent their employees from fully engaging with their work. Here are three simple ideas to consider:

Fully develop onboarding and training programs. One of the largest hurdles to employee engagement is training. Employees who feel unprepared to complete their job duties or who are lacking in the necessary skills will have a difficult time feeling successful. Ensure that your training programs offer employees the skills and tools they’ll need to accomplish their tasks. Use goal setting. Tying employee performance to corporate and individual goals will help employees see the benefit of their work on a larger scale. They’ll have a clearer picture of how their work performance impacts the company overall and can see how they are an essential part of the company’s success. Acknowledge employees. Employees want to be noticed. Not only for their work performance, which is important, but as a unique individual. Acknowledging employees can help to develop a level of respect and friendship between the employer and the employee. Things as simple as a casual greeting in the morning (“Good morning, Bob, great work on the XYZ project last week!”), honoring them on their birthday (a monthly birthday cake in the break room to celebrate that month’s birthdays) and asking about their out of work activities can go a long way. You know your employees best, so take these as suggestions and personalize to what will work best in your company’s culture. Demonstrating you truly see your employees as a valued individual will help employees develop feelings of loyalty towards their job and improve engagement.

Employee recognition is a facet of improving employee engagement that can cost very little financially but has huge benefits for the corporation. While few employees will quit their job solely because they don’t feel recognized, it can be a contributing factor that may ultimately lead them to leave. What are some ways you can improve employee recognition in your company?

Michele Bailey is president and CEO of Blazing Agency and My Big Idea®. These two lines of business work congruently to support her clients’ success.

When most business executives think of their employees, they categorize them by some form of “bucket” that common to their company or industry. They do this mostly because it makes sense and it is easy to think of an “employee” as a part of a collective group.

Recognizing the achievements of these employee groups is common. Contests and incentives are used to motivate and encourage employees to work together with their teams toward success.

However, employees want individual recognition – not only for their achievements at work but for their unique skills and abilities.

Why is Individual Recognition Important? According to a Gallup study, employees are twice as likely to quit when they feel they are unrecognized and under-appreciated. Employee recognition, however, is more than simply giving praise for every minor thing your employee does at work.

It can include saying “Hello”, taking time to ask about out of work activities, and/or recognizing birthdays. These simple measures communicate to employees that they are valued as an individual as well as being an important team member.

The High Cost of Disengagement Unhappy and unengaged employees can have a detrimental effect on both company morale and success. According to recent studies, disengaged employees cost businesses in North America over $350 billion in lost productivity annually. Increasing employee engagement should be a priority for any business executive wishing to improve corporate success.

Engaged employees are more productive, more successful and more motivated to perform well at work. As a result, their company benefits and has higher levels of success.

Employees who reported that they felt engaged at work also reported that they felt valued and appreciated. With only 25% of Canadian employees reporting being engaged at work, it is safe to say that a majority of businesses need to improve their employee engagement.

Employers who wish to transform their business can start by implementing a plan to recognize employees, both collectively and individually.

Need some simple ideas you can start this week?

Looking for ways to improve employee engagement? Find ways to increase employee recognition. Embracing the diversity of your workplace can improve the culture of your business and help to optimize your workforce.

Instead of treating your employees as a general group, find ways to recognize the individual strengths, personalities, education and skills that your team contains. Not only will it build engagement, it will allow you to use their strengths to promote synergy within your organization. How can you implement individual recognition for your employees?

Michele Bailey is president and CEO of Blazing Agency and My Big Idea®. These two lines of business work congruently to support her clients’ success.

The list of ‘amenities’ that companies offer their employees goes on and on, from the medical (coverage for gender reassignment surgery) to the ordinary (free gym memberships). It appears companies are tripping over themselves in an effort to outshine their competitors, and with good reason.

When Google instituted its ‘Chief Happiness Officer’ position in the early 2000s, hundreds of companies followed suit, prioritizing happiness for their employees. As a result, employee happiness has become a focal point of human resource departments.

What happens when the clock strikes 5:00? Should corporations be concerned about their employees’ happiness outside of work? Some experts agree that companies should be empathetic to the happiness of their staff even when they’re not at work, while others vehemently oppose. What does each side argue?

The “Absolutely” Crowd A recent study by JLL Corporate Solutions revealed that 87% of people surveyed want someone dedicated to employee happiness and wellbeing at work. There’s merit for this idea. Happy employees are more likely to be engaged at work.

Engaged employees are more productive, take fewer sick days and are less likely to look for a new job. While on-site perks such as walking trails and free snacks are helpful, employers who wish to keep their employees happy while at work will work to help keep them happy while away from work. More succinctly, employers should prioritize their employees’ work-life balance.

Employees do not leave their personal lives at the office door. Workplace policies that support employee life outside of the office can greatly improve what happens inside the office by alleviating the things that cause stress. Flex scheduling can accommodate working parent struggles. Providing an option to work from home as needed allows employees who have health issues to work as they are able.

The “Absolutely Not” Crowd Very few employers would dismiss their employees’ life outside of work as irrelevant. A public outcry would erupt if employers were blatant enough to state they simply did not care about what happened to their employees away from the office. However, a company exists to make a profit.

Without it, employers are forced to lay off employees, cut services or shut down. While it is nice to provide perks that can occasionally help employees’ lives outside of work, the main priority of a company should be business.

Where is the line between what cultivates a thriving workplace and what is too far? Only you can decide. While some companies seem to go to the extreme in providing for their employees’ happiness at work, they seem to ignore the fact that their company is made up of people who have lives outside the office.

Other companies pay lip service to being concerned about their employees, while their policies indicate they only care about their bottom line.

As in all things, there must be a balance. Companies can care about their employees’ happiness – both in and out of the office – without going out of business. In the end, it is left to each business leader to determine what is appropriate for their own company.

Do your employees need brand new flat screen TVs at home to be happy? Would those TVs help them to be more productive at work? You’ll have to decide that for yourself. Does your company have a Chief Happiness Officer? What efforts have you taken to improve employee happiness?

Michele Bailey is president and CEO of Blazing Agency and My Big Idea®. These two lines of business work congruently to support her clients’ success.

Advocates for the expanding use of technology insist that it can only make life better for everyone. Opponents are concerned with the long-range potential for unforeseen problems. One of the largest issues regarding the development of AI? The balance between humanity and technology.

Despite the growing ability of AI to become more “life-like”, does the future still need a sense of humanity in the workplace? Studies say yes.

Perceiving Bias Because AI is developed by humans, there is a danger of instilling bias within the programming. By developing a diverse workforce, businesses can overcome unknown biases within their AI processes and ensure that their company is open to all individuals.

While programmers work to ‘perfect’ their AI protocols, humans can recognize and respond to people on the basis of their individuality. Survey your employees – do they feel as though they are seen for who they truly are? If not, you may need to work on your corporate culture. Do your customers feel valued by your company during their interactions with both your employees and your AI processes (think bots for first customer service questions online)?Interpreting Emotions Correctly interpreting emotions, reading people’s responses to situations and overcoming challenges are human skills that are lacking in AI programs.

Leaders who promote a healthy work environment understand that everyone will react to situations differently. One of the secrets to success is to read and respond to the emotions of those you encounter.

Reliance on AI to correctly interpret emotions may cause you to miss important cues. How can you merge AI into your company responses, while encouraging your employees to use their humanity to ensure customer satisfaction?

Showing Gratitude Gratitude is one of the most powerful human emotions. Demonstrating gratitude in the workplace can break down barriers, motivate people to work toward success and inspire empathy between coworkers.

It can instill humility, while fostering a positive work environment. How is gratitude used in your workplace? It can be as simple as recognizing employees for their hard work or sending thank you notes to customers for their business. The actions may be small, but the payoff can be huge.

It is important to align your use of AI with your business values. If AI serves an important purpose that can help your company succeed, it makes sense to use it. If not, using AI simply for the sake of “technology” is futile and will ultimately backfire. Use AI as a tool when needed, and don’t be afraid to use “real people” when it is more effective.

Even with the growing reliance on technology, business leaders will always be essential in creating a positive work environment. Integrating AI into your business can help connect with your audience in a new and more effective manner but cannot replace the fundamentals of humanity.

As AI takes on more roles within your organization, make sure that you are not overlooking the roles that can only be filled by humans. Use both aspects to your advantage to capitalize on the benefits that AI can bring, while ensuring that no one is overlooked.

Michele Bailey is president and CEO of Blazing Agency and My Big Idea®. These two lines of business work congruently to support her clients’ success