How an Employee Engagement Platform Can Help Your Business Grow multifold – 2022
In the modern business world, employers continually realize employees' stake in their companies' performance and growth. As a result, more businesses are investing in their employees in all ways possible to boost their productivity. Central to employee performance is employee engagement, with recent studies suggesting that employee engagement increases business profitability by 21%. Other statistics also state that loss of employee engagement in smaller businesses with less than 250 staff can reduce the profits by approximately $ 3M annually.
Thanks to technology, employee engagement is now placed in innovative engagement platforms designed with all employee and business needs in mind for optimized performance. Through these platforms, a business can evaluate and understand its employees' sentiments by tracking their feedback through polls and surveys. With such critical information, companies apply various strategies to align their staff with organizational goals through improved communication, reduced employee turnover, and increased job satisfaction and overall output.
What is an employee engagement platform?
An employee engagement platform is software businesses use to increase employee satisfaction. The software works by increasing the level of enthusiasm and dedication of employees in performing their duties, boosting organizational performance. Additionally, it helps businesses uncover employee engagement opportunities and leverage them for business success.
Engaged employees are more productive and likely to go beyond their job description for the organization's good. This is because their contributions are recognized and appreciated, and they know how their input contributes to organizational growth. With the right software and strategy, you can align your employees with the organization's mission driving the achievement of common goals.
Benefits of Employee engagement platform for businesses
The need for employee engagement beats the remuneration value and other employee benefits. Recent studies suggest that companies that engage their employees show 202% better performance than those that don't. Different employee engagement software have distinct features, and you need the best for good ROI. Ezzely's retention platform functionality is ahead of the curve. It brings together collaboration, rewards and recognition, training, surveys, and document upload functionality, among many other features that will prove beneficial in a time in history where face-to-face workplace engagement will become scarce. Coggno Connect also deserves mentioning here – Coggno's most recent offering allows you to create meeting rooms and connect with your employees and co-workers in a private and secure online environment.
Here are ways companies are leveraging employee engagement platform in 2022:
Employee emotional well-being
Employee engagement software provides the management with real-time employee feedback on demand through data collected in surveys. Businesses can use this information to gauge the employees' mental and emotional well-being and attitude towards specific procedures and policies. In turn, this makes the employees feel valued, increasing their morale and productivity. Statistics indicate that employee engagement reduces cases of turnover by 42% and increases customer satisfaction by 65% as the same enthusiasm is transferred to service delivery. Finally, employee engagement drives out fear and increases initiative in risk-taking, leading to growth.
Employee Rewards Solution
Companies use employee recognition software to acknowledge, recognize and reward employee efforts and performance. Creating a staff recognition culture in your business helps you silently set certain expectations for your employees. An employee reward platform provides an opportunity for public peer-to-peer employee rewards solutions within the organization, which amplifies the effect. According to a recent survey, 37% of employees value recognition by their employers, and such employees are less likely to leave their jobs. Also, employee recognition reflects in their work as employees are likely to repeat actions for which they are recognized and rewarded.
Communication and Employee Training
Millennials, who make up at least 35% of the workforce, appreciate the use of technology. Employee recognition software is easily integrated with training features that facilitate training and knowledge retention. Consequently, employee engagement software caters to the current modes of communication. For instance, with AI technology, the system analyzes sentiments, whether constructive, negative, or neutral, and provides employees with personalized feedback that can help them grow.
Remote Access
Where employees work remotely, teams working from home can easily disengage from the rest of the organization. According to a collection of stats compiled by Riverbed, 54% of HR leaders surveyed believe that poor technology and infrastructure could hamper connectivity and workforce productivity when many countries have decided to impose movement and social distancing restrictions to protect the workforce. Cloud solutions such as Microsoft's Office365 have effectively facilitated continued collaboration among colleagues, while employee engagement technology has had the greatest opportunity to shine. There has never been a greater business case for using an employee engagement platform – they allow companies of all sizes to stay connected, remain engaged and motivated, and provide employees with relevant updates and training, wherever they are in the world.
Automation and collaboration
Employee engagement software allows employees to collaborate on solutions, solve problems and clarify communications. As a result, businesses use these platforms to boost their service delivery and speed up business processes through quick reactions to issues. With regular communications from management, this software increases levels of teamwork in the workplace and inclusivity of employees in decision-making processes. Consequently, employees and departments stay connected and focused on their shared goals.
An employer reward platform such as Ezzely automates tedious processes, from collating survey responses and tallying up recognition votes to collecting and housing digital copies of employee documents. Also, Coggno's training (a bonus of Ezzely's easy-to-access training functionality) helps organizations keep track of employees' completed training progress and to send reminders to those who have outstanding training.
Countering employee turnover and absenteeism
The rate of employee turnover in the US is an ongoing concern for businesses, with the rate of voluntary quitting rising from 31.9 million pre-pandemic to 37.4 million in 2022. In fact, it is no longer about the salary you are paying your employees but happiness arising from job satisfaction. Studies suggest that 31% of employees leave their jobs within six months. In most cases, employees will stick to a job where their work and performance are recognized; they have good relations with their colleagues and management and feel their skills contribute to organizational performance.
Statistics show that 77% of employee turnover can be avoided. Employee engagement software allows employees to express opinions and air their grievances directly to the management without fear of victimization. As a result, the business can meet staff needs, directly engage all members in decision-making, and increase transparency, which is critical to job satisfaction. In return, the company retains experienced teams and doesn't need to undergo tedious recruitment and onboarding processes as often.
Employee feedback
Upward and downward communication is more effective. Immediate supervisors can use the platform to update their teams and regularly check on their progress. These regular communications are essential as they boost teamwork and make employees feel valued. Recent statistics suggest that 75% of employees who get feedback believe it helps improve their performance.
Managers use employer reward platforms to gauge employee feelings and provide the necessary support. Staff also feel valued by the organization when their views are considered, and through employee satisfaction and loyalty, they become brand ambassadors boosting the organization's overall image. Companies that use employee engagement tools can also track their employees' personal and professional growth. As a result, they can fully engage their staff indiscriminately and provide equal opportunities.
Employee concerns are also addressed in time and as they arise, speeding up processes and boosting morale. Through anonymous feedback, the staff is free to speak up and address unpleasant events concerning their peers and the management. As a result, this prevents the bottling up of emotions that often lead to turnover and legal suits.
Onboarding
Some studies have shown that most businesses pay little attention to onboarding processes, which disengages new employees. First impressions provide a critical image for a company in retaining new hires and attracting highly skilled talent. New staff members often feel intimidated as they try to fit in and bulk of things to learn from the organization.
Companies use their employee engagement platforms to streamline the acclimation of new employees, helping them pick up on the organizational culture and feel part of the team. Through employer recognition software, new employees can provide feedback on areas of concern speeding up the transition process and improving the retention rates as it facilitates the development of more personalized employee plans. Other aspects of employee engagement are also essential for employees' lifecycle in the organization, such as recognition and rewards and internal relations.
Saving time and other resources
Ever heard someone say, "Work smarter, not harder"? When it comes to productivity, employee apps can be fantastic resources for taking the frustration out of everyday tasks and processes by streamlining them (while saving on traditional costs too). An employee training platform helps in the reduction of unnecessary infrastructural costs. Since employee engagement platforms and cloud-based productivity-related services can be used remotely, businesses do not have to be restrained by the exact infrastructure requirements as when occupying a physical office. This means reducing electricity bills, rent (depending on floor space), and maintenance costs.
Colleagues and management can chat directly and hold meaningful conversations without the need to converge for meetings. Employees can ask questions to seek clarification. Also, HR and management can collect data in the form of feedback through surveys easily and fast through the software. Finally, with employer recognition software, all information collected is easily accessible on demand as it is stored in one place.
Final thoughts
Employers and employees face many unprecedented challenges, many of which are not insurmountable, with a little help from smart technology enabled by internet connectivity. Also, in a competitive environment, businesses invest heavily in customer satisfaction. Unknown to many is that employee engagement translates to customer satisfaction. When fully engaged, employees develop a positive mindset in service delivery. As a result, the business enjoys high customer loyalty levels, attracting new customers. Work smarter with Ezzely by requesting a demo for your company or by following the easy sign-up process.