This is a few months' old but it’s a good read so thought I’d draw your attention to a few insightful tidbits.

“TO WIN CUSTOMERS — and a bigger share of the marketplace — companies must first win the hearts and minds of their employees.”

Top-level:

• Engagement makes a quantifiable difference to the bottom line
• Managers and leaders play a critical role in engagement
• Different types of workers need different engagement strategies
• Engagement has a greater impact on performance than corporate policies and perks
• Employees are not prepared to engage customers unless they’re engaged themselves

What can companies do to improve employee engagement?

1. Use the right engagement survey – identifying, measuring and acting on the right metrics is key
2. Focus on engagement at the enterprise and local levels – transformation happens at the local level, but only when spearheaded by those at the top
3. Select the right managers – managers selected must have the talents to effectively manage people as managers are often the gatekeepers of engagement
4. Coach managers and hold them accountable for engagement – managers must build engagement into their formal review process
5. Define engagement goals in realistic, everyday terms – ‘on-the-ground’ engagement goals must be realistic and regularly communicated
6. Find ways to connect with each employee – each person has different engagement needs and managers should be aware of how variables, including age and demographic, can influence this

The three types of employee at work:

1. Engaged – employees are emotionally connected to their workplace, drive innovation and help the company progress
2. Disengaged – employees are sleepwalking through their employment, putting time – but no passion – into their work
3. Actively disengaged – employees are unhappy and acting out this unhappiness during the day, undermining what their engaged workers accomplish

In 2012, 18% of the US working population were actively disengaged, 52% were disengaged and 30% were engaged. Over the past 12 years, the biggest variation on any of these figures was 8%. Mostly there was very little change.

How can companies accelerate engagement?

• Select the right people (managers who can empower and engage their staff)
• Develop employees’ strengths
• Enhance employees’ wellbeing

Most powerful thought from the report?

“When organisations successfully engaged their customers and their employees, they experience a 240% boost in performance-related business outcomes compared with an organisation with neither.”

(You can download the full report here.)