With the publication of the latest Gallup State of the Global Workplace report, this seems a good time to focus on training materials that might help improve Employee Engagement. But first, let’s take a quick look at what the report says.
Key findings include:
• There is a strong link between workplace experiences and overall wellbeing.
• When managers are engaged, others tend to be engaged.
• In the best organisations, 75% of managers are engaged and 70% of non-managers.
The differences between organisations with high and low engagement are striking. Those with high levels of employee engagement experience significantly:
• Less absenteeism.
• Less staff turnover.
• Less theft.
• Fewer safety incidences.
• Greater productivity.
• More profitability.
• Better employee wellbeing.
The report finds that just 23% of the world’s employees felt engaged in the workplace in 2023. Despite all the lip service and greater awareness that’s an improvement of just 2% since 2021 when the world was still in the throes of a pandemic.
But there’s even worse news for those here in Europe. Europe has the lowest regional percentage of engaged employees with only 13% of employees engaged!
And within Europe, the UK ranks 33rd, below, for example, Romania, Albania, Iceland, Hungary, Portugal, Germany and Greece, with employee engagement at just 10%. We’re also the second saddest country in Europe according to the stats, with 27% of people feeling sad a lot of the day ‘yesterday’ and more stressed than most too. 31% of employees are watching for or actively seeking a new job.
The report clearly illustrates that employee engagement matters and that, largely, we’re failing.
So,
Where does your organisation stand?
Do you know how many of your people feel engaged at work?
Do you have a strategy to improve?
If this matters to you, Trainers’ Library has materials that will help, including a series of four brilliant modules named, not very originally, Employee Engagement 1, 2, 3 and 4:
This is a great introduction for managers, with a fun case study-based exercise that illustrates how engagement differs from staff ‘satisfaction’ or ‘motivation’ and why it matters. It provides participants with a solid foundation and a clear definition of what employee engagement means on which to build.
This is a really practical module that encourages managers to consider their existing teams and where individuals within that team sit. It looks at the link between pride in the job and pride in the organisation and how the two combine to produce cheerleaders, mavericks, superstars - and something else, and encourages managers to think about the specific actions they will take to start to address any areas of weakness.
Using the research from Gallup as a foundation, we examine the key skills and behaviours that leaders who successfully engage their teams have employed and encourage learners to reflect on their own experiences. They’ll use this experience to produce and enhance their action plans for change.
(Remote Delivery versions of all three of these modules are available and we’re working on the fourth!).
Two teams build a bridge – but one team, despite having the same resources and same basic instruction, will produce something that’s far superior. Why? One of our all-time favourite modules, this activity, which allows you as the trainer an opportunity to practice your role playing skills, powerfully illustrates the difference employee engagement makes to performance and never fails to create lightbulb moments that participants remember long after the training has ended.
Of course, this is just a small sample of the materials we have that will help you build employee engagement, but they’re a good place to start. And they all have a five star review from real users.
Please share this article with friends and colleagues who might find it helpful.