Employee engagement is becoming a buzzword in many enterprises today. According to the talent research firm Bersin, 79 percent of businesses are very worried about engagement and Gallup research shows that only 13 percent of employees are highly engaged at work. I recently wrote an article for CMSWire in which I discuss the essential elements to employee engagement.
I believe this problem stems in part from how organizations approach the delivery of vital products and programs which are core to their business. Many executives forget that building products and managing projects has always been an inherently social process. Humans have a fundamental desire to feel connected to one another when they work and to know their work makes a significant contribution.
Recent social business technologies have been recognized for their ability to drive productivity. McKinsey estimates employee productivity can be increased 25 percent through adoption of social technologies and establishing a “networked enterprise.”
It starts with bringing the entire organization together around the collective mission. Social business technologies can be instrumental in reversing the trend of focusing only on tasks because they can provide the Big Picture for every employee, often in a highly visual format.
Using social apps to foster a sense of inclusion for employees is more than just deploying a piece of software. It represents a significant cultural shift at the organization. It’s about changing from a mindset where any extraneous information beyond the task itself represents the potential for distraction, to a more enlightened perspective where employees can be not only trusted with these insights, but encouraged to seek them out.
Read the full article here and tell me your thoughts on employee engagement in the comments below or find me on Twitter.