Have you ever felt like your employees are not interested in coming to work? Ever felt they do not want to make an extra effort and participate in your organized brainstorming sessions? If the answer to the questions is yes, it is very clear that your employees are disengaged in the workplace.
To continue, it is their lack of interest in engagement that they do not want to get involved in anything extra than their regular operations. There can be many reasons why employee engagement can be low in your workplace. It can be your working structure or your working environment that can lead to a negative impact on the minds of your employees that can contribute to their disengagement.
However, one of the major reasons for employee disengagement that is often neglected by employers is employees’ lack of sense of belongingness. To define, a sense of belongingness refers to a human need of being accepted and involved in a social group. These social groups can be work colleagues, families, and friends.
That being the case, if your employees do not feel valued and accepted in the place, it will automatically lead to their disengagement and unhappiness. Moreover, their disengagement and dissatisfaction not only disrupt their happiness but also negatively affect the efficiency and productivity of your workplace.
On the other hand, if the sense of belongingness is high in your workplace, it will lead to higher engagement. To validate, according to a report, employees with a strong sense of belongingness are 6 times more engaged than those who don’t. Moreover, we all are very well aware of the fact that as per Gallup’s report engaged teams are 21% more profitable. Hence, it becomes crucial for you as an employer to cultivate a strong sense of belongingness in your workplace.
However, now the question arises how exactly employees’ sense of belongingness is linked to their engagement. That being the case, this blog will effectively highlight the key ways in which employees’ sense of belongingness boosts their engagement.
5 Manners Belongingness Boosts Employee Engagement
- Fosters Innovation
Innovation is the secret key to success for every business. The more innovative your workforce, the higher the efficiency of your company. Hence, it is really essential to keep the innovation ignited in your employees to make the most out of them for the growth of the company.
However, in order to keep your employees engaged enough to keep their innovative skills high, it is essential to maintain a strong sense of belongingness in the workplace.
To elaborate, when employees feel valued and belonged to a workplace, it will encourage them to actively participate and come up with new and innovative ideas. These ideas will assist in enhancing the growth of your company. This active participation of your employees will contribute to enhancing their engagement in the workplace.
Moreover, these ideas and discussions when held openly with all the employees in the company will assist in discussing the major strengths and weaknesses of your decisions. You can choose the approach of the 7Cs of communication for better communication. This will assist in making your decision-making process more efficient and effective.
- Enhances Employee Loyalty
If your employees are towards your company then it is undoubtedly your best competitive advantage that can assist you in surviving in the contemporary business environment.
Hence, if your employees feel that they are a crucial part of your company and their presence matters, it will encourage them to give their all to the growth of your company. Moreover, when employees are involved and valued in a workplace, it encourages them to perform better with more dedication and commitment contributing to the growth of the company.
This dedication and commitment will assist in boosting the morale and zeal with which your employees will perform for the success of the company. It will further assist in enhancing the growth and productivity of the company. Along with this, when employees could relate their success to the company’s success, or they feel connected with the company, it will enhance their loyalty in the workplace. Moreover, it will also encourage them to get more actively engaged in working towards the growth of their company.
- Reduces Absenteeism
Did you know, as per statistics, absenteeism in the U.S. costs employers $225.8 billion annually in productivity losses? This implies that on average it costs $1,685 to a company per absent employee. That’s quite huge, isn’t it?
One of the major reasons why employees don’t feel like coming to the workplace is when they feel they are not welcomed or involved. This encourages employees to take sick leaves and days off from work which causes losses of productivity for the company.
Hence, it is really essential for your employees to feel belonged and are valued at the workplace. In fact, according to the statistics, the strong belongingness of employees in a workplace resulted in a 56% increase in job performance, a 50% decrease in turnover risk, and a 75% reduction in sick days.
Moreover, when the absenteeism rate is lower, it will encourage employees to be more active and engaged in the activities occurring in the workplace. Hence, it is essential to create a workplace culture where employees feel valued and belonged because a lower absenteeism rate will lead to enhanced engagement of employees in the workplace.
- Increases Collaboration
Healthy collaborations are one of the most crucial determinants of the success of an organization. When a team collaborates effectively, it assists in enhancing the effectiveness of every project which contributes to the enhanced growth of the organization.
To continue, when employees feel that their presence matters in a workplace, it assists in forming great trust among the teams. Alongside, high levels of trust will also assist in creating a positive work environment. When a greater trust and positive environment is built in the organization, it assists in enhancing the efficiency of collaborations incurring between the team members.
Hence, it is essential for you as an employer to create a high sense of belongingness in an organization so that employees can trust each other which will result in better collaborations among organizations. When employees will trust each other and will collaborate better, it will encourage them to be more effectively engaged in the workplace.
- Escalates job satisfaction
There are two types of employees in every workplace. First, the ones who take their work as an obligation and are not satisfied in the workplace. Others are those who think of their work as a new challenge every day and are completely satisfied with the work environment.
You as an employer want every employee to fall in the second category. For that to effectively happen, it is essential for you to create an environment where everyone feels valued and respected.
When employees feel respected and belonged to an organization, it will increase their job satisfaction in the workplace and will assist in engaging them as well.
To encapsulate, employees are the most crucial assets of an organization. Hence, it is really important to keep them engaged. Moreover, the above-given benefits will assist in enhancing the engagement of a workplace by creating a greater sense of belongingness in the workplace.