Employee Engagement: A neccessary investment.

Top talent can be hard to find. These employees bring significant value to their companies and replacing them can be challenging – and expensive.  Employee engagement can be a transformative power on overall business performance, which is why investing in internal engagement should be a central pillar of your organizational success strategy. 

A report from Gallup, a leading research and analytics company, underscores the critical role of internal engagement in driving organizational success. It reveals that engaged employees are more profitable for their companies. Furthermore, research by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), indicates that the cost of replacing an employee can amount to 50-60% of their annual salary. Retaining top talent and reducing turnover can result in substantial cost savings, improved productivity, and higher morale among employees.

When employees are engaged, everyone is happier.  
When employees are engaged at work, everyone benefits. These employees are often more likely to provide better customer service and invest more time and knowledge into their product or service. It’s a common finding that employees who are engaged in their work are more likely to deliver a superior interaction to clients, partners, and each other. 

Marketing’s role in employee engagement.
For marketers, the focus on internal engagement presents yet another chance to align their strategies with the organization’s goals – and collaborate with other leaders. Marketing plays a crucial role in bringing a company’s values and vision to life. Internal communications efforts that reflect on the collective impact the team is accomplishing can also help foster a renewed sense of purpose. By developing efforts in partnership with others, marketers contribute to building a culture of collaboration, innovation, and commitment. 

To strengthen your team’s productivity and culture of collaboration, here are four opportunities to contribute to internal engagement:

1. Internal Communications Collaboration: It’s important to acknowledge that engaging employees is a true team effort. Work closely with leadership, the internal communications team, Human Resources (HR), and other relevant departments to ensure consistent and transparent communication. Share upcoming marketing initiatives, successes, and relevant industry news with employees. Collaborate on newsletters, town hall meetings, or intranet updates to keep everyone informed and engaged in organizational efforts.
   
2. Align Internal and External Brand Messaging: Ensure that your marketing efforts align with and reinforce the company’s culture and values, both internally and externally. Doing so externally can help in recruitment efforts, but an internal effort is just as important to foster a stronger sense of employee pride and connection.
   
3. Integrate Employee Engagement in Marketing Activities: Actively incorporate employee-centric elements into the organization’s marketing strategy. Highlight the company culture, employee success stories, and internal initiatives in external communications where appropriate. This not only strengthens the employer brand, but also showcases a positive workplace to external audiences. Align with HR to ensure that these external messages accurately represent the internal reality.
   
4. Measure and Analyze Employee Engagement Metrics: Work with HR to establish key performance indicators (KPIs) for employee engagement and retention. Regularly assess and analyze these metrics to gauge the effectiveness of joint efforts – or consider partnering with someone who can help, depending on the size of your organization. Using the data, marketers can adjust strategies to continuously improve employee engagement initiatives.

An investment in employee engagement is an investment in your company’s financial future. By retaining top talent, and making them feel valued, you can better ensure consistency and quality for your customers, stakeholders, and internal culture.

Need help creating a strategy for employee engagement? Contact us at more@creativeinferno.com to spark a discussion.