Research consistently draws a direct correlation between employee engagement and business results. Indeed, the top 25% of companies in a recent study of workplace engagement (involving 25 million employees in 195 countries) had significantly better:

• Productivity
• Customer Ratings
• Turnover
• Absenteeism
• Safety Performance

…than the bottom 25%. Furthermore, the most engaged organizations in the Gallup study enjoyed 147% higher earnings per share than the competition! Yet, despite these benefits which go far beyond the bottom-line, only 13% of the organizations in Gallup’s latest study made the grade in terms of having an engaged workforce.

Our own research, conducted in the late 1970s , came to similar conclusions. Want to improve safety, absenteeism, and other key metrics? Improve engagement.

How? Most research points in the same direction. As the American Manufacturing Association global study in 2007 put it, “The most important relationship within any organization is the one between the employee and his or her immediate supervisor.” If the supervisor knows how to engage the employee’s heart and mind, then the majority will willingly follow, and the results will show it. If the opposite is true, it is predictable that performance will suffer.

Components of an effective engagement strategy:

• Develop both Technical and Interpersonal Skills
• Solve Mission Critical Issues by Involving Employees with Hands-On Knowledge
• Empower Employees to Continuously Improve their day-to-day Tasks

Of course, no supervisor and their direct reports are working in a vacuum. Top leadership can and should support development of supervisory relationships at all levels, including their own. If the relationships are allowed to be dysfunctional at the top, they will likely be dysfunctional down below.

There are reliable ways to increase engagement, and nobody does it better than Crosby & Associates. Why not start today?