Five ways your business will suffer if you don’t invest in your employees

Mike Edwards discusses how an employee engagement programme not only shows your staff you care and develops individual goals, but offers much more, contributing to wider success and growth.

Employees are a business’s most valuable assets. This is something that rings true for companies in every sector, but for SMEs it’s especially important. It’s essential to create the right conditions for your employees to thrive within your organisation. Engaging with employees at all levels is a vital part of success but it’s something that’s often overlooked.

Choosing not to invest in your team means risking these five results:

You’ll lose your best people

Unengaged team members will feel like there’s no investment from the company – so why should they invest in you? They’ll merely turn up to work and their productivity levels will reflect that – instead of going above and beyond the call of duty, they’ll deliver to the minimum required level.

But more than that, employees who aren’t offered training and development opportunities are likely to look for another role at another company that does offer ongoing training and provide support for people to achieve their career goals. This leads to higher recruitment and training costs, not to mention potential damage to reputation.

Neglect your employee’s engagement and you risk getting left behind. 

Workforce retention is an issue for virtually all businesses. Having a suitable employee engagement programme in place will ensure you retain the employees who are key to your business. Engaged employees have greater job satisfaction and loyalty, which significantly lowers the risk of them jumping ship and taking up a position elsewhere.

You’ll see your service suffer

The quality of service offered to customers is a primary focus in everyday business activities for all companies.

When a company chooses not to invest in its employees and their training, it not only risks poor customer service from unmotivated employees, but it also risks losing ground to its competitors by not staying up to date and ahead of the curve with new developments.

On the flip side, the motivation, enthusiasm and commitment shown by engaged employees make all the difference to customer service success.

You’ll allow a negative culture to take hold

The negative atmosphere created by those who are disengaged can have a detrimental effect on your work environment. As the saying goes, one bad apple is likely to spoil the whole bunch, but with better engagement you can keep team morale high.

Investing in an employee engagement programme is investing in a harmonious work environment.

You’ll get left behind

Neglect your employee’s engagement and you risk getting left behind. The employee engagement experts at Best Companies revealed that firms with highly engaged employees perform as much as 3.5 times better than FTSE 100 businesses.

Success for you, your business and your employees is an all-encompassing benefit of introducing an employee engagement programme.

You’ll struggle to recruit

If a company doesn’t provide any significant training and development, then recruitment will prove to be a struggle. Potential employees will immediately identify that they won’t be supported and think it’s likely to be a short-lived experience, with the company expecting performance without providing any development opportunities.

Employee engagement doesn’t just work wonders for company’s success. Individual successes will also become apparent. Your employees will have the rewarding opportunity to develop new skills and enhance existing ones – a prospect that will only add to their self-confidence and enthusiasm.

Your happy workforce won’t just be admired from within. Prospective employees will take note of how appreciated and engaged your existing workforce is. Businesses that put employee engagement high on their list of priorities tend to find it easier to attract new employees who are qualified, passionate and enthusiastic, making recruitment a breeze.

 

About the author

Mike Edwards is head of people at business electricity comparison site Love Energy Savings.

 

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