By Marije Gould, Vice President of Marketing, EMEA, Verint

It’s widely accepted that there is a correlation between employee engagement and revenues – companies with engaged employees dramatically outperform those without. It’s therefore surprising that in the recently released State of employee Engagement Maturity report from customer experience consultancy, Temkin Group, businesses still have a lot of ground to cover in terms of implementing effective employee engagement programmes.

The report found that, whilst over 70% proactively implement employee engagement initiatives – less than half (45%) would consider these as ‘well co-ordinated’ across the business. Employee engagement is measured annually on average, yet only 42% believe senior management take action as a priority based on these findings. Temkin Group’s measurement guide also found that only 12% of businesses have currently implemented what is considered a highly mature engagement strategy – a decrease from last year.

So in light of these findings, how can businesses get to grips with employee engagement and form a smarter, better aligned and more mature plan for the long term?

KPIs to drive real business value

It’s vital to set clear KPIs for your employees in terms of what line of business, product or competency you want to drive value in. Review and update these targets to keep them centered around these objectives from quarter to quarter. When goals are realised, ensure you recognise and reward employees to keep motivation high. An effective way to do this is through a technology based ‘gamification’ programme, in which automated tools such as scorecards can give employees visibility into their performance, helping them to understand expectations and identify areas for improvement.

Smarter skills management   

Employees will thrive in an environment which allows them to identify and grow their skills. By paying greater attention to detail, and really understanding staff skill-sets, companies can create more tailored career paths for employees and better nurture their very best performers. These insights will allow management to better apply the right skills to the right area, having a natural impact on productivity and results.

Keep the conversation flowing 

Having the infrastructure in place to enable you to listen to your employees and capture feedback throughout their employment will help you better understand and respond to issues in an appropriate and timely manner. Employees often have feedback regarding benefits, schedules and training, and being able to action these insights can greatly improve satisfaction and productivity.

Managing millennials

When discussing the future of work, PwC defines millennials as ‘one of the biggest challenges that organisations will face’ if not managed effectively. Be attuned to how and if your organisation is equipped to accommodate this generation of workers, and how you will be able to better attract and retain top talent. Factors like flexible working, opportunities for international experience, regular training and the ‘fun’ factor (away days, free breakfast, team events etc) will be key.

With all being said and done, it’s a simple idea – highly engaged employees will create amazing, fulfilling experiences for customers, driving loyalty and revenue. In these times of rapid technological and economic change, following the above steps will help you create a much more mature employee engagement strategy. This will engender long lasting satisfaction and loyalty from your workforce, and ultimately, having a knock on effect on the bottom line.