In the quest to win over the best talent in the market, organizations are putting more and more resources toward making sure their acquisition efforts are up to par. It takes much more than effective recruitment strategies and expertise, however, to engage talent and attract the best people to your organization. In today’s competitive markets, learning how to acquire and engage talent is a high stakes venture, and organizations are leaving nothing to chance until they realize their goals.

Moving a step further, forward-looking talent acquisition departments are finding a competitive advantage from the rapid growth of social networking platforms like LinkedIn. Still, stepping out as a difference maker as a recruiter remains an arduous and expensive venture. If the global trends in talent engagement are anything to go by, the demand for a skilled and passionate workforce is on the rise while the supply is continuously on the decline, even with coronavirus taken into consideration. This is especially true for emerging economies where recruitment is on the upward trend.

What is Talent Engagement?

Simply put, this is the process of identifying and attracting the right workforce to your organization, and getting these recruits and existing employees to fully engage and connect with your organization’s goals, values, and core principles. Putting emphasis on talent engagement can improve your team’s motivation and performance while reducing costly turnover. It is important to understand that engagement has nothing to do with holding your employees in one role. Remember, talent “hoarding” can have a negative effect on engagement. Thus, there are three crucial requirements for continued talent engagement:

  • Visibility: Letting the workforce know that the organization appreciates their potential and is interested in keeping them.

  • Planning: Being clear about how the organization plans to help employees develop their career path.

  • Action: Letting employees see the roadmap for growth and career development within the organization.

Why Engage Talent?

It does not matter whether you are running a small startup or a multinational corporation, a disengaged workforce can run your organization aground. As staff engagement begins to drop, the organization will begin noticing missed deadlines, reduced productivity, increased labor turnover, and loss of business. Fortunately, by focusing on the benefits of employee engagement, an organization can bring back to life even the most lifeless workforce. Here are top reasons why an organization should take employee engagement seriously.

Cost-saving

According to a recent Gallup survey, employee disengagement costs US businesses $550 billion per annum. It is easy to notice how – if you are paying someone to do a job, and they barely put in the necessary effort and attention, they will still get paid even if they do not give out the desired output. Employee disengagement is a clear hindrance to getting the most out of the investment that you’ve placed in your employee.

A fully engaged workforce, on the other hand, will drive the organization’s revenue and improve its profitability. This is because engaged employees are committed to the organization, its goals, and values. They have the organization’s best interest at heart and are ready to do everything to help it succeed. Engaged employees enjoy their jobs and are more committed to help power the organization forward.

Lower Turnover

Reduced turnover is one of the most important benefits that an organization will realize when it figures out how to engage candidates. Replacing an employee is an expensive exercise, usually costing about 33% of their salary. Even if you choose to source for talent independently, you are still going to spend time and money advertising the position, screening, and interviewing the candidates. And the problem does not end here, it is unlikely the new recruit will be fully comfortable in the new role as their predecessor – hence they will require orientation to get used to their new role. In fact, it takes up to two years for a new employee to reach the same level of productivity as an existing staff, and this means some degree of lost productivity.

Happier Customers

Fully engaged and happy employees translate into increased productivity, which results in enhanced customer satisfaction. Studies have shown that organizations with streamlined employee engagement programs enjoy up to 233% customer loyalty. This is because engaged employees are often well empowered with the resources they need for optimal productivity. Well trained employees deliver exceptional customer service and achieve better results for the organization.

Talent Engagement in Action

There is no doubt that talent engagement can be a difficult challenge. Thanks to the advent of digital job applications, the recruitment market has dramatically changed in recent years. Today, job seekers do not have to spend hours or even days on a single application. Rather, they can send out hundreds of applications in a single day. That said, here are a few tips an organization can implement to engage their talent:

Start Out With Proper Onboarding

The first step to keeping your workforce is to onboard them in the proper way. According to studies, employees who are taken through a structured onboarding are 60% more likely to be with an organization for more than 5 years. Unfortunately, most organizations do not have a formal onboarding process in place.

Provide Frequent Feedback

One of the most effective ways of engaging talent is through constant communication. They want to be better employees, so providing frequent and constructive feedback is quite important as this will keep them working towards realizing their goals. Consider scheduling monthly one-on-ones and frequent feedback sessions in order to keep your employees motivated, interested, and engaged.

Constantly Recognize Your Talent

The importance of creating a culture of employee recognition and frequent praise for their strengths cannot be overstated. When an employee feels appreciated, valued, and recognized for their input to the organization, they will be motivated to continue doing a good job for the organization.

Create Personal Growth Opportunities

To keep your workforce engaged, they need to feel that there is room for their professional and personal growth within the organization. Investing money and time in your employees’ growth lets them know that you recognize them as valuable long-term members of your team.

Conclusion

Workforce engagement has become an important focal point in today’s work environment because organizations finally understand the connection between customer satisfaction and happy and fully engaged talent. When you engage talent, you can be certain that your workforce will be motivated and highly satisfied in their role, which translates into high retention and lower turnover, increased productivity and customer satisfaction, and overall profitability for the organization.

Looking to grow your workforce? Contact us today so we can help you take your recruitment efforts to the next level.