Employee engagement is more than just a measure of motivation – it’s actually a measure of motivation to deliver a particular strategy, set of priorities or series of initiatives.
In that sense engagement is motivation in a given direction; it’s what velocity is to speed. The distinction between engagement and motivation must not be distorted. Motivation alone may be misdirected – towards end markets, consumer goods, products or services that don’t actually support the growth objectives of the business. Motivation has the potential to be detached from financial performance. Engagement, however – by definition – cannot.
I feel sceptical when I see generic statements linking companies with engaged colleagues to superior financial performance. There’s no doubt in my mind that engagement drives performance, but I feel these claims are protected from serious analysis because they are based on the aggregate performance of several large companies.
If you truly drive engagement, financial performance improves too. HR leaders must be brave enough to run the numbers and find out whether they are really driving engagement, or simply motivation.
I’m happy to tell you that by tracking this at the branch level over the past seven years, we have shown consistently that the most engaged teams drive superior sales and margin performance.
It has been an effective approach to ensuring company-wide focus on engagement.
The benefits
Companies that invest in employee engagement and motivation reap significant benefits. These include higher productivity, reduced absenteeism, improved quality of work and lower turnover rates. Engaged and motivated employees are likelier to contribute ideas that improve production processes, reduce waste and increase efficiency. Additionally, they are better at adapting to changes in technology or ways of working, which is increasingly important in the modern industry landscape. Those are all important ingredients of growth.
Ultimately, employee engagement and motivation are critical for maintaining a competitive edge in the industry. By creating and maintaining an environment where employees feel valued, motivated and connected to the organisation’s goals, HR professionals can help create a workforce that drives the company toward greater success.
In our analysis, we focus on our branch engagement scores and financial performance. At Rubix, our brilliant teams directly control two vital performance KPIs – sales and gross margin.
We run the numbers every year when the engagement survey is finished. Along the way, we’ve worked hard to understand what makes for an engaged branch, and we work with our managers to help them improve.
Foundations of team engagement
As is so often the case, it comes down to the basics. Things like weekly team meetings, monthly discussions on key strategic initiatives, constructive feedback and opportunities for team members to voice their opinions and support for career development. These are just some simple manager behaviours that drive engagement and financial performance.
The pot of gold is there at the end of the engagement rainbow. We should not be shy in talking about it; sometimes, you must be brave as you look for it. But if you don’t find it the first time, you’ll learn a lot to ensure you get closer in the future. And if you don’t even go in search of it, you run the risk that you are measuring motivation alone.
Rubix is the largest supplier of industrial MRO products and services in Europe. It supports clients in a wide range of manufacturing sectors including automotive, food and beverage, pharmaceuticals and energy.
David Morkeberg, Group HR Director at Rubix.
