How Employee Engagement Drives Growth

If there is one thing we can count on in business it’s that numbers speak louder than words. If you can’t measure results, you can’t manage them. And what you can’t manage, you can’t improve.  

At Inward, we understand the how employee engagement helps companies grow and succeed. A recent Gallup study gives us the numbers to confirm it, once again.

Gallup’s 2012 Meta-Analysis Research Study

For the eighth edition of the Meta-Analysis Research Study, Gallup compiled data from close to 50,000 work units across 192 organizations in 49 industries and 34 countries. In total, researchers gathered insight from nearly 1.4 million employees. 

Their findings: There is an undeniable connection between employee engagement and performance. For all of the nine performance factors below, engaged work units out-performed bottom-quartile units by significant margins. 

Engaged vs. Disengaged Engaged Work Units  

• Customer Ratings - 10% higher

• Profitability - 21% greater

• Productivity - 22% greater

• Turnover - 25% reduction for high-turnover, 60% reduction for low-turnover organizations.

• Safety Incidents - 48% fewer

• Shrinkage (theft) - 28% reduction

• Absenteeism - 37% reduction

• Patient Safety Incidents - 41% fewer

• Quality Defects - 41% fewer

So what does improved performance mean for growth?

The study found that companies with an average of 9.3 engaged employees for every disengaged employee saw 147% higher EPS than their competition. On the flip side, companies with just 2.6 engaged employees for every actively disengaged employee experienced 2% lower EPS than their competitors. 

The bottom line: Employee alignment pays off. Big time.