On November 30th, ServiceRocket’s Bill Cushard held the first webinar in our series, The Future of Hybrid Work, titled Employee Engagement with Workplace from Meta. New demands at work have changed traditional working models in order to adapt to the future of hybrid work. Employee engagement is a top concern for leaders everywhere. Here are our top 5 takeaways you need to know.

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1. A Common Definition of Employee Engagement is Not So Common

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) offers the most complete definition. This organization, which brings you the Best Places to Work surveys, defines employee engagement as a combination of commitment to the organization and its values. This definition is the preferred choice because you're not just committed to the organization, you’re also committed to the values of the company. Within these values is a reflection of how well you do the job. An additional part we added to this definition that is equally important, is a willingness to help colleagues. So to summarize, our complete definition of employee engagement is: 

Willingness to help matters. It is important to define what employee engagement means in your organization. If you have an employee engagement improvement initiative, it's necessary to create a clear definition so everyone is on the same page. This makes it easier to decide how to improve as an organization. 

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2. Low Employee Engagement is REALLY Expensive

Here are a couple of stats to wrap your head around:

• 2.7 million people quit their job per month
• 11 billion dollars lost by companies due to employee turnover
• On average, it cost companies 20% of an employee's salary to replace them
  

Why aren’t employees engaged? Top reasons cited were:

• Unchallenging work
• Too many hours
• No reason to work hard
• Bored
  

It's important to talk to your leadership team and find out what’s important to your employees.

In today’s environment of  hybrid and remote work, dispersed workforces and high turnover due to the great resignation, employees are usually doing more than just their job. Burnout can happen quickly and sometimes silently.

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3. What do Employees Want?

The important part here is to not assume you know what your employees want. Research shows that you should ask current employees what they want and prioritize those wants Once you know that, you can start to put together strategic initiatives around employee engagement.

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4. Six Drivers of Employee Engagement

The six drivers of employee engagement fall into two general categories: belief in leadership, and belief that leadership cares. The main difference between these categories is the first is putting the onus on the leader, how are they demonstrating to their workforce that they are committed to creating a great place to work? How do I create that trust in my leadership team to set the right course? And finally how do I transcend the belief that my organization will be successful in the future?

Under Belief Leadership Cares, it's important to help employees understand how they fit into the organization’s bigger picture, its future state. When leaders value people as their most important resource and invest in them, employees will consistently recognize and contribute their inherent value to the organization.

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5. Features to Help Drive Employee Engagement

Workplace from Meta has been integral in helping ServiceRocket improve employee engagement. Here are a few examples. 

Leverage the Live Stream feature for company meetings: Live Video creates immediacy between leaders and employees, is more personal, allows people to ask questions, comment, and react in real-time. Accessible to all offices simultaneously, it eliminates the need for emails and wordy communications, saving time and increasing productivity.

OR Leverage Live Stream video more broadly in Workplace: Broadcast anything from company announcements to panel discussions with executives or external guests. At ServiceRocket, our CEO uses this opportunity to live stream casual conversations with employees in the hallway. By using a mix of personal and business-focused questions, company leaders enable a true connection, further breaking down hierarchies and silos.

Updates: By posting in a group, executives quickly deliver their message to a specific audience in the company and solicit feedback. Employees comment or ask questions, and executives can clarify, follow up, and continue the conversation. 

Track Engagement: Quickly track the performance of multiple posts using the Campaigns feature. You can spend less time gathering data on individual posts and more time gaining insights to improve how you communicate with employees. The Polls and Groups features provide additional ways to generate and measure engagement. To check out more of the fabulous ways you can leverage polls and groups, check out our blog, The Future of Business Communication in a Hybrid Workplace is Here.‍‍

‍Comments and Posts: This is the best thing a leader can do. Posts and comments are a great way for immediate answers and a good way to connect with your employees. As teams work toward company goals, leadership has visibility into the process and everyone will have a voice. Hear instant feedback through comments, posts and solidify that connection between teams and leadership.

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Workplace from Meta Meets your Employees Where They Are

Today’s work model is almost unrecognizable compared to just 5 years ago. Hybrid and remote employees now make up a significant part of organizational workforces. With demands to increase mobile and deskless access and capabilities, Workplace from Meta meets your teams where they work.