Increased employee engagement a key to improved team performance

One of the keys to the improved performance of the Mariners that Jack shared is the focus on building a roster of engaged team members.  Engaged employees are those that exert discretionary effort, are enthusiastic about their jobs, and their intend to stay with the organization.   

An increasing number of business leaders that I work with are taking note of employee engagement because of the growing evidence that an engaged workforce shapes more traditional business outcomes like retention, client satisfaction, sales, costs, and profit. 

In a three year study involving the winners of Best Companies To Work For initiatives across the United States, we assessed the impact of high engagement on business success. Among winning companies:

• 87% reported increases in sales

• 86% reported an increased market share

• 57% reported improving employee turnover

• 90% reported higher stock prices (among publicly traded companies)

Leaders of some of the Best Companies to Work For in Washington shared ideas on how they improve their team’s performance at our recent CEOtoCEO Breakfast.  Best Workplace CEOs participating at the breakfast include Mike Mayes of Mayes Testing, Tim Gibbons of Pharmacy One Source,  Jeff Lyon of GVA Kidder Matthews, Eric Overton of Sparling, Brian Paulen of the Madrona Solutions Group and Richard Law of Allysis.

I welcome your thoughts and questions on employee engagement.