At Engagement Multiplier, providing ROI and proving the ROI of employee engagement is very important to us. The ROI for employee engagement comes in two categories: the return on investment for companies using our program, and the return on investment for the employees who take the time to give clear, honest feedback on what could be improved.

For businesses, the immediate ROI for employee engagement comes from two main sources

  • Employee Retention: People tend to stay in engaged organisations. In fact, highly engaged business units achieve between 24% and 59% less turnover depending on the organisation’s typical turnover rate. One of the things I often tell business owners is to think about the impact of engagement (or lack thereof) on staff turnover. It’s expensive to hire and train new talent to replace valuable employees who have left.
  • Employee Productivity: People who are more engaged in their work give more of themselves to the task at hand. Work is done faster with more attention, there’s less waste, and fewer safety incidents and mistakes. All of that has a tangible effect on ROI as well.

According to Eagle Hill Consulting, 77% of employees agree a strong culture allows them to do their best work, 76% see the impact on productivity and efficiency, and another 74% draw a correlation between culture and their ability to serve their customer base.

The combined result of higher productivity and retention can be seen in an engaged organisation’s bottom line. Statistics show that highly engaged organisations outperform those with low employee engagement by 202%, grow revenue 2.5x as much, and have shown to increase profitability by 23% annually.

Those are the relatively quick wins you can expect from an effective engagement program. But there’s also the less tangible impact of engaged employees who are continually suggesting ways to:

  • Increase efficiency in business practices and processes
  • Improve the experience and outcomes for your customers
  • Improve the experience of fellow employees
  • Strengthen relationships and streamline processes with vendors

And then there’s the ROI attached to your employees telling everyone how wonderful it is to work for your business. You can’t buy that kind of genuine, word-of-mouth advertising.

One of our employees here at Engagement Multiplier mentioned in a meeting that whenever she’s considering doing business with a company – choosing an airline or hotel for her vacation, for example – she checks their Glassdoor reviews first. She knows that if employees genuinely enjoy working at the company, she is more likely to have a really great experience as a customer.

For employees, the ROI of employee engagement is about feeling heard and valued

While 60% of U.S. employees report having a way to provide feedback about their own employee experience, only 30% said their feedback is acted upon by their employer

A good employee engagement program has accountability built-in, so feedback is not just requested and given but used to create real, positive change that employees can feel.

Employees who feel their voice is heard are 4.6 times more likely to feel empowered to perform their best work.

When employees see that their feedback is having a tangible effect on their work lives, they will be more thoughtful in their future feedback and excited to contribute innovative ideas and solutions for how to make your business better.

Feeling valued is one of the most important outcomes employees can have with the improved communication a program like Engagement Multiplier facilitates. But there is another equally, if not more important, return for their time: Understanding how their individual contributions impact the entire organisation, the customers, and the world.

Employees want to feel like their work has a positive impact, but the connection between what an individual does at their desk and the wider world isn’t always clear. When employees do feel connected to a larger WHY behind their tasks, they bring their hearts to work.

It’s not just about the ROI for the business – it’s about the return on investment for employees who are participating and helping to make your business an engaged organisation. When they see that their feedback drives real, positive, noticeable change, they’ll not only feel more engaged, but they’ll make your company stronger.

Check out our employee engagement ROI calculator to calculate a typical return on investment from our employee engagement program.