
Employee engagement is one of the strong pillars to establish a successful business. Active and engaged employees can be more productive and contribute to a healthy workplace culture. On the other hand, disengaged employees can have a negative impact on the workplace culture, making the office a toxic place to work at, which could ultimately lead to business failure. Such employees may be putting in a lot of time at the workplace, but there isn’t any passion or interest in what they do for the organization.
Studies show that more than half of the US employees are disengaged at their workplace, owing to which companies may lose their competitive edge in the market. However, a healthy workplace culture can be established by implementing the right employee engagement strategies.
A Gallup poll reported that companies in the US lose productivity worth $450 – $550 billion annually, due to disengaged employees. And so, employers must put in extra efforts to boost employee engagement at the workplace.
Research shows that when employee engagement investment increases by even 10%, companies can gain profits by almost $2,400 per employee annually. Also, employees who are engaged and satisfied at the workplace are 87% less likely to quit the job, thus reducing the employee turnover rates. Sadly, high employee turnover alone costs employers up to $11 billion annually. No wonder, organizations that have a highly engaged workforce are the ones that are more successful in the market and surpass their competitors.
Impact of Poor Employee Engagement
A study by Villanova University showed how poor employee engagement can lead to the downfall of companies, and how employers who invest in the right employee engagement strategies will have better productivity and business growth.
Here are the outcomes of the employee engagement study:
- 52% of the US employees are present at work, but they are not engaged or motivated at the workplace.
- Only 30% of the workers in the US are engaged well at work.
- 18% of US employees are actively disengaged.

While the current annual amount spent towards employee engagement strategies in the US is around $720 million, it is expected to sky-rocket to $1.5 billion in the next decade.
Employees who are highly engaged in the workplace are 38% likely to be more productive than disengaged employees. Also, organizations whose employees are engaged well at work outrun their competitors on the performance front by almost 202%, and have 2.5 times more revenue than companies with low engagement levels.
Importance of Employee Communication
Effective communication at the workplace is one of the key reasons to successful employee engagement. Using best-suited employee communication tools, including conducting regular pulse surveys to seek feedback are proven employee engagement strategies.
The Villanova University study reported that 86% of the workforce, including executives, agreed that the lack of effective communication and collaboration at the workplace was one of the primary reasons for businesses to fail.
While 39% of employees said that there was not enough collaboration at their workplace, almost 97% felt that the lack of communication and alignment impacted the project outcomes. 40% of the respondents said that the management fails to seek employee feedback or opinion, and 90% agreed that employers must seek employee feedback before making any big work-related decisions.
92% of the management leaders believe that having a healthy workplace culture not only improves employee engagement and productivity, but also determines the company value. Also 50% of them claim that a positive culture directly influences company innovation, employee productivity, and overall profits. And it can be achieved by crafting the right employee engagement strategies, along with using effective communication channels that improve the fellowship between the employees and employers, and also amongst the co-workers.
In short, with the right communication tools, employee engagement and workplace culture can be enhanced, which lead to many benefits, including –
- 22% – Higher Productivity
- 65% – Lower Turnover Rates
- 70% – Higher Chances Of Success
- 41% – Fewer Quality Errors
- 40% – Lesser Safety Issues

While it may sound like a daunting task, with the right employee engagement strategies, even the actively disengaged employees can be engaged at work.
Here is what employers can do to boost employee engagement at the workplace –
- Communicate with the employees
- Seek employee feedback through Pulse Surveys
- Conduct work orientations
- Offer training and development opportunities
- Acknowledge employees for their effort and hardwork
- Offer rewards and incentives
- Build strong teams and encourage healthy teamwork
- Provide health coaching programs
Disengaged employees can build a very negative environment in the workplace, which can affect employee wellbeing, workplace wellness, and organizational productivity. Although it is not quite possible to clearly define workplace culture, employee behavior and habits develop and change with time, contributing to building a positive environment at the workplace.