According to research from Gallup, only 21% of employees worldwide are in the “engaged” category at work. This is an issue for employers, because engaged employees produce far better business outcomes than disengaged employees.
The Arkansas State University (A-State) online Master of Business Administration (MBA) with a concentration in Human Resource (HR) Management program helps students develop necessary skills in the HR field — from hiring employees to retaining qualified personnel, which will enhance graduates’ ability to optimize the employee experience within any business. Graduates will gain the necessary skills to improve and maintain employee engagement.
What Is Employee Engagement?
According to Gallup, employee engagement is “the involvement and enthusiasm of employees in their work and workplace.” Employee engagement is crucial for building a positive workplace culture because it reduces turnover, increases productivity, fosters better relationships and impacts company profits.
In A-State’s Management Development Strategies course, students learn about the establishment of business structures, policies and techniques used in developing HR in a modern business organization, which can ultimately inform employee engagement practices.
How Do Disengaged Employees Impact the Workplace?
According to the Society of Human Resource Management, disengaged employees “feel no real connection to their jobs and tend to do the bare minimum.” Employees who are disengaged may be pessimistic, self-centered, have high absenteeism, show a negative attitude and accept credit but not blame.
Disengaged employees impact productivity in the workplace in a negative way. They may lower employee morale, decrease productivity and contribute to negative customer experiences, which can complicate achieving company goals. In the current workforce, disengaged employees typically don’t stick around for long. If they do, it often negatively impacts the company.
Given this reality, organizations must prioritize employee engagement to reach success. When human resources and management work together to boost employee engagement, company culture begins to turn around.
How to Boost Employee Engagement
There’s no waving of magic wands to increase employee engagement. Improving engagement takes intentionality, planning and hard work to ensure employees thrive in the workplace. In fact, HR Cloud describes the three parts of any feasible employee engagement strategy as follows:
- Physical: Employees exert a high amount of energy to do the work. The level of complexity of work corresponds to the employees’ specialized skill sets.
- Emotional: Employees understand the job’s significance and put their heart into the role. They feel challenged, inspired and accomplished.
- Cognitive: Employees become engrossed with their work and start to get into the flow.
According to HR Cloud, physical, emotional and cognitive engagement maximizes employees’ personal investment in the work, and they begin to feel emotionally connected to it.
Create a Highly Engaged Workforce
A-State’s online MBA with a concentration in HR Management program equips you with the skills and knowledge to be a strong leader in HR and business. This means stewarding a highly engaged workforce so your company can decrease turnover, increase productivity and grow its bottom line.
Designed with working professionals in mind, the fully online program can be completed in as few as 12 months, allowing you the flexibility to learn with minimum disruption to your everyday life.
Learn more about Arkansas State University’s online MBA with a concentration in Human Resource Management program.