With the ongoing global talent shortage, employee retention has become increasingly important for all businesses. While the cost of recruitment has always been a consideration, the inability to replace lost staff is now putting greater emphasis on the need to keep existing team members working and engagement plays an important role in that. Engaged employees are not only being more productive, but also more loyal, and less likely to take time off sick. In fact, according to a Gallup Workplace report, businesses with engaged employees have up to 41% lower employee absenteeism. 

The problem is, improving employee engagement isn’t easy. Building that sense of connection and fidelity that will lead to lasting retention and resilience within your business can be really hard, especially if you have a sizeable workforce. So, how can you detect potential employee engagement problems before they become a serious issue? Mindset could provide the answer. 

Understanding the link between employee engagement and retention
Employee engagement is a broad term relating to not only the commitment your team members have to their role and your business but the interest they have in their work and their level of emotional investment. A disengaged employee may not necessarily be actively searching for a new position but most would welcome one if it came along, while an engaged employee finds both quantitative and qualitative merit within their role. They enjoy what they do and feel that they both deliver value and are valued in return by their employer. They are usually a positive influence in the workplace, which can bring the benefit of increasing the morale of other colleagues, through sheer enthusiasm. This can then lead to increased engagement in the broader team and that can have a significant impact on employee churn. 

But understanding that team members who are happy at work, who enjoy what they do, and who have good relationships with their colleagues are more likely to stay in their role is one thing. Understanding how to proactively support employee engagement in order to retain your best employees is quite another.

How can businesses encourage employee engagement?
The reason why employee engagement can be such a difficult area to tackle is that every employee is different and has different needs. This means that there can be no single cross-business fix to engagement, but there are multiple approaches that can be beneficial.

Building a strong company culture – Company culture is often talked of. But for many businesses, there is a disconnect between their stated core values and the day-to-day reality faced by employees. Repairing this divide can restore the faith of employees, helping them to feel that there is real substance behind the ethos of the brand. 

Encouraging communication – A key facet of employee engagement is value. And it is impossible for a person to feel valued if they don’t feel listened to. Providing employees with a voice, with the opportunity for open, two-way communication, helps to produce a positive mindset. Especially when it is underscored by regular feedback, guidance, and positivity. 

Invest in the individual – Another area that can impact both engagement and the building of a positive mindset, is personal investment. If you provide the individual with the tools they need to succeed – including training and personal development opportunities – you feed the impression that they are of value to the business. 

Don’t overlook mental and physical health – Not so long ago, mental and physical health were considered matters of personal concern, but we’re now very much more aware of both how these areas can impact professional performance, and how our work life can influence our physical and mental wellbeing. Better mental health support in the workplace can save UK businesses up to £8 billion annually. In 2022, 185.6 million working days were lost because of sickness or injury. If we look after our employees, we not only reap the benefits of improved productivity but we improve employee engagement because people who are struggling with either their physical or mental health can never really be fully engaged with their work. 

Support mindset change – Mindset is a repeated theme in employee engagement. It’s another area that businesses can struggle to address, but it impacts most of what we do. While it can influence employee resilience, and be influenced by mental health, it needs to be considered in its own right. Because even the most happy and enthusiastic of employees can have mental barriers that can prevent them from fulfilling their potential. It plays a significant role in the way we work and the enjoyment we get out of it and it can be influenced by a range of factors – from how valued we feel within a team, to how much stress we are carrying. 

How changing self-limiting mindsets results in a collective increase in employee engagement
Our personal mindset plays a major role in our day to day lives. It influences everything we do. From how we deal with criticism to how we face new challenges. While there is no right or wrong mindset, a self-limiting mindset can impact the way we work, and our enjoyment of it. Mental barriers tell us that specific things are beyond us and the problem is that most of us don’t even know that we have these barriers. They are simply part of who we are. 

But with mindset coaching, we have the ability to remove these mental blocks and unleash our full potential. On an individual level, the impact can be dramatic, enabling the fulfilment of goals, uncovering hidden skills, making a range of scenarios – task completion, public speaking, personal development – unexpectedly accessible. Making the workplace more fulfilling. Making work more engaging.

On a team level, mindset coaching holds the potential to be transformative. With every employee freed from the barriers that were unknowingly holding them back, productivity, engagement, happiness, and loyalty increase. 

How to implement mindset change
Team mindset change requires a holistic approach. Businesses need to address a range of issues – including most of those mentioned above: mental and physical health, company culture, communication, and employee investment. But mindset coaching can also be powerful, enabling the identification of the issues being experienced by individuals and the team as a whole. Unless you understand the reason behind employee behaviours, you’ll never be able to find a workable solution. 

Employee engagement and retention are inextricably linked. If your employees aren’t engaged, they are highly unlikely to stay with you for the long haul. However, while fostering employee engagement can be a difficult area to manage, once you understand mindset and the power of removing self-limiting mental barriers, you are in a position to take control and support your teams to access their most productive and happy selves, building engagement naturally and positively.