As leaders, we need to realize that the wants and needs of our employees are changing. There are factors that lead to differences in employee job performance. A good manager needs to understand what causes those differences. Employee engagement is not the same thing as job satisfaction or job happiness. It’s not just happiness or satisfaction that matters, but how those emotions directly relate to the individual’s and company’s performance and productivity.

Gallup estimates that active disengagement costs American companies $450 - 550 billion in lost productivity each year, which translates to employee engagement affecting every person inside your organization because every person inside your organization affects your bottom line. Your employees are your first customers and, by far, the most important. Motivation has to do with understanding the "why" of human behavior.

If we have some knowledge of why people do what they do, we can do a better job of understanding, predicting, and influencing that behavior.  Effective leaders know that an engaged remote workforce can drive innovation, increase performance and raise productivity, grow the organization, improve customer care, and foster loyalty, both internally and externally.

Learning Objectives

Whenever your employees don’t feel engaged at work, you run the risk of losing them. How can you retain top talent if they don’t feel a connection?