Companies don’t need to wait for a stimulus from the government to pull this country out of the economic doldrums. They have plenty of untapped power hidden within them that they could use to raise themselves up if they only knew how to unlock it.
What is this untapped power? Unengaged employees.
According to a 2013 Gallup poll, the U.S. economy could be generating $450 billion to $550 billion more every year if its workers were all engaged and fully committed to their jobs.
What keeps employees from being engaged? It can be many things:
- Poor managers
- Overly negative corporate culture
- A lack of focus on employees’ positive contributions
- Excessive hours required on the job
Seventy percent of American employees are unengaged at work, according to Gallup. If we could get that number close to zero, employees and businesses would likely enjoy lower healthcare costs, better overall health and wellbeing, fewer absences and injuries, less job turnover, and higher productivity.
We could go from tepid to explosive growth if employees were fully engaged and motivated to do their best at work. You can’t control what other businesses do, but you can control what you do in your own business.
If you want to rise above the competition, unlock your workers’ hidden talents by:
- Choosing managers by their abilities instead of seniority
- Offering positive reinforcement of good behavior rather than just punishing bad behavior
- Showing employees you appreciate what they do
- Being flexible with employees’ schedules
Don’t wait for the economy to improve. Make it happen by changing the way you do business.
QuickBooks Manufacturing Blog 