As businesses continue to try to drive efficiency in a macroenvironment that values real profits over artificial growth, employers need employees to be driven, efficient, and motivated in their work. Disengaged employees are the opposite. They aren’t connected to their roles or their companies, leading to slow, unmotivated progress in their roles and responsibilities.
According to a recent Gallup survey, employee engagement in the U.S. has sunk to a 10-year low, with only 31% of employees indicating they are engaged at work. This employee engagement crisis has hit younger works - particularly members of Gen Z - the hardest, with many seeking new employment opportunities as they try to grow their early careers. Additionally, industries like finance and insurance, transportation, technology, and professional services sectors saw employee engagement rates fall sharply.
As employers look to combat this employee engagement crisis and drive motivation and connection among their ranks, upskilling presents a relatively low-cost solution. By providing employees with the ability to build new skills or enhance their existing skills to improve their performance in their current roles or prepare them for future responsibilities, employers can give employees a clear growth path which can also help connect employees to the employers that are investing in their futures and in career growth.
Upskilling: A Key to Re-engaging Employees
Disengaged employees lack enthusiasm, motivation, and a sense of purpose in their roles. However, re-engaging employees can be simple- invest in their current roles and their professional futures. Employee upskilling is an easy way to show employees you care and you’re willing to not only make them better at their jobs but also help them progress in their careers. According to Gallup’s recent survey, only 30% of employees feel that someone is encouraging their professional growth, down from 36% in March of 2020.
Upskilling programs address employee disengagement where it is hurting employers the most: with younger employees. Gen Z workers prioritize career development with their employer and even in their daily work. Upskilling Gen Z employees offers a clear pathway for these employees to grow professionally, providing them a sense of purpose and engagement in their roles. This type of professional growth can also motivate employees and drive productivity among their ranks.
Upskilling programs are not just about teaching new skills, but about creating a culture where learning and growth are continually supported. For employees who may feel disconnected, this type of investment in professional growth can bring those disengaged employees back into the fold with their employers. Investment in upskilling signals a culture of growth and upward mobility for employees at all levels of their professional career.
Managers as Leaders of Engagement
When evaluating employee re-engagement strategies, front-line managers play a key role. Managers are responsible for employees’ day-to-day perception of their jobs and their employer. They are also most directly responsible for employee development and growth. In Gallup’s recent survey, only 39% of American workers feel like someone cares about them as a person, and only 46% of American workers clearly know what is expected of them at work. These are conditions that are carried by front-line managers.
Creating a positive culture within a team, setting clear expectations, and clear paths for professional growth have profound impacts on employee engagement. Ensuring managers have the skills to be compassionate, career-minded people leaders will profoundly affect how employees connect with their employers and how engaged they feel at work.
If managers are new or don’t have a lot of experience in people management, upskilling that cohort will ensure they are the leaders your employees need with the emotional intelligence and mentor-first mentality needed to create an engaged and productive workforce.
Incentivizing Participation in Upskilling Programs
When employees become disengaged at work, part of it often has to do with recognition. When employees don’t feel seen, they tend to get distracted or demotivated. Workers surveyed by Gallup under 35 showed the steepest decline in engagement, paired with a noticeable decline in employee recognition.
When pairing professional development programs, like employee upskilling programs, with recognition and employee incentives, employers build a compelling case not only to re-engage employees but to keep them motivated and growing with the organization in the long term.
When looking to add rewards and recognition to professional development, using meaningful rewards like bulk gift cards are crucial to motivating employees to participate in the program and help foster a sense of appreciation and connection to the organization.
The Engage2Reward™ Gift Card Ordering Platform is a tool that can seamlessly integrate customizable and versatile rewards into professional development initiatives to reinforce their investment in employees’ growth. For example, the Engage2Reward™ Choice Card allows the recipient to assign the value to their favorite brand and flexible prepaid rewards card are a popular way to provide recipients with a cash-like reward. The Engage2Reward Platform makes program administration easy with instant delivery of eGift cards, easy online order placement, and a suite of campaign management tools to monitor and track orders and reward redemptions.
Adding rewards to upskilling programs not only boosts morale but also creates a culture of recognition where employees feel valued for their continuous learning and contributions.
A Strategy for Long-Term Engagement
Declining employee engagement can lead to decreased productivity and higher turnover rates, making it critical for businesses to act quickly before the employee engagement crisis gets worse. Upskilling is a long-term strategy that can address disengagement and improve employee retention by empowering employees with professional growth opportunities.
Rewarding employees for their professional development efforts with incentives like recognition rewards helps reinforce participation and drive outcomes. By investing in upskilling programs and front-line manager development, companies can foster a culture of learning and growth, which will ultimately improve employee engagement and overall business performance. A comprehensive upskilling and employee engagement strategy can help organizations not only survive the current engagement crisis but thrive in the future.
Are you ready to re-engage your workforce? Contact us today to discover how the Engage2Reward Platform can help integrate recognition rewards into your upskilling programs.
