What organization doesn’t want its employees to be involved in, enthusiastic about, and committed to their work? Employee engagement isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s a must-have. That’s why it’s one of the top three trends in workforce innovation. 

Take the example of America’s largest domestic carrier, Southwest Airlines, which always puts its “employees first, customers second, and shareholders third.” The airline believes that treating its employees well ultimately results in happy customers which boosts profits--and they can prove it. Southwest Airlines has 47 consecutive years of profitability, experiences just 4% voluntary turnover, and has the lowest number of customer complaints compared with other airlines. 

Unfortunately, 53% of American workers are disengaged at work, costing businesses $300 billion annually. Most organizations don’t have engaged employees. 

How can you make sure you’re more like Southwest? Develop an engaged workforce by first hiring the right people. Here’s how to do it. 

Why Should You Hire Engaged Employees?

Employee engagement drives financial success. Organizations with an engaged workforce enjoy higher productivity, soaring revenues, and low turnover rates. Highly-engaged organizations workers make their companies 21% more profitable with 59% less turnover. 

But engagement shouldn’t become a priority only after an employee is hired; it should begin during recruitment. Candidates care deeply about working at organizations aligned with their own values. So, to hire the best employees, ensure that the candidates you’re speaking to understand and care about your company’s mission. 

Equally important for employee engagement is compatibility with the company culture and fit for the specific role. An alarming 48% of employees have left a job because the role didn’t turn out to be what was communicated at the time of hiring, and 31% left because of mismatched expectations on company culture. Considering that hiring costs companies an average of $4,000 per employee, high turnover quickly becomes expensive. 

How Can You Recruit for Engagement?

To recruit with engagement in mind, you need a clear strategy that’s aligned with your organization’s mission and long-term goals. In other words, you need to hire consciously. First, go beyond skillset and experience, making sure you have a clear understanding of the type of candidate you want to hire: their values and working style. Then build your recruiting strategy around the attributes you identify. 

Set expectations for candidates from the get-go. Write clear and accurate job descriptions and conduct honest interviews that not only sell the wonderful aspects of working for your company but also the less-than-great parts of the open position. Promoting a strong and authentic employer brand that accurately reflects your company culture and values is key, too.

It’s also important to ensure that candidates understand your company’s management style, because your leaders have a strong influence on employee engagement. Of the employees who left a company because of poor culture fit, 56% were dissatisfied with the approach of senior leadership and 52% with their everyday managers. Communicating clearly can minimize the possibility of disappointment later, thus reducing turnover.

What Metrics Measure Employee Engagement?

Employee engagement is tricky to measure. Customized employee engagement surveys, regular stay interviews, and pulse surveys are all ways of measuring engagement that should tie into a cohesive strategy. For even more engagement data, take a look at people metrics like your net promoter score, absenteeism, and turnover, which are all partial outcomes of engagement. 

Want help hiring with engagement in mind? Our modern staffing vendor management system is an all-inclusive recruiting solution with built-in workforce analytics, so it gathers the data for you. Plus, intelligent AI-matching technology connects the most qualified candidates to your open positions, helping you find the right fit for your company.