Why Employee Engagement Matters in 2023

This writer will offer no political commentary. This piece contains no religious opinion nor does it make an attempt to make a statement on racial inequality. And the reader will find absolutely nothing but neutral statements on sensitive subjects such as abortion and gender. In fact, none of these subjects will likely be mentioned again as one misstep is akin to having dynamite blowing up in your hand. 

The last three years have seen workplace culture flipped upside down. Covid forever transformed the way industries function and get work done. Racial and political tensions reached breaking points and most executives were advised by HR professionals to avoid explosive topics altogether for fear of being “cancelled.”

When massive corporations are grappling with the bigger picture of society, brand image, and public relations, what often gets overlooked is the individual employee. In a large organization, who looks out for the individual employee? Everyone has a manager or supervisor who assigns work, ensures it gets done and enforces deadlines. But it's outside of the manager's prerogative to ask simple questions like “Do you feel your work is meaningful?”

Without personal contact and connection, employees devolve into machine-like cogs within an organization doing menial tasks. They aren’t engaged. And when they aren’t engaged, they don’t perform. When they don't perform, companies take losses, and layoffs en masse ensue.

Witness Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and other tech giants that have laid off over 70,000 employees over the past year. While each corporate giant has an explanation behind the mass firings, it makes one wonder what is going wrong? It’s not like these employees don’t have the skills to perform or they wouldn’t have been hired in the first place.

A data-backed theory shared by many HR professionals is that the underlying problem behind dropped employee performance is lack of employee engagement and motivation. When employees feel unmotivated and uncared for in a socially tense work environment where having the wrong political views can wind you up in an explosive conversation, it doesn’t take much imagination to see how productivity can fly out the window.

According to Gallup, employees who are not engaged cost the world 7.8 trillion in lost production last year.

So, what does it take to motivate employees in the labyrinth of today’s corporate workplace? It takes a caring mentor. A mentor who can bring a personal flair, provide a safe sounding board, offer advice and connection that corporate structures lack. A manager is there to get employees working. He should be focused on getting production completed. It's often outside his sphere of influence to provide career guidance and nurture inclusion.

Planet-wide, organizations of all shapes and sizes and from every industry are leveraging formal Mentoring Programs to create safe work environments, strengthen human connections, and create a company culture that is inclusive.

When it comes to mentoring, diversity, inclusion, and equity are crucial for creating effective mentoring relationships. Diverse mentoring pairs can provide mentees with valuable perspectives and insights that they may not have otherwise been exposed to. And it can be done in a safe and private environment. This can lead to more creative problem-solving and a better understanding of different perspectives. Inclusion and equity in mentoring programs also ensure that all employees have equal access to development opportunities and that the mentoring process is fair for everyone involved.

So how do you get a mentoring program started? Do you just open up an excel spreadsheet and start inputting names, pairing up mentors with mentees?

This is a recipe for disaster...a disaster Mentoring Software has been tailored to solve.

Mentoring software has become an essential tool for companies looking to improve their employee development programs. Mentoring software automates the mentoring process while providing tools for tracking progress. Additionally, mentoring software can be used to match mentees and mentors based on specific characteristics, such as skill sets, experience, and background, which can help to promote diversity in mentoring relationships.

However, it's important to keep in mind that mentoring software alone is not enough. Companies must also have a comprehensive strategy in place to address unconscious bias and promote a culture of inclusivity. This can include training programs, employee resource groups, and regular check-ins to ensure that all employees feel included. This is where having an experienced hand at the helm of your mentoring program, someone that can guide it and nurture is so participants get the most out of it. So make sure you do thorough research and interview members from different mentoring platforms to find the right fit.

It's also worth noting that mentoring software can help to track the progress and outcomes of mentoring relationships. This can include metrics such as the number of mentoring relationships formed, the diversity of mentoring pairs, and the success rates of mentees. This data can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of mentoring programs and identify areas for improvement.

An engaged workforce is a productive workforce. In today's marketplace, the competition is tough. Even the top companies in the world struggle to unlock the full potential of their employees. Implementing a formal mentoring program coupled with mentoring software leverages human connections within organizational ranks to take on the future.