Employee engagement continues to garner buzz, with many top companies prioritizing the initiative as a business strategy. As you consider the importance of helping employees grow in their careers, you might wonder, “Does business success simply lead to happier, engaged employees? Or, do engaged employees also create better business results?”

The answer to this important question helps determine where to focus your attention. Employee engagement requires resources, and as a resource manager, it’s critical to determine the right investment to make in employee-focused activities and benefits.

What Difference Does Employee Engagement Make? 
Kevin Kruse, a contributor to Forbes.com, has analyzed almost 30 studies¹ that show how employee engagement correlates to common employee-focused metrics such as absenteeism, attrition and turnover, workplace accidents, product defects, as well as service, productivity, sales, and profit. He concludes that engagement – defined as “emotional commitment” to an organization – drives higher levels of discretionary effort, which can indeed drive business results.²

Discretionary Effort 
Discretionary effort occurs when people – your employees – intentionally decide to do more for your customers or figure out a more productive way to make things happen. A commitment to objective, strategy, or people can persuade an employee to go the extra mile to take care of a customer, implement a new idea, or find the underlying cause of a persistent problem. Discretionary effort can often be linked to increased sales and revenue, increased customer loyalty and retention, and improved productivity.