Motivated and empowered employees drive sales and earnings per share

02 May 2019 Consulting.us

A study from human capital consultancy Korn Ferry has found that companies with highly motivated employees see almost double the sales and earnings per share (EPS) growth rates of those which do not.

Creating a workplace where employees are highly engaged and well-supported in their day-to-day tasks makes for a satisfied employee base – but also better performing companies. Research drawing on Korn Ferry’s employee survey database, which includes over 400 companies across diverse industries, has established a direct link between engaged and enabled employees and company sales and earnings.

Companies where employees reported high engagement have nearly double the 5-year sales growth rates of those with low employee engagement, while companies where employees felt “enabled” to do their jobs saw nearly triple the growth rates of firms scoring low on “enablement.”

Motivated and enabled employees also helped drive better earnings per share (EPS). Companies with high engagement scores had nearly double the 5-year EPS growth rates of low-scoring firms, while high enablement firms had one-third higher EPS growth rates.

“If you ask most organizational leaders what their top priority is, they’ll say strong growth. The most successful leaders recognize that employees willing to go the extra mile and well-positioned for success in their jobs are key to driving and sustaining that growth,” Mark Royal, Korn Ferry senior director, said. “Organizations that match the ‘want to’ behind performance with an equally strong ‘can do’ consistently see the best results.”

The study also found that engaged and enabled workers are more likely to perform better and stay at their companies longer. Highly engaged workers who are also well-enabled to do their jobs are 21% more likely to exceed performance expectations. Furthermore, a full 45% of employees who scored low on engagement and enablement said they intend to leave their current employers in the next 24 months, in contrast to only 8% of highly engaged and enabled employees.

Motivating and empowering employees doesn’t necessarily require a huge organizational overhaul, according to the consulting firm. A simple step for managers to take is to address employee attention and focus: “It’s important that managers help pressured employees prioritize tasks and pull away non-essential work so they can achieve what matters most,” Royal explained. “Likewise, they need to clarify the decisions employees are empowered to make, to allow them to take control of their work and be more innovative, with clear freedom to act.”