All Star - Blog

June 5, 2019
Contact: Heidi Chatfield - All Star Incentive Marketing
P: 508-347-7672
E: heidi@incentiveusa.com

June 5, 2019
Contact: Heidi Chatfield - All Star Incentive Marketing
P: 508-347-7672
E: heidi@incentiveusa.com

Although employee engagement has been a priority for many organizations, only 32% of U.S. workers are engaged in their work, according to a Gallup study. Because companies with higher employee engagement outperform their competitors by over 200%, this is increasingly important. Earlier this month we discussed signs of a negative workplace. Here we’ll discuss how to build a culture of recognition that leads to higher employee engagement.

The big, scary word these past two weeks is tariffs, and while it sounds nasty, it's really not if you start planning for it. If you have not paid attention to the news lately, trade talks with China have gone south, and now there is currently a 25% tariff on certain goods, and another 25% possible to take hold over the summer that will affect almost all products. This means that most items you find in stores, like electronics, tools, clothing, and more, are going to go up in price this summer - just the cold hard facts. The jump is too big for a business to "eat" until the next standard price increase.

For the last several years, we’ve heard a lot of conversation around employee engagement, yet engagement scores have been dropping since 2007. According to a 2015 Gallup study, only 32% of U.S. workers are engaged in their work. Why is this important? Because companies with higher employee engagement outperform their competitors by over 200%. Without a formal employee engagement assessment, how can you determine whether your work environment is toxic?

“Don’t try this at home!” How many times have we heard that directive? In most cases, it’s because although something may look easy, it’s probably because it’s being done by professionals. This is also true of employee engagement, recognition and incentive programs.

ASI (Advertising Speciality Institute) recently put out this article showing promotional product sales growth as 3.4% in the first quarter.

According to Gallup, only about 20% of the global workforce is engaged in their work. Given the level of interest and attention to employee engagement in the last few years, that’s a disheartening figure. What’s the secret to engaging employees?