The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission states that “effective safety communication is vital to maintaining a safety culture. When employees regularly communicate with each other in an open, respectful manner, they are also more willing to give and receive feedback. This effective communication supports teamwork and coordination between groups.”

Although you may not be in the nuclear energy sector, the health and well-being of your teams and suppliers are an essential part of your business. When considering your internal communications plan, including training on safety protocols, engaging your employees should be kept at the forefront of your discussion.

Why is engagement so important?

For safety, in particular, studies have shown that disengaged employees:

• Make 60% more mistakes 
• Have 64% more accidents

In addition to an employee putting themselves and others at risk, safety incidents can carry a heavy price tag. According to the 2021 Liberty Mutual Workplace Safety Index, serious, non-fatal injuries totaled $59 billion in U.S. workers’ compensation claims in 2018. This breaks down to more than $1.1 billion a week.

Employees that are engaged, however:

• Are 2.5x less likely to report back injuries
• 95% almost always follow safety procedures
• 92% wear proper PPE
• 92% support new policies and procedures
• 89% do or would confront employees who work or behave unsafely
• 79% report unsafe behaviors

A study by the SHRM Foundation at Molson Coors concluded that engaged employees were 5x less likely to have a safety incident and 7x less likely to have a lost-time safety incident. By focusing on increasing employee engagement, the beverage giant reportedly saved $1.7 million in a single year on safety costs alone. The benefits of high employee engagement go beyond a safer workplace. In fact,

• A lack of employee engagement costs US businesses $450-550 billion in lost productivity each year.
• Disengaged employees cost a business about 34% of their salary due to absenteeism, showing up late and poor production
• More informed employees outperform their peers by 77%
• Businesses with effective internal communication practices were more than 50% more likely to report below-average turnover levels for their industry
• Highly engaged employees are 87% less likely to leave

There are a plethora of other benefits as well, however, a Gallup study of more than 112,000 businesses found that in the first part of 2021, only 36% of employees reported being engaged at work while 15% reported being actively disengaged.

What can you do to increase employee engagement?

Here are a few tips:

• Check in with your team regularly to ensure they have the tools they need to do their job safely and effectively
• Ask team members at every level for feedback and suggestions, and when possible, implement them
• Keep the line of communication open at all levels and ensure everyone is well informed of new practices and policies
• Practice what you preach – if management is not following the correct protocols, team members won’t feel obligated to either

It’s important to remember that there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach to engaging your internal audiences. Our team is standing by to assist you in developing a communications plan that will keep your team engaged and add to the success of your business.

ARTÉMIA’s expertise in client onboarding and deep market research positions us to create customized solutions specific to each segment of your target audiences, including your staff and suppliers. We will work with you to develop a tailored approach using the latest, most effective tools available, including Video on Demand; live, interactive training; AR; traditional workbooks and reference guides, and more.

Get in touch with us at service@artemia.com!

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