MEDIA

New Gallup Survey Points to Low Worker Engagement in Corporate Workplaces

June 13, 2015  |   tagMarketplace Matters

A comprehensive new Gallup survey has reported what hundreds of clients of Marketplace Chaplains, America’s original and largest workplace chaplaincy organization, already know, worker engagement continues to be low. However, these savvy CEOs found a way to connect with their employees through the usage of Marketplace Chaplains.

Marketplace Chaplains currently offers care and compassion in 3,502 client company locations in 45 U.S. states, 1,025 cities across the globe, 6 countries and 1 commonwealth. These 2,922 chaplains serve in 35 different industry types from family-owned to Fortune 500.

The widely respected Gallup Research Group recently released its State of the American Workplace report for 2010-2012, which covers thousands of companies and workers.

In its executive summary Gallup1 reported, “the ratio of engaged to actively disengaged employees is roughly 2-to-1, meaning that the vast majority of U.S. workers (70%) are not reaching their full potential — a problem that has significant implications for the economy and the individual performance of American companies.

“Gallup’s research shows that employee engagement remains flat when left unmanaged. However, there are pockets of organizations in the U.S. that have figured out engagement, and some, like Gallup’s Great Workplace Award winners, are reaping.”

Marketplace Chaplains client company CEOs are also finding another term which describes the lack of employee engagement, “Presentism,” which refers to employees who come to work, but are merely present in their job, but not engaged or focused in what they are doing.

“We have a workplace made up of many different men and women and many different ethnic groups,” said Marketplace client company CEO Randy Turnbow of EME. Inc., an airline manufacturing group headquartered in Compton, California. “To have chaplains here to interact with the employees and to help with so many family situations has been a great value to our companies and its corporate well-being.”

“It’s a very interesting concept for us,” added David Kahler, CEO of Prudential Kahler Realtors in Rapid City, South Dakota, “because it shows action truly speaks louder than words. We say we care for people, and our chaplains put our words into action.”

The Gallup survey listed five of its most important findings:

  • Engagement makes a difference to the bottom line
  • Managers and leaders play a critical roll
  • Different types of workers need different engagement strategies
  • Engagement has a greater impact on performance than a company’s policies and perks
  • Employees are not prepared to engage customers

“The significance of using Marketplace Chaplains is we are taking the extra step in showing people we care for them, and that transcends giving them a nice trip,” said Pioneer Natural Resources Vice President Paul McDonald.

In 2014, Pioneer was named the Number 1 “Place to Work” in Dallas-Fort Worth by The Dallas Morning News. “While all companies have to look at the bottom line which determines if they can stay in business or not, these smart and compassionate CEOs using Marketplace Chaplains, see the top line, which is meeting the needs of their employees and their family members,” said Marketplace Chaplains’ Founder Gil A. Stricklin.

For more information on this unique employee benefit, which has been featured with Marketplace Chaplains on CNN, NBC Nightly News, and in the Washington Post, the New York Times and Bloomberg BusinessWeek, visit http://www.mchapusa.com.

About Marketplace Chaplains

To arrange an interview with a Marketplace Chaplain contact Art Stricklin, Vice President Public Relations, at artstricklin@mchapusa.com or call 1-800-775-7657

References:
1 http://www.gallup.com/services/178514/state-american-workplace.aspx