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3 reasons ERP is your best shot at real employee engagement

Summary

What are we talking about when we talk about employee engagement?

Is employee engagement a force that motivates workers to always give their best efforts? Is it a bond between the employee and the company, a form of mutual respect? Both? Neither?

The truth is every business defines engagement differently based on its objectives. But whatever their working model for engagement may be, they all have to figure out how to improve it. According to the latest Gallup poll, two-thirds of all U.S. employees are actively disengaged at work. Uh oh.

 

Two-thirds of all U.S. employees are actively disengaged at work

Can enterprise resource planning solutions help us turn those numbers around? We think so. The right ERP implementation gives today's employees more tools to succeed than many people think. It can also completely change the relationship employees have with the companies they work for and the people they work with.

No matter how your business defines and acts on employee engagement, cloud-based mobile ERP systems deliver benefits all around.

1. ERP forges deep connections

Companies are all about connections: between co-workers, between departments, between supply chain partners. If your business prides itself on how well it encourages collaboration among its employees, ERP is an absolute must. These systems link teams directly with the mission of the enterprise, which is essential to strengthening engagement.

End-to-end ERP software removes many of the barriers that once separated these people and parts of a business. When everyone shares, modifies and learns from the same repository of real-time operational and financial data, it fosters a sense of community.

2. ERP eliminates busy work

Unnecessary manual data entry and re-entry are like smudges on the window pane of employee engagement, the glass through which workers see the real-world value of their work. With every fingerprint and streak, the view gets a little foggier, a little more obfuscated. Once employees lose sight of the value they once saw, disengagement is guaranteed.

Customizable, automated ERP solutions take on the complexity of the big data age, so no one else has to. Every update to the system can trigger a hundred others, thus reducing the amount of low-value, high-risk work that tanks engagement. After all, your company hired inventory managers, technicians, operators, salespeople and accountants, not keyboard-tappers and mouse-clickers, right?

3. ERP is not another do-nothing engagement booster

Speaking of which, when was the last time your company truly invested in the employee experience? Like, you-put-money-down-and-saw-a-palpable-return invested, not spend-nearly-a-billion-dollars-on-engagement-gimmicks invested like many businesses do, according to Bersin by Deloitte.

All too often, companies confuse engagement with fun, and although fun doesn't hurt, that doesn't mean it helps anyone's definition of engagement. For instance, can gimmicks like a donut party in the break room imbue your team with a sense of professional purpose? Or does it just act as a temporary bandage that gets people through another dull day at the office?

Incorporating cloud-based mobile ERP solutions into daily operations enhances both engagement and the ever-elusive fun factor. How? By giving workers the freedom to work where they need to, how they need to, on whatever device they need to and in the ways that validate them as valuable contributing members of your organization.

Training sessions for employees on how to tinker with their ERP system reinforces strong engagement and is the sign of a worthwhile ERP vendor. Check out abas Academy or contact a representative today for more information.

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