Keeping employees engaged is an ongoing concern in the workplace. Disengaged employees cost companies between $450 billion and $550 billion each year in lost productivity, according to Gallup.

In order to remain successful, a company’s engagement techniques and offerings must continue to evolve with its employees’ needs and expectations.

According to a new study from 1to1 Media and Survey Monkey, only 30 percent of respondents said they are very motivated at work.

The study is based on insights from 511 U.S. consumers surveyed in January 2016 and was conducted in partnership with Survey Monkey. Respondents were asked about their motivations, productivity, and if they receive praise at work. Other findings include:

• 36 percent said they are somewhat motivated, 11 percent said they’re not so motivated and 8 percent said they’re not motivated at all
• 23 percent can’t recall the last time they were rewarded for their work
• 37 percent said they are equipped with the necessary tools to do their jobs

Employee motivation is one of the keys to delivering exceptional customer experiences, said 1to1 Media Editor Mila D’Antonio. “The correlation between engaged employees who go out of their way to help customers and make their experiences memorable and the organizations that actively engage and reward them is crystal clear,” said D’Antonio. “Just look to some of the industry leaders like Apple and Zappos for evidence.”

A large component of maintaining satisfied and engaged employees is understanding and acting on their needs. According to the study, however 50 percent of the respondents said there’s no clear growth path in place for them, 30 percent indicated their opinions don’t count at work, and 27 percent said they feel there’s a general lack of concern and care for their wellbeing.

See: Top 8 Tips for Improving Employee Engagement and Performance

While many of the results showed positive efforts being made toward employee engagement (30 percent said they receive praise a few times per month for their efforts), the results indicate that employers have room to improve.

“Employers have made great strides in their efforts to keep employees engaged. I believe we’ll see vast improvements throughout 2016 as organizational issues and employee wellbeing become a focal point in business,” said D’Antonio.

According to a recently research report titled, “Employee Engagement Benchmark Study, 2016,” reveals that  77% of employees in companies that have significantly better financial performance than their peers are highly or moderately engaged, compared with only 49% of employees in companies with lagging financial performance.

The study also compared companies with high levels of customer experience to those who have lagging customer experience, and found that customer experience leaders have 1.5 times as many engaged employees.

“Unengaged employees can’t create engaged customers,” states Bruce Temkin, Customer Experience Transformist and Managing Partner of Temkin Group. “Engaged employees are the foundation to a successful organization.”

Also read: Should HR and Internal Communications Collaborate for Better Employee Engagement?

Image credit: verityintlblog.com