Whether you’re a HR professional, a team leader or a business owner, you’ll know that it can be tough to find money in the budget for any new initiatives, when every penny matters!
Employee engagement budget is often an overlooked cost, with big ticket items such as marketing and business development coming up trumps, however ensuring you have an engaged, happy workforce is paramount to the success of your business.
Let’s take a look at how you can approach a conversation to ask for a bigger employee engagement budget.
The general rule of thumb is that a company should spend between 1% – 2% of their payroll expenses on employee engagement.
So, for example if your company’s monthly payroll is £200,000 your monthly employee engagement budget should be somewhere around £2000 – £4000.
However, many factors affect how much a company invests in engagement, including company size, industry, location and how good (or bad) the current level of company culture is.
And we know what you’re probably thinking – that’s expensive! But trust us, the cost of disengagement is much higher.
Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace 2023, found that 6 in 10 employees are not engaged at work. When combined with actively disengaged employees, low engagement costs the global economy $8.8 trillion dollars, or 9% of global GDP.
Low engagement costs the global economy $8.8 trillion dollars, or 9% of global GDP. 
The first priority in your budget proposal should be to outline clearly the why, how and what.
Showcase why you need a bigger budget, how it will be spent, and what the anticipated difference (ROI) it’s going to make to the wider organisation. Once you have these pillars outlined, the rest of your proposal should follow.
Consider creating a presentation with all of the key information, list the new ideas you have, how they’ll improve your employee engagement strategy further, as well as the costs.
Employee engagement is known to positively impact absenteeism, lower turnover, increase retention, productivity and even profitability.
With this in mind, do your research and showcase that employee engagement programs aren’t just fluffy, nice-to-have initiatives, but that they’re essential for creating long-lasting healthy, happy and high-performing teams.
Present your argument for a larger budget with a long-term view. Show your company’s decision-makers that their organisation be saving money and resources in the long run if your team feels more engaged.
Following this simple checklist of important engagement budget and ROI questions will help you create a convincing business case to secure the budget you need!
Employee engagement doesn’t have to cost the world and there are plenty of initiatives that can be put into place that are budget friendly or cost-free. Here are some ideas to boost your engagement levels if your budget doesn’t get approved or is delayed.
With 1 in 3 employees leaving organisations before their first year is up, it’s so important that an employee’s first few months and onboarding experience are super welcoming.
This doesn’t mean giving them every bit of branded merch or taking them on a fancy trip away – this means giving them clear, actionable information and goals for success in their role.
A warm welcome doesn’t mean an expensive one.
Social interaction is so important for team building, and team get togethers can be cost effective if you’re clever about it.
Why not try a ‘virtual pub quiz’ on a Friday afternoon, get your team out on a lunchtime walk, or even an office bake off!
Try and get the whole team together on a quarterly basis at least, to keep that connection high and the fun going.
Gallup research found that praise goes a long way, listing it as one of the best motivators for increased productivity and effort, as well as meaning more satisfaction and loyalty overall.
Go out of your way to say something positive to a colleague today – that is free!
Not all employee engagement tools will break your company’s bank.
With Stribe, you have the ability to launch unlimited employee surveys all while having ongoing access to our customer service team for support.
Not only that, but our platform also features an anonymous messaging function, a peer-to-peer recognition tool, an iOS and Android app, complete reporting suite, and a full customisable employee intranet.
About the author
Starting out her early career as a journalist, Jade Madeley is an accomplished content writer with 8+ years’ experience across business, personal finance, SaaS, human resources and employee engagement. Working with Stribe, she crafts insightful content that brings complex HR topics to life and drives meaningful action.
