Employee engagement is critical to the continued success of an organization. But that sentiment is often heard and not understood. It may be helpful to quantify this “success.” According to recent studies, organizations with engaged employees outperform similar companies with less engaged employees by over 200 percent. And not only do engaged employees outperform their less engaged counterparts, but they are also safer, too. According to Gallup metadata, businesses with employee engagement scores within the top quartile "have 70 percent fewer safety incidents than those in the bottom quartile." And perhaps the most straightforward figure of all, according to Towers Perrin research, is that companies with engaged workers net a profit of 6 percent more than those who do not. Clearly, it’s important to engage employees, but often that’s a difficult prospect, and it may seem overwhelming. However, starting small and getting the fundamentals right will go a long way. Listen to employee feedback, keep lines of communication open, and value what employees do at the organization. Recognize and reward exemplary work, and engagement will follow naturally.