If Brexit is casting a shadow, it’s not exactly showing. Ireland has now been the EU’s fastest-growing economy for four years in a row, with unemployment down to just 6.1% from a peak of 16% during the crisis. Five in a row? Don’t rule it out.

While the number of people in work continues to rise, however, it seems that employee engagement levels are heading in the opposite direction.

According to research carried out by Gallup, a staggering 87% of Irish employees are not actively engaged in the workplace. (Globally, that figures falls slightly to 85%.) That means almost 9 out of 10 employees are not achieving their full potential – not committed, not motivated, not giving their best.

For employers, that is a scary thought – but also a big opportunity.

After all, if you can get your employees to commit to your mission and values; if you can motivate them to contribute to your company’s success, you will be one of the few employers in Ireland with a truly committed workforce. Think what a competitive advantage that would create for you.

Here at Eden Recruitment, we have made a decision to put employee engagement front and centre.

We are a people business, with a shared belief that passion is the key ingredient in success. If we can generate passion through positive engagement, we can match our candidates’ career hopes with our clients’ business needs – the shared purpose behind all our partnerships.

Sounds great right?! But what does engagement actually look like? Well, if you create an environment where employee development is grounded in what people do right (not what they do wrong) those people will look forward to going to work, will achieve more while they are there and will be happier in the workplace.

So, simply get your employees doing what they’re good at, and everything works better. First though, you need to know what they are good at – what their strengths are.

That is the journey we are on for the next 12 months – empowering people to build self-awareness through strengths-based development that supercharges their performance and well-being.