What is Employee Engagement?
To start off, employee engagement does not mean employee happiness, nor does it mean employee satisfaction. Instead, employee engagement is the emotional commitment that an employee has to an organization and its goals. In essence, emotional commitment refers to engaged employees who actually care about their work and the company they work for.
When an employee cares, they are engaged and therefore, use discretionary effort. For example:
- — An engaged retail sales associate picks up trash on the shop floor even when the manager isn’t looking
- — An engaged user experience designer works additional hours when needed, without being asked
- — An engaged customer service chat agent goes ahead with the next customer in line, even if it’s the last customer on their shift
Companies with high levels of employee engagement experience better customer service, product quality, and productivity levels. As a result, this leads to higher customer satisfaction, increased sales, and higher levels of profit.
- 1Engaged
An employee cares
Emotional commitment to the organization and its goals, which is not the same as happiness or satisfaction - 2Effort
They use discretionary effort
For example, picking up trash on the shop floor even when the manager is not looking - 3Results
Service, quality, productivity improve
High engagement brings better customer service, product quality and productivity levels - 4Payoff
Satisfaction, sales and profit rise
Higher customer satisfaction, increased sales and higher levels of profit
6 Drivers of Employee Engagement
1. Recognition
Employee recognition is the number driver of employee engagement. In fact, companies with high levels of employee recognition are 2.5 times more likely to see an increase in employee engagement. To make your workforce feel appreciated and valued, provide consistent and specific recognition. This helps motivate employees to do their work by emphasizing the positive qualities they bring to the table. Furthermore, because employees know that they’ll be recognized for the hard work that they do, they’ll continue to push themselves to perform even better.
2. Feedback
Employee feedback includes direct communication between employees and managers. However, giving employees the opportunity to provide feedback anonymously may be more beneficial and impactful. When employees provide anonymous feedback, they are likely to be more honest. Because of that, you’ll have a better idea of what your company’s employee engagement is like and what you can do to improve it. Additionally, once you receive feedback, it is important that you act on it to show your employees that you value what they have to say.
3. Culture
Employees who resonate with your organizational culture are more likely to stay loyal to your company. On top of that, when employees feel like they belong. In essence, they are more comfortable with their colleagues and can collaboratively work with them towards common goals. Whether or not your employees align with your organizational culture can affect productivity, retention, and engagement.
4. Team
Who your colleagues are can have a huge impact on your attitude towards your job. Having colleagues you can cooperate and collaborate successfully with is important for fostering a sense of belonging among employees in the workplace.
5. Empowerment
It is important that employees have the necessary tools and resources they need to succeed. If not, employees will feel unsupported and eventually, will lose trust in your organization. Moreover, when employees experience unfavourable situations, unsupported employees are more likely to give up rather than push through. In sum, empowered employees who have everything they need to do their work will perform better and know that their organization values them.
6. Development
Employees want to work at companies and complete tasks that will expand their knowledge and skills. Therefore, companies that provide employees with the opportunities for growth, both professionally and personally, have higher employee engagement. By providing opportunities for growth, this shows employees that they are appreciated and that the organization they work for cares about their success.
- Driver: Recognition
- What it means:The post's top driver
- What to do:Give consistent, specific recognition for the qualities people bring
- Driver: Feedback
- What it means:Direct communication between employees and managers
- What to do:Allow anonymous feedback for honesty, then act on it visibly
- Driver: Culture
- What it means:People who resonate with the culture stay loyal
- What to do:Build belonging so people work comfortably toward common goals
- Driver: Team
- What it means:Colleagues shape attitude to the job
- What to do:Make cooperation and collaboration possible
- Driver: Empowerment
- What it means:The tools and resources to succeed
- What to do:Give people what they need, or trust erodes and they give up sooner
- Driver: Development
- What it means:Growth that expands knowledge and skills
- What to do:Offer professional and personal growth opportunities
| Driver | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Recognition | The post's top driver | Give consistent, specific recognition for the qualities people bring |
| Feedback | Direct communication between employees and managers | Allow anonymous feedback for honesty, then act on it visibly |
| Culture | People who resonate with the culture stay loyal | Build belonging so people work comfortably toward common goals |
| Team | Colleagues shape attitude to the job | Make cooperation and collaboration possible |
| Empowerment | The tools and resources to succeed | Give people what they need, or trust erodes and they give up sooner |
| Development | Growth that expands knowledge and skills | Offer professional and personal growth opportunities |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is employee engagement?
Employee engagement is the emotional commitment an employee has to the organization and its goals. It is not the same as happiness or satisfaction. An engaged employee cares about the work and the company, so they put in discretionary effort: picking up trash on the shop floor when nobody is watching, or taking the next customer in line at the end of a shift.
What are the six drivers of employee engagement?
Recognition, feedback, culture, team, empowerment and development. Recognition is the number one driver. Feedback works best when employees can give it anonymously and then see it acted on. Culture and team decide whether people feel they belong. Empowerment means having the tools and resources to succeed, and development means real chances to grow skills and knowledge.
Why is recognition the top driver of engagement?
Consistent, specific recognition tells people their work is seen and valued. It motivates by pointing to the positive qualities they bring, and because employees know good work will be noticed, they keep pushing to perform better. Companies with high levels of recognition are far more likely to see engagement rise than those that leave good work unremarked.
How does employee engagement affect business results?
Companies with highly engaged employees see better customer service, product quality and productivity, which leads to higher customer satisfaction, more sales and higher profit. Unsupported employees are more likely to give up when a situation turns unfavourable, while those with what they need push through. Engagement also changes constantly, so it needs regular measurement rather than a once-a-year check.
How do you collect honest employee feedback?
Give employees a way to comment anonymously as well as face to face. Anonymous feedback tends to be more honest, so it gives a truer picture of engagement and of what to fix. Then act on what you hear and tell people what changed; acting on it shows employees you value what they have to say, and that keeps the feedback coming.
Start boosting engagement with LeanSuite
Having engaged employees is beneficial for any organization. However, engagement is a constant changing metric that requires constant monitoring. To ensure you maintain high levels of employee engagement, you need a solution that can help you continuously solicit feedback and act on it. In essence, employers need an employee engagement platform that has an intuitive interface and is exciting for their employees to use.
LeanSuite is a lean manufacturing software that has a built-in app called the Idea Management System. It is an idea management system that makes it easy for you to collect suggestions, provide feedback, and take action all in real-time. In addition, it has a built-in recognition and reward system so you can recognize and reward top employees who are making the most contributions to the organization’s success.
Free for this topic: Leader standard work template, Gemba walk checklist, Lean maturity self-assessment
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