MEASURING AND UNDERSTANDING EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

 


As employee engagement continues to gain momentum in modern managerial positions, it is only imperative that employee engagement levels within an organization be measured before making managerial decisions. Organizations get a better understanding and learn more about their employees by measuring employee engagement levels. According to (Krueger and Killham, 2005), the U.S. economy is burdened with around $300 billion dollars as an annual cost of actively disengaged employees. Since employee engagement is not concrete and based on various factors, it can be difficult to measure. Establishing key performance indicators (KPIs) plays an important role in ensuring employees perform to desired levels of identifying areas of concern (Aswani, 2016)

 

The Harvard Business Review found that 71% of business executives agree that employee engagement is a crucial factor in achieving a company's goals (In-text citation: (A REPORT BY HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW ANALYTIC SERVICES, n.d.) Furthermore, increased employee engagement leads to more motivated and productive employees who have the potential to have an advantage when it comes to being competitive. Therefore, employee engagement metrics are necessary to measure the current state of your employees and make changes for the future.

 

Reasons to measure employee engagement

·         Key indicator of company success.

 

·         Increase productivity and lower absenteeism

 

·          Employee retention

 

·         Identify areas where improvement is needed.

 

·          Increase the rate of satisfied customers leading to improved business outcomes.

 

Ways to Measure Employee Engagement

One of the most common ways to measure employee engagement is employers can ask employees to complete a survey that asks questions about their satisfaction with their job, how often they feel motivated to do their best work, how strong their relationships are with their co-workers and supervisor, and whether they would recommend their company to others.

The survey can be anonymous so that employees feel comfortable being honest in their responses. Employers can also conduct focus groups or one-on-one interviews with employees to get feedback on what makes them feel engaged at work and what could make them more engaged.

Once employers have collected data from employees, they need to analyze it to identify patterns and trends. They can then develop strategies to improve employee engagement based on what they’ve learned. For example, if the data shows that employees who feel like they have good relationships with their co-workers are more engaged, the company might want to focus on fostering a collaborative culture.

 

Gallop’s Q12 Survey is one of the most effective ways to tap into and find out how organizations can improve and solve employee concerns to improve engagement and productivity (Inc, 2021)

 

The Gallup Q12 Employee Engagement Questionnaire‍

Q01. Do you know exactly what results are expected of you at work?

Q02. Do you have all the resources you need to get the job done well?

Q03. Do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every day at your workplace?

Q04. Have you received praise or recognition for a good job in the last week?

Q05. Does your manager or any of your colleagues care about you as an individual?

Q06. Is there someone at work who encourages your professional development?

Q07. Do colleagues and management consider your professional opinion?

Q08. Do you think your company's mission/purpose is helping you to understand the importance of your work?

Q09. Are your associates (fellow employees) committed to doing quality work?

Q10. Do you have a best friend at work?

Q11. In the last six months, has someone at work talked to you about your progress?

Q12. In the last year, have you had opportunities to learn and grow?

Source- Gallup.com

 

Measuring employee engagement is the first step to discovering what requires improvement. The organization must commit to working on engagement continuously as a leader. After measuring your employees' engagement, you'll have a chance to communicate and work on improving things irrespective of whether your workforce is on-site or through hybrid teams.

1.    Be Clear with Intentions

This is the key factor when it comes to employee engagement as keeps things secretive and not being transparent only creates suspicions in the employees. Transparency in communication creates trust and credibility for the organization, creating more employee engagement (Rawlins, 2008).

 

2.    Address Employees’ Needs

Employers who are on top of the game stay sharp by constantly evolving and renewing their companies. They do this to keep up with trends and stay relevant, as well as to meet employees’ needs. The basic needs of satisfaction have been found to directly relate to the dedication of employees (Vandenabeele, 2014), thus making employee engagement a priority encourages more engagement.

 

3.    Repeat

Employee engagement metrics are just the beginning of your company culture. Improving employee engagement is an ongoing process as the company grows and becomes more complex. After discussing and implementing the action plan, data should be utilized and the process should be repeated.

 

 

 

 

References

A REPORT BY HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW ANALYTIC SERVICES. (n.d.). [online] Available at: https://talentsnapshot.com/wp-content/uploads/downloads/2017/04/Impact_of_Employee_Engagement_on_Performance.pdf  [Accessed on 27 Nov.2022] 

Aswani, J. (2016). INFLUENCE OF KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS ON EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT IN MULTINATIONAL COMPANIES IN KENYA. undefined. [online] Available at: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/INFLUENCE-OF-KEY-PERFORMANCE-INDICATORS-ON-EMPLOYEE-Aswani/c5c31bc00dcc3140520892221507c475b499cd7a  [Accessed 8 Dec. 2022].

 

Inc, G. (2021). Gallup’s Q12 Employee Engagement Survey - Gallup. [online] Gallup.com. Available at: https://www.gallup.com/workplace/356063/gallup-q12-employee-engagement-survey.aspx [Accessed on 27 Nov. 2022]

 

Rawlins, B. (2008). Give the Emperor a Mirror: Toward Developing a Stakeholder Measurement of Organizational Transparency. Journal of Public Relations Research, 21(1), pp.71–99. Available at:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10627260802153421 [Accessed on 27 Nov. 2022]

 

Vandenabeele, W. (2014). Explaining Public Service Motivation. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 34(2), pp.153–173. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/41609293_Explaining_Public_Service_Motivation_The_Role_of_Leadership_and_Basic_Needs_Satisfaction [Accessed on 27 Nov. 2022]

 


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