And this does not just impact poor performers-top performers can also be disengaged and present a flight risk. This disengaged segment of your workforce poses a risk to organizational success because they don’t do their best work and are more likely to leave the organization, either voluntarily or involuntarily. They are present, but they don’t give extra, discretionary effort to take their contribution to the next level. Not Engagedĭisengaged employees-which potentially represent just over half of your workforce according to Gallup-possess neither overwhelmingly positive nor negative feelings about their work. In fact, research conducted by Zenger Folkman found that engaged managers are more likely to have engaged direct reports. For example, when company leaders are engaged, they boost engagement throughout their team. Fortunately, engagement and the desire to commit discretionary effort are contagious. Another Gallup study found that engaged employees deliver a range of benefits that enhance company growth, such as reduced turnover, higher productivity, and more satisfied customers.Įngaged employees also put forth discretionary effort to meet company goals, meaning they are willing to go the extra mile to do their best work. They also achieve results that can make a difference for your organization.
When your employees are fully engaged, they possess more than just the mindset to do great work.
Therefore, before you can take steps to improve engagement, it’s critical to understand where employees are and what typifies the different levels of engagement: Fully Engaged According to research from Gallup, only 36 percent of employees are actively engaged, whereas the rest are either not engaged (51 percent) or actively disengaged (13 percent)-meaning they are miserable at work and spreading their misery to coworkers around them. There is no secret sauce for creating engagement in your workforce, and it is a challenge for many employers. It describes a level of enthusiasm that encourages people to go above and beyond what is expected and achieve the best possible results. View our ultimate guide to employee management and see how streamlining HR functions provides a competitive advantage. Even companies with all the fun perks imaginable (e.g., casual dress codes, happy hours, or catered meals) have plenty of disengaged employees. In fact, it’s possible to have satisfied employees-happy to show up to work every day for years-who are not at all engaged in their work. When employees are committed to the organization and their work, they are compelled to give their best effort.Įmployee engagement is not merely a level of satisfaction, as studies show that employees can be satisfied with their jobs but only moderately engaged. However, once you understand the various levels of engagement, you can get closer to understanding what it will take to build a more committed, productive workforce.Įmployee engagement is the emotional connection employees have to your organization and its goals. Moreover, at each of these levels, employees respond to different drivers of engagement. There is an entire spectrum of engagement-from fully engaged to actively disengaged-and it can be difficult to meet employees where they are. However, understanding what it takes to engage employees can be challenging. There should also be open ended questions to further diagnose and give organizations a better picture of how to improve potential engagement problems in a company.Creating a highly engaged workforce has been a longtime goal for many organizations, as engaged employees are deeply committed to achieving critical company goals. In order to get a complete picture of employee engagement, a survey needs to include about 50 to 80 questions that cover a complete range of relevant topics. Without sufficient information, an organization cannot develop strategies, create meaningful activities, training programs, actionable ideas, and initiatives to increase levels of engagement. This can leave organization leaders and HR with more questions about employee motivation, unable to pin-point challenges the company, management, or specific departments face. They have a hard time detecting drivers of engagement or disengagement because they lack detail. Based on results, HR and management will develop strategies and actionable ideas.Įngagement can be accurately measured with short surveys that contain just a few questions, but such short surveys can only provide an indication of whether employees are engaged. The survey must be statistically validated and benchmarked against other organizations, to assess and improve drivers of engagement in your company. Employee engagement surveys have been developed specifically to measure the performance, strategic alignment, competency, and satisfaction of contributors.