How to improve employee engagement

Employee engagement refers to the level of attachment, commitment and absorption team members feel in relation to their roles, workplaces and companies. An engaged workforce is far more likely to solve issues, work harder, collaborate with others, pursue development opportunities, and remain with a company for longer.

Gallup’s recent State of the Global Workplace report underscores the importance of maintaining good employee engagement, stating that actively disengaged employees cost the global economy $8.8 trillion dollars – or 9% of global gross domestic product (GDP). The growing trend of ‘quiet quitting’ – where employees ‘show up’ and do the bare minimum, contributing no more enthusiasm, time or effort than is necessary – is symptomatic of a deeply disengaged workforce.

As well as quiet quitting, low engagement levels present as absenteeism, poor employee retention, poor productivity and weakened team cultures – all of which have the potential to significantly impact profitability.

What factors can negatively impact employee engagement?

Understanding what contributes to low levels of engagement is integral to taking steps to remedy the situation and re-engage employees once more. While there may be factors external to the job or work setting that are negatively impacting engagement levels, awareness of issues within the workplace – of which there can be many – is important.

For example, employees may feel disengaged if they:

•         do not understand their job or how it fits into the wider organisation
•         find their values or drivers are at odds with a company’s mission
•         feel they are not receiving fair recognition, reward or treatment
•         lack work-life balance
•         find work rules and processes overly bureaucratic
•         do not like their manager or fellow team members
•         are being denied opportunities to learn or progress
•         are suffering from stress, burnout or other work-related health issues.

How can employee engagement be measured?

There are various metrics, indicators and key performance indicators (KPIs) that can provide valuable insights into how an organisation is performing in terms of how engaged or disengaged employees

• Common examples of engagement metrics include:
• voluntary employee turnover rate
• retention rate
• absenteeism
• Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS)
• employee satisfaction
• employee performance
• Glassdoor rating
• return on investment (ROI) on employee engagement
• customer happiness
• UWES and Gallup scales.

However, gaining an accurate picture of engagement is not always straightforward, as factors such as commitment, happiness, motivation and satisfaction – all of which contribute to overall engagement – can be difficult to quantity.  So, what’s the answer?

Employee feedback is essential in finding out, on a personal level, where the roots of poor workplace engagement lie. The experiences of employees can be captured via two main methodologies: survey methods and non-survey methods. Survey methods enable employers to quickly – and anonymously – garner employee views and perspectives, acting as excellent starting points for gaining high-level insights that can inform more in-depth investigation. Examples include pulse surveys (concise surveys that are used to collect feedback related to certain issues or track changing attitudes) and annual employee engagement surveys (longer surveys that can cover multiple aspects and provide a year-on-year picture). Non-survey methods don’t require a survey platform, instead relying on face-to-face and data-driven insights. Examples include 1:1s with direct reports, exit interviews and turnover rate.

Whichever route an organisation opts for, it’s important to use multiple methods to gain a broader, more holistic understanding of engagement, to avoid overloading employees with too many surveys, and to act proactively – instead of waiting for systemic engagement issues to embed.

How can employee engagement be improved?

Engaged employees are those who happily put in hard work and go the extra mile in their roles. To fully harness the benefits that good engagement can bring to an organisation, investing in the employee experience is key.

Any employee engagement strategy should focus on re-imagining work environments, processes, expectations and initiatives in ways that enable engagement to flourish and employees to build favourable emotional connections with a company.

There are multiple ways in which this may be achieved:

• Employee recognition – including praising and acknowledging a job well done and tailoring compensation, rewards and benefits in line with what employees find individually meaningful
• Promote work-life balance – including monitoring workloads, avoiding burnout, being flexible where possible (such as implementing remote working), and creating working conditions that support and foster good mental health
• Professional development and career development – including taking an interest in employees’ career aspirations, mentorship programmes, investing in knowledge and skill development, and creating a plan to help them achieve their goals
• Regular feedback and check-ins – including gauging thoughts and feelings on certain issues, practising active listening, and acting on any concerns or barriers to engagement that may arise
• Company values – including ensuring that employees understand wider goals and motivations, reinforcing the important role that each plays in achieving these, and inspiring them to unite under a shared company culture and vision
• Internal communications – including monthly newsletters, ‘townhall-style’ company-wide updates and implementing two-way communication so that employees feel up-to-date and understand that their thoughts, opinions and experiences are valued and taken on board
• Strong onboarding processes – including a thorough induction that supports new hires to understand their role within the wider company and providing training and skill development that enables them to complete their jobs to the required standards.

Other employee engagement ideas include planning team-building activities, promoting diversity and inclusion, encouraging innovation, and empowering employees and enabling them to design their own projects and jobs (where feasible).

While employee engagement is often deemed to be the remit of human resources functions, every business leader, manager and supervisor should take steps to improve engagement where possible – it’s a collective responsibility.

What is the difference between engagement and motivation?

Employee engagement and employee motivation are two fundamental factors that underlie high-performing teams. While the terms are often used interchangeably – and they are, of course, related – there is a key difference. Engagement refers to the commitment and emotional connection that an individual feels towards their place of work; motivation, on the other hand, is the energy and inclination that they have to act on that feeling – which can often be linked to incentives.

Issues can arise when one state exists without the other: engaged workers who aren’t motivated may feel loyalty and connection to an employer but lack the drive to contribute, and motivated workers who aren’t engaged may contribute lots but move to another company’s role if new jobs and better opportunities are presented.

Understanding the subtle differences between engagement and motivation can help leaders to target each more effectively and unlock the advantages they both bring.

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