Employee engagement isn’t a clearly defined term, and what it means will differ by who you ask. Forbes points out that employee engagement isn’t the same as employee happiness. Employee engagement has to do with how well the job that a worker is assigned clicks with their expectations of that position. HR Zone reports that employee engagement shouldn’t be seen as a particular employee’s willingness to just show up to work, but to make a difference within the organization. Naturally, employee engagement is linked to metrics such as turnover rate and employee happiness. Despite this, there ‘s still no concrete relationship between engagement and any of those metrics. How does a business go about measuring employee engagement using its data then?
The Type of Data is Important
The type of data the company collects forms the core of what it will use to determine how well-engaged employees are. Among the most common types of data that the business may utilize include:
Direct Surveys: If you don’t know, you should ask. Sending out a survey regularly (like every month or every quarter) asking about employee engagement levels can grant the business invaluable data about how their employees see their jobs within the company’s structure.
Performance Reviews: Strategic performance reviews can allow the business to gauge how well employees are doing at their position. These reviews also enable companies to connect to and have an in-depth discussion with their workers to assess how to increase the employee’s engagement.
Retention Rate and Exit Interviews: Both of these are two sides of the same coin. Companies can conduct interviews with workers who intend to leave the company to find out what they could have done to engage those workers more. The current retention rate also speaks volumes about how well-engaged employees are since unengaged employees tend to leave the company sending up the retention rate.
Improving Employee Engagement
There are several areas that businesses can focus on to increase the engagement their employees have with their positions, including:
Workload: Spreading out a workload across a department is an excellent way to help employee engagement. Find employees that are best suited to tasks and assign them the duties that they work best with.
Skills or Education: Just like individual employees are better at specific jobs, some are more well-trained in certain positions. Putting the right people in the right situations tends to increase employee engagement.
Recognition: No one wants their work to go unrecognized. Companies that show their employees that the business values their contribution tend to have more deeply engaged employees as a result.
Bonding or Empathy: Employees that create a bond with others within the office through shared empathy feel a deeper connection to their job and the organization as a whole. These relationships can form a significant attachment that helps employees want to do more for the firm.
Company Culture: Companies cultivate the culture of their organization through how they treat their employees and how those employees respond. Setting core values for the business’s operation and how it acts towards employees is a crucial step in ensuring that it provides that level of engagement that employees would expect from their firm.
Employee Engagement Makes a Difference
The Harvard Business Review mentions that employee engagement brings a significant boost to production, but has a more profound impact on a company than just that. Employees in deeply engaging jobs such as those of the Heather Wayne Performing Arts Academy build their passion alongside their position, creating a deeply satisfying career. The hope is that eventually, a business will find the perfect spot for every employee.