What is Employee Engagement?

Employee engagement is one of those terms that is commonly misunderstood. However, once you can see the benefits it brings to a company, you will feel highly motivated to develop a deeper understanding of the concept. 

Is Employee Engagement the same as Employee Satisfaction? 

People often use the phrases ‘employee engagement’ and ’employee satisfaction’ interchangeability. In fact, many organizations use tools to track employee satisfaction without realizing that this focus alone fails to take into account a three-dimensional view of an employee. The reason that it is important to focus on employee engagement rather than satisfaction is because a satisfied employee can be one who shows up to work without complaint, whereas an engaged employee is one who stays late and does all it takes — not simply to get the job done, but to get it done well. 

So, what does Employee Engagement Really Mean? 

The term employee engagement describes the relationship between an employee and an organization. An engaged employee is one who feels emotionally committed to the organization and its goals and therefore will go above and beyond in their work. An engaged employee is one who wants to stay late to ensure the work is completed to a high standard or replies to the consumer on the weekend to make sure their queries are answered. By contrast, a disengaged employee might feel anything from apathetic to dislike for the company they are working for. 

How to Increase Employee Engagement

With the global levels of employee engagement so low, one might be forgiven for assuming that the task of engaging employees is too difficult, complicated, and time consuming. Although some of the tasks required to achieve high levels of engagement do require more investment, such as taking the time to recruit the most suitable employee for the job, others are much simpler. For example, using employee engagement software is a great way to gain the insights you need to implement effective engagement strategies. 

What Effect Does Employee Engagement Have? 

Companies with higher levels of employee engagement experience many benefits, such as 6% higher net profit margins and 500% higher shareholder returns over five years. The reason that employee engagement has such a large effect on a business’s overall success can be explained by something called the engagement-profit chain. Engaged employees lead to higher levels of service, productivity, and quality, which in turn, leads to higher rates of customer satisfaction. Increased customer satisfaction then works to increase sales, creating a loyal customer base and increased referral rates. The increase in sales has its own impacts, creating higher labels of profit, which raise the level of shareholder returns. 

The engagement-profit chain makes the impact of employee engagement startlingly clear. However, while many organizations might be aware of the benefits of employee engagement, very few make efforts to actualize it. In fact, according to Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace study, only 15% of the world’s employees feel engaged with their work. 

Employee engagement is an all too frequently confused or neglected concept. With a little bit of effort and the right tools, any company can benefit from a happier workforce, increased productivity levels, and the higher returns that are bought by high employee engagement.