What is Employee Engagement and Why Does It Matter

We all understand that an employee that is engaged with the company is a more productive member of the business. For them, feeling an active part of the team will lead to an overall better and more fulfilling career. 

However, there does appear to be some confusion about what employee engagement is and how it impacts both employees and employers. 

It is crucial for management and leadership to understand what it is, how it can impact the business and how to improve the engagement of their employees. 

Our experts go into detail on the concept of employee engagement, how it works, how it can be measured and how it can be improved. 

What is Employee Engagement? 

There are many different definitions of employee engagement or similar concepts. Studies throughout the years have come up with many different definitions and meanings of employee engagement, but there is not one agreed on definition. 

The famous polling company Gallup, for instance, is straightforward in its definition. It defines employee engagement as the involvement and enthusiasm of employees in their work and workplace. 

However, a 2015 study for Health and Social Care Delivery Research categorises them in three different segments based on what it had found in many other studies. These segments are: 

• A psychological state. 

• A composite attitudinal and behavioural construct. 

• An employment relations practice. 

However, for the sake of keeping things simple, MOL will define employee engagement as follows: 

The emotional investment in the goals and efforts of the company, and the fulfilment someone feels because of their efforts to improve the company’s success. 

We believe that engagement is more than just being happy on the job or being satisfied with the work. It is about commitment to the company and actively investing in the success of it. 

How does Employee Engagement work? 

Employee engagement can really be quite a complex matter. There are many interlinking parts and important characteristics to make it work. 

Three of the components that are often quoted as leading to good employee engagement are: 

• Vigour: The amount of energy, resilience and effort an employee puts in their work. 

• Dedication: How enthusiastic, active, and inspired an employee is in their work. 

• Absorption: Is the employee deeply engrossed in their work & does time seem to fly by? 

If an employee is engaged with a company, they will feel more invested in the company overall. The benefits of employee engagement are: 

• More productivity from the employee 

• Higher retention rates 

• More loyalty and involvement in the company 

• A stronger company culture 

Ultimately, all the above factors will lead to a higher profitability, which is why investing in employee engagement is important for every company. 

How to improve Employee Engagement? 

Improving employee engagement relies on the leadership listening to and acting on the needs of their employees. 

Sometimes employers tend to gravitate towards a one-off benefit or a bonus of some sort to provide a quick bit of support to their employees. 

However, long-term investment is key. An effective employee engagement strategy requires the employee to feel seen and heard in their concerns for them to connect with the company. 

Leaders play an active part in the wellbeing of their employees, and they need to understand how to cultivate a healthy relationship between the company and the employees. 

There is a defined set of needs that are generally accepted to be key to elevating employee engagement. These need to be focused on by their managers and leaders for the employees to feel engaged in their daily work. These needs are: 

• Clear communication 

• Purpose in their work 

• Feedback & recognition 

• Growth opportunities, training & career paths 

• Empathic management 

• Strong sense of team unity 

• Trust & flexibility from leadership 

Leadership needs to find ways to meet the above needs to the best of their ability. With their management and leadership skills, they need to show that it is okay to have a healthy work-life balance and demonstrate their willingness to invest in the team. 

There needs to be clear training for all employees, management included, and the team needs to be given clearance to grow and foster. 

Transparency is key, as a team that can understand the choices made by the leadership team will have a much easier time buying into it. 

It helps to imagine the required communication and action as a loop which covers listening, supporting, contributing and improving between leadership and employees. 

In practice, the loop or cycle needs to be followed for employee engagement to be nurtured and grown effectively. It works as follows: 

1. Leaders lead, employees action 

The leaders of the company clearly establish the vision, goals and missions. These ideals for the company need to be transferred to the employees in an understandable way so that the employees know what is expected of them. 

2. Leaders & managers support the team 

Now that the employees know where the company leaders want them to go, it is up the management to take them there. An effective manager makes their expectations clear and provides the necessary support to the team to make sure they can meet the expectations of seniors. It creates a safe and supportive environment. 

3. Employees engage with their work 

When they are supported by their managers, the employees will feel like they can contribute more to the team. They will put in extra efforts, work with others more effectively and feel proud to be part of the team. 

4. Providing feedback 

The company will ask the wider team for feedback, take individuals apart for one-on-one meetings and collect feedback on what the employees are experiencing. 

5. Taking action 

Once the feedback is collected, the leaders and managers can begin implementing their findings. This helps the employees, because they will feel that their feedback is taken seriously and the leaders listen to their concern. It makes the team trust senior leadership, which resets the cycle. 

When this cycle can reliably be followed and the impact measured, companies can cultivate a healthy work environment and create an efficient workforce with higher retention rates and more employee happiness. 

How to measure employee engagement? 

Employee engagement can be measured in a few different ways: 

• Surveys 

• Interviews and meetings 

• Behavioural statistics and metrics 

It is important to understand that one measurement of employee engagement might not tell you a lot. This is why repeated measurements, such as yearly surveys or quarterly interviews, are key to measuring the direction of the employee engagements. Comparing the data available to previous measurements allows you to get very clear picture of the impact of any implemented actions to help improve employee engagement. 

Surveys 

Surveys are a good and relatively quick way to gather larger amounts of information at the expense of the collected data being more generic and less detailed. 

They are among the most common methods for collecting feedback from employees, and the results from a survey can give you a very clear picture of the general ideas floating around the company. 

There are many different types of survey to utilise, from 1 simple question to a much more detailed 50 question survey, and the type to use heavily depends on the issues you are trying to monitor and resolve. 

Behavioural metrics 

While surveys are helpful, the responses can sometimes be misleading, especially if the employees feel that their feedback will not be taken seriously. 

In these cases, it can be much more effective to look at the behaviour displayed by your employees. 

Actions speak louder than words, and these measurements can paint a clear picture of the engagement levels of your employees. 

Paying attention turnover and retention rates, the levels of sickness and other unplanned absences and the rates at which your employees sign up for optional programmes can give you some insight into how connected your team feels to the company. 

Interviews and meetings 

For an even deeper understanding of your employees, asking them directly in an interview setting or focus group allows you the opportunity to ask them detailed questions. 

You might find that a more personalised approach will get them to open up more and share their thoughts more honestly. 

These interviews and questions can happen during regular catchups, such as monthly one-to-one meetings, or even during/after specific events, such as an exit interview to uncover why they might have decided to move on. 

How can MOL help boost employee engagement? 

Could your business do with some help to boost the engagement of your employees? 

A bought-in team of employees starts with good leadership and management. Our management courses and qualifications can help elevate you or your leaders/managers to the next level, giving them more insight into steering the company and the teams within to a common goal, ultimately leading to a stronger sense of engagement for everybody. 

Interested in finding out more? Get in touch with us today.