Employee Engagement: What is it and What are the Key Components to Successful Engagement?

Today, let’s discuss employee engagement – what it is, how it benefits the organization, and what managers can do to foster higher levels of engagement. According to Towers Perrin, “engagement is the extent to which employees put discretionary effort into their work, beyond the required minimum to get the job done, in the form of extra time, brainpower or energy.”¹ Using this definition, it’s clear that employees, managers and HR have roles to play in order to improve engagement across the organization.

Why is engagement important to companies?

Employees who are willing to go the extra mile infect others with enthusiasm. Engaged employees have been shown to be high performers, increasing their productivity as well as the quality of the work product. They are less likely to leave the company and more likely to contribute valuable new ideas. Engaged employees become advocates for your company and your products everywhere they go.

A 2006 report, prepared by Dr. Robert Vance for SHRM, highlighted many examples of measurable benefits that companies had achieved by improving employee engagement.²

• Caterpillar enjoyed a $2 million increase in profit and increases in customer satisfaction.
• $1.7 million in savings from reduced safety costs among engaged employees at Coors Molson. Engaged employees also improved sales more than $2 million over non-engaged employees.
• By improving engagement among contact center employees, Intuit improved customer satisfaction and revenues.

Three ways managers can improve employee engagement

Employees are evaluated by their managers on their activities surrounding the work product and thus their engagement within the organization. Ultimately, managers are responsible for the success of employees.  To boost engagement among employees, managers must provide:

• Training to ensure employee understanding of the organization’s expectations;
• The necessary working tools for the creation of a quality product, and perhaps most importantly;
• Effective communication on an on-going basis. Operating under the understanding that “if I don’t know what I’m doing wrong, I can’t fix it” managers must share their knowledge and skills with employees to produce the best possible product.

Managers should be evaluated on employee engagement objectives

According to Right Management, a career and talent management company, managers have a strong influence on employee engagement, yet are less likely to be evaluated on that responsibility.  Only 18% of HR professionals surveyed in May 2010 reported that managers were consistently held accountable for employee engagement³.  Creating success for the employee is pivotal to furthering the organization’s interests. Yet, businesses fail to place the appropriate priority on management’s role in the process.

Successful engagement efforts require a consistency in communicating: what needs to be done, who needs to do it and how well it’s being done, from the C-suite through the final delivery of the product. Employees and managers need to receive feedback on how well they meet organizational goals. Businesses should provide employees with the appropriate (and cost-effective) incentives, training, and other tools that enable workers to go above and beyond for the company.

[2] Ibid. p. 2, 23.

[3] http://www.right.com/news-and-events/press-releases/item7882.aspx