Why should you measure Employee Engagement
Employee engagement does not mean employee happiness, satisfaction or productivity. One important reason why measuring employee engagement is so hard is because there’s no real clear definition of what it is. But, we will try to do it: employee engagement is the emotional commitment the employee has to the organization and its goals. And, such as an emotion, it is hard to quantify.
Employee Engagement is a complex thing, and required effort from every person that works in the organization.
Why should you measure Employee Engagement
The reason why Employee Engagement is so important can be summarized in this quote: “Employees who believe that management is concerned about them as a whole person – not just an employee – are more productive, more satisfied, more fulfilled. Satisfied employees mean satisfied customers, which leads to profitability.” by Anne M. Mulcahy, former CEO of Xerox.
Employees want to feel part of something, and considered as a unique human beings, rather than a number. They want to feel important, as Steve or Julia, not just as their job title. Only in this case the entire environment will be filled with productivity, satisfaction and happiness. It is a chain, a vicious cycle where if one thing falls, everything falls.
How can you measure it
First things first: surveys. But, no matter how frequent, they aren’t enough. You can be happy at work, but not get enough feedback from your manager.And, on the other side, you can get a ton of great feed-backs, but have no opportunities for growth. You can have opportunities for growth, but no work-life balance. You can find out whatever you want, but you should be acting upon it and monitor the situation.
If you want your employees to feel engaged, you need to believe (and do it genuinely) in you employees. If a manger, a boss believes in its employees and shows it properly, the team will respond with increased loyalty and commitment to the organization.
So, we were saying about surveys: they must be short, not complex, and frequent. But if you use them alone, it i kind of useless. Surveys are a great way to maintain a consistent pulse on the vibe in your office, but you should be combining it with other methods, as one-on-one meetings with employees, structured interviews and collect feed-backs, using eNPS.
Innovations starts with your people, your team. The team’s and the employees’ expectations change, and will be changing. In today’s workplace, the employee engagement experience has taken on a new meaning.