Employee Engagement

Employee commitment is not the same as employee satisfaction. Employee satisfaction only indicates how happy or satisfied your employees are. It does not take into account their motivation, participation or emotional commitment. For some employees, satisfaction means getting a paycheck and doing as little work as possible at the same time.

When companies focus on how they can improve employee satisfaction, change does not necessarily lead to improved performance. Often, the conditions under which employees are “satisfied” with their work are the same as those that frustrate high performers. The most productive employees accept change, look for ways to improve and question the status quo. They expect all employees to be held accountable for achieving results, while employees with poor performance avoid responsibilities, adhere to the status quo and resist change.

Why is employee engagement so important?

Employee participation goes beyond activities, games, and events. Employee engagement promotes performance. Engaged employees look at the company as a whole and understand their purpose, where and how they fit in. This leads to better decision-making. Companies with a dedicated workforce are more successful than their competitors. Their earnings per share (EPS) is higher and they recover more quickly after recessions and financial setbacks. Commitment is an important differentiator in growth and innovation. To better understand your company’s needs, it is essential to conduct an employee survey. It’s not the same as a satisfaction survey.

In addition, employee expectations have changed. Mobile careers are much more frequent than “lifetime jobs”. It is more difficult than ever to retain the best talent. A company with an effective retention strategy and a highly motivated workforce is more likely to retain the best performers and attract new talent. Successful companies are based on employee values and cultures.

How is employee commitment measured?

Measure what matters. Employee engagement surveys are specifically designed to measure employee performance, strategic alignment, competence, and satisfaction. Surveys must be statistically validated and compared with those of other companies if they are to deliver useful results. Without these elements, it is difficult to know what you are measuring and whether the results are good or bad.

Engagement can be measured accurately by short surveys that contain only a few questions, but these short surveys can only give an indication of employee engagement. They have difficulty explaining why employees are hired or hired because they lack details. Without sufficient information, a company cannot develop meaningful activities, training programs, strategies and initiatives to increase engagement.

To get a complete picture of employee engagement, a survey should include 50 to 80 questions covering a wide range of relevant topics. There should also be open questions to diagnose possible problems of engagement in a company.

When should a company measure employee engagement?

The best time to conduct an employee survey is at any time. The timing of the engagement survey will affect the results of the survey, but it is always a good time to better understand the level of engagement of your employees.

Create a readiness score, share the reasons for conducting the engagement survey, report the results and take action based on the survey results. These actions give meaning to the investigation. Otherwise, an investigation is a waste of time and motivation.

Components of Employee Commitment

There are two main factors that motivate the commitment of employees. These factors are based on statistical analysis and are largely supported by industrial research.

Commitment to the organization measures employees’ commitment to the organization as a whole and their feelings towards top management. This factor is related to trust in corporate governance and trust, equity, values, and respect for how people like to be treated by others, both in and out of the workplace.

Working with a Manager is a more accurate measure of how employees interact with their immediate supervisor. Topics covered include feeling valued, being treated fairly, receiving feedback and guidance, and generally having a strong working relationship based on mutual respect between the employee and the manager.

Beyond the two central engagement factors

High-performing companies and highly committed employees also stand out in these areas:

Strategic Direction: Do employees have a clear idea of the objective and direction? Do employees understand how their work contributes to the success of the company? Strategic alignment ensures that employees are clearly aware of the objective and direction and that their efforts are directed in the right direction. If these efforts do not go in the right direction, they could be wasted.

Performance management: The most effective managers are characterized by their social competence, but they also offer clear expectations, hold employees accountable and focus on achieving results.

Leadership competency is measured in the employee survey through bottom-up feedback.

For a more complete assessment of leadership competencies, we recommend the use of a 360-degree feedback survey.

Who should be involved in employee engagement initiatives?

Research shows that many companies have difficulty combining the results of engagement surveys with their financial impact on the company. It is important to understand how commitment affects a company’s financial results.

An efficient workforce is necessary to remain competitive and even survive. The development of programs to increase employee engagement must be intentional, meaningful and based on the survey results.

HR can play a role in developing an effective employee engagement strategy, but it must be adopted throughout the organization. There is a clear gap between the optimism of senior managers and the experience of middle managers and their teams. In order to understand the overall image of the company, it is important to have an effective and multidirectional communication strategy within the company. Effective communication is one of the most important factors that most likely contribute to the company’s success. Successful companies are able to articulate and communicate what success looks like as individuals, teams and departments, and the company as a whole. This increases engagement at the company level.

Dynamics of employee engagement

Commitment factors — What is the most important thing?

Employee engagement surveys provide companies with valuable information. Knowing whether employees are employed or not is only the first step. They must also be able to influence the results. You need to understand the key drivers of engagement and detachment, and you need to be strategic to plan the activities or initiatives that will have the greatest impact on increasing engagement.

The elements that motivate engagement are generally similar in most companies, but the specific concerns and degree of importance are unique and specific in each company and even in different demographic subgroups of a company.

We use two techniques that allow you to identify the key drivers of engagement in your organization and understand what you need to focus on and how you can improve in these areas.

1. Priority Level— We review statistical trends from all groups in your organization to determine the impact of the overall engagement within each demographic group. Elements with weak results and strong engagement relationships are the areas where you want to focus your change initiatives and engagement strategies.

2. Virtual Focus Groups — At the end of the survey, we ask targeted follow-up questions that ask employees to provide examples of problems and suggestions for improvement. Once you have identified an area for improvement, you can turn to the comments, where you will often find detailed information that includes the specific what, why and how to take action.

Dissatisfaction: An employee survey can identify the “vulnerable” demographic groups in your organization.
Even companies with a high overall commitment will have areas where this is difficult. These problem areas can have a major impact on business performance, with high local turnover and employee apathy.

Understanding what is happening in these different demographic groups within your organization is at least as important as overall engagement. If you find a risk group or an area of low engagement, you can quickly look up and see the specific problems and dynamics within that group