Are your organization’s employees fully engaged? You might think so if you’re accustomed to seeing smiling faces at the office and hearing lively discussions during meetings. However, two recent surveys reveal that things aren’t always as they appear.
Alarming results
Last year, HR consultants Talent Solutions Right Management, which operates under Manpower Group, released a report entitled Rescuing Stranded Careers: A Roadmap for Leaders to Drive Employee Growth. It included the results of a survey of more than 400 leaders and 1,000 employees in the United States and Canada. Of those respondents, 83% of the leaders said they believe their workforces are fully engaged. Unfortunately, only 48% of the employees who responded agreed with them.
The results of a “meta-analysis” by well-known analytics company Gallup, published in an article on its website in January of this year, are even more daunting. The company looked at data going all the way back to 2000 and found: “Employee engagement in the U.S. fell to its lowest level in a decade in 2024, with only 31% of employees engaged.”
Helpful measures
Survey results such as these drive home the simple point that employers can’t take employee engagement for granted. Even if everything seems to be going well, dissatisfaction may exist below the surface — which is difficult to see from the leadership level. Here are some fundamental steps you can take to address employee engagement head-on and get the insights you need:
Conduct employee surveys regularly. When it comes to employee engagement, that old saying holds true: It doesn’t hurt to ask. Issuing an anonymous survey at least once a year is a good way to gather big-picture data on how employees feel about the organization and their respective jobs.
For best results, write clearly worded questions and structure the survey as concisely as possible. Generally, it’s best to combine “rating scale” questions with open-ended queries that call for brief written responses.
One specific rating-scale question worth asking is: “How likely are you to recommend our organization as a great place to work?” Based on the responses, you can calculate a metric called Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS). The higher your score, the more engaged your workforce. You may want to work with a consultant or at least a widely used template to initially design your survey.
Hold one-on-one engagement-specific check-ins. Surveys have their uses but also their limits. Some employees may be much more comfortable and forthcoming with their insights within the context of a conversation. To this end, instruct your supervisors to meet with employees regularly — again, at least annually — to discuss engagement.
Be sure these meetings take place outside of annual performance reviews, so employees don’t feel overwhelmed or pressured to embellish their engagement. Train supervisors to ask open-ended questions, actively listen and discuss issues such as day-to-day job challenges, work environment or culture concerns, and career goals.
Track all the right metrics. We mentioned eNPS above, but you can track many other pertinent metrics that provide insights into employee engagement. These include turnover rate, absenteeism rate and retention rate. You can even measure how many employees respond to the aforementioned survey.
And don’t overlook productivity metrics. Examples include revenue per employee, output per employee, task completion rate, error rate and rework rate. Noticeable drops in productivity — or sharp increases in mistakes and customer dissatisfaction — could indicate serious engagement issues that must be addressed.
Finding clarity
These are just a few ways to gather data and find clarity on the often-hazy subject of employee engagement. Naturally, once you’ve got a sense of where your staff stands, you can begin devising improvement initiatives such as recognition, rewards, incentives and coaching. Contact us for help identifying and analyzing all the costs associated with managing the performance of your employees.
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