Employee Engagement A Fad or a Strategy?

When I say the word ‘engagement’ what springs to mind? You might think of marital promises, long-term commitment, diamonds, family and celebration. Today however, it is synonymous with one of the most critical topics in leadership and management. Prior to the current pandemic, it seemed that everyone was on the Employee Engagement gravy train. It was thought that engagement was needed for higher levels of consistent performance and this hasn’t changed. Studies suggest that worryingly only 14% of employees are engaged. A recent study from Gallup (July, 2020) went as far as to suggest that only 31% of employees are currently engaged, while 14% are actively disengaged. It is easy, in the current climate to suggest that this phenomenon is no longer relevant. After all maybe people should be just grateful they are still employed! I disagree vehemently though and argue that employee engagement is more critical to the success of your leaders, and in turn, your business than ever before.

Employee Engagement does not mean your employee happiness score, someone can be happy at work but not engaged! Being happy at work does not necessarily equate to someone working hard, productively on behalf of the organization. Employee engagement is not employee satisfaction. An employee can be completely satisfied with their working conditions and salary and not go the extra mile for the customer or your business. Forbes defined Employee engagement as ‘the emotional commitment the employee has to the organization and its goals’. 

The History of Employee Engagement

Prior to the 1980s, employers expected and received loyalty to the organization. People joined an organization out of school or college, and stayed for life. ‘Jobs for life’ were part of the psychological contract (the unwritten rules between employee and employer). With the increase of competition from a global perspective, employers needed to be more flexible in their deployment of their employees. Factories were closed as businesses became global and workforces were cheaper in other parts of the world. These layoffs taught employees that loyalty was no longer rewarded. ‘Jobs-for-life’ were no longer a given, and career progress became viewed as a spiral rather than a ladder. The rules of the game changed and this new psychological/employer contract had changed. Suddenly high-caliber talent left organisations, skilled workers were no longer willing to put in the effort and working to rule became the new norm. Suddenly employers began to see a slow-down in productivity. One way to address this was to look at employee engagement levels within the workforce. Continuous improvement is a requirement in today’s business world. Businesses constantly need to do more, be more productive and produce better standard products, often with less. The key to this is your employee. You have heard the old adage that is part of every companies Mission “ our people are key to our success”. It is on every company website globally! How many really live their values? How many really invest in their people and leaders? Very few I suspect. Investing in your leaders lead to them investing in your employees, which in turn, leads to them investing in your customers. 

What is Employee Engagement?

Gallup defines engaged employees as those who are involved in, enthusiastic about and committed to their work and workplace. Think back to that first day on the job. You were motivated, enthusiastic and dying to make an impact on your new organization. Think of the days when you looked up and realized the afternoon was gone and you had thoroughly enjoyed whatever you had been doing. In psychological terms employee engagement happens when you are using your strengths (your innate talents) and get a chance to do what you do best, when you are in moments of ‘flow’ (Csíkszentmihályi, 1975).

Employee Engagement is:

‘The extent to which employees are motivated to contribute to organisational success and are willing to apply discretionary effort to accomplish tasks important to the achievement of organizational goals’. 

How to improve Employee Engagement using Psychological research

Gallup research suggests that employee disengagement costs the US upwards of $550 billion a year in lost productivity. It is easy to see in the current economic squeeze, how important Employment Engagement actually is. With the current job market, disengaged employees will remain in your organization rather than moving onto a more suited role. So what can you do?

Maslow created a hierarchy of needs in the 1950s. His theory suggests that psychological health depends on the fulfillment of needs, in order of priority, i.e. basic needs must be met first. 

He suggested as follows:

1.     Survival – Biological needs such as food, water, shelter, sleep

2.     Safety – This need requires stability, security, order, law, and protection from elements

3.     Belonging – Friendship, love, affection, and intimacy is also required

4.     Importance – The need to achieve and master things, independence, and self-respect

5.     Self-Actualization – This is the need that requires people to fulfill their potential and what they believe they’re capable of.

How does that apply to employee engagement? Let’s break it down and see how this works:

• Survival– We know this is a basic need. This includes the need to have a job, a salary that pays the bills, and a sense of financial independence. (These people are often ‘trapped’ in their role and can often be disengaged)
• Safety– When we have jobs, we need to know that they are safe. The current job market is unpredictable; it’s hard for many to move past this second most basic need. It also causes individuals to need structure in the workplace, with a chain of command and a process for their duties so they feel confident that they’re doing their job correctly.
• Belonging– People need to feel like they’re part of a team, that they are a part of something bigger. As employees, everyone needs to know, that their individual contributions are valued by the company. If your company is setup around team principles, then this sense of belonging and “camaraderie” should come almost naturally.
• Importance– This need dovetails into the “belonging” need in the sense that individuals need to feel like they’re important to a team, projects, and the overall organization. This need is most prevalent inside of larger companies where the need to engage employees on a personal level becomes harder and harder for higher level management.
•  Self-Actualization– Most employees have some level of ambition and want to achieve more than where they’re currently positioned. Giving them opportunities for growth, learning, leadership and advancement gives them all of the tools they need to begin to self-actualize within your company’s walls. When they reach this point, and are taking full advantage of the tools made available to them, they inspire others along the way and create a ripple effect of employee engagement.

How can you provide this type of environment for your employees?

1. Pay your employees a livable wage.
2. Don’t make them feel as if their job is on the line all the time.
3. Have a strong organizational structure that promotes teamwork and inclusion.
4. Make them feel important. This is where things like employee recognition come into play so strongly. When your employees perform well, let them know it. Recognize them publicly for their accomplishments and reward them for what they’ve done. The public recognition lets the employee know their performance is important and that it matters. Incentive programs also work well here because they give employees tangible rewards for their performance. When someone receives a reward, they emotionally connect that reward to their jobs and feel important and accomplished because of it.
5. Self-actualization is realized because when employees feel important and recognized, they feel like they can take on more ownership of their role, and more of a leadership role within their company. This kind of employee is incredibly beneficial to the health of employee engagement because their enthusiasm and attitude actually inspire others to want to perform on their level. Behaviour is contagious!

Engaged employees lead to better business outcomes. In fact, according to Towers Perrin research, companies with engaged workers have 6% higher net profit margins, and according to Kenexa research engaged companies have five times higher shareholder returns over five years.

As former Campbell's Soup CEO, Doug Conant, once said, "To win in the marketplace you must first win in the workplace."

Employee engagement is the key to activating a high performing workforce.