As Beck mentions in her review of Guy Kawasaki's book below, employee engagement is top of mind. An article just came across my desk this morning about finding the right performance metrics, meta-analyses and business impact studies. Another colleague sent me a link to stats on the value proposition of employee engagement, including the correlation between engagement and sales growth/operating margins. I know when it comes to ROI, numbers are important. But on a more human level, employee engagement is important because it gives people an opportunity to use their skills and discretionary effort to make a difference in the world and contribute to the sustained success of a company or organization. When you talk to an individual about whether or not s/he feels engaged, they don't talk numbers. They reflect on personal satisfaction with their work and a sense of their own contribution; in short, they feel valued as a person and as an employee.

Ah, the Survey

Most companies use some kind of employee survey in order to gather information about the level of commitment and involvement of their employees. Some do it in as little as six questions. However, I think we may have surveyed ourselves to death. Too often, employees are skeptical and cynical about surveys - and why wouldn't they be? They take them and nothing ever changes. One client boasted that they must be doing something right - their level of employee engagement was very high. They based that perception on the fact that 88% of their employees returned the surveys. It never occurred to this client that employees might be responding to the surveys - not because they were engaged - but because they were desperate to be heard - which ultimately turned out to be the case.

The bottom line is this. If you plan to use an employee engagement survey, make sure you're ready with effective follow up. Address concerns and issues. Remember, whenever you poke a system, you're going to get a response. Ignoring that response will only exacerbate any issues that may be present.

What Employees Want

Through our experience over the last 25 years and the insights of similar practitioners, we've identified four foundational elements associated with the highest levels of employee engagement:

1.  A work environment that meets our need for high achievement
2. Honest and open communication, which provides clarity and transparency
3. Alignment between an employee's core values and guiding principles and the values and principles of the organization
4. The work of the organization is linked to a higher purpose

As a leader, are these four elements on your radar?

All organizations have a responsibility to maximize employee engagement.  As individuals, managers and leaders, we all contribute, though sometimes in different ways. When it comes to employee engagement, it's all about shared ownership. We'll take a look at that shared ownership in next month's e-musings.