Employee engagement is a force that drives business outcomes. Research by the Gallup organization shows that engaged employees are more productive, more profitable, more customer focused, safer and more likely to stay with your organization for the long term. Employee engagement is a strategic approach for driving improvement and organizational change. It directly affects customer engagement – which affects your bottom line. The best performing companies know that developing an employee engagement strategy that is linked to the achievement of corporate goals, will help them create long-term, sustainable success in the marketplace.
According to extensive Gallup research, only 29% of the workforce is engaged – the other 71% fall into the disengaged/actively-disengaged group:
- 29% Engaged: Work with passion and connection to the company. They drive innovation and move the organization forward
- 52% Disengaged: Essentially “checked out.” Putting time, but not energy or passion, into their work.
- 19% Actively Disengaged: Not just unhappy – also acting out their unhappiness. Undermine what their engaged coworkers accomplish.
These findings are based on The Gallup Q12, a survey designed to measure employee engagement. Researchers found that there were 12 key expectations, that when satisfied, form the foundation of strong feelings of engagement:
- I know what is expected of me at work.
- I have the materials and equipment to do my work right.
- At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.
- In the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work.
- My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person.
- There is someone at work who encourages my development.
- At work, my opinions seem to count.
- The mission or purpose of my organization makes me feel my job is important.
- My associates or fellow employees are committed to doing quality work.
- I have a best friend at work.
- In the last six months, someone at work talked to me about my progress.
- This last year, I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow.
What do you feel the engagement levels are in your organization? What is your percentage of Engaged, Disengaged and Actively Disengaged employees? What is this costing your organization – not just in terms of revenue, but also in creating innovative solutions and attracting/retaining top talent and customers? Can you take your organization where you want it to go with your current engagement percentages?
Working on Gallup’s Q12 elements will help you positively affect employee (as well as customer) engagement in your organization. Start at the top and work your way down the list – working one or two elements at a time and getting it right will be better than trying to work on all of them at once. More engaged employees leads to more engaged customers – and that leads to more engaging profitability!
This article provided by TCT Education Committee member, Norma Dompier, President, RedBike International – Engaging People & Organizations, Norma (at) RedBikeInternational.com. Information from Gallup.com.