How to Keep Track of Employee Engagement

What Is Employee Engagement?

Employee engagement might be considered one of the most important indicators of job satisfaction. Today's employees won't be satisfied with just a regular 9 to 5 job. They want to be involved in their work, enthusiastic about their company, and devoted to their colleagues.

Not to mention that engaged employees lead to higher productivity and sustainability of the organization they work for. Anyway, what is the definition of employee engagement, and how can it be measured?

Defining Employee Engagement

Employee engagement is the degree to which employees are passionate about their jobs, committed to their company, and put extra effort into their work.  It reflects the level of motivation, enthusiasm, and connection workers have with the organization.

It is important to note that employee engagement is a measure that depends on the actions of the company, in particular, on the actions of the top management, managers, and supervisors.

Many companies aim for higher participation and involvement levels to improve such things as productivity, retention, and performance. Conducting an employee engagement survey is a great way to understand what affects your employees' engagement and drives action over time.

Why Is Employee Engagement Important?

Employee engagement is more than just holding events, work parties, and games. Employee engagement increases productivity. Engaged employees look at the organization and understand what they are there for, where, and how they fit into it. This leads to loyalty, better performance, and decision-making. Companies with an engaged workforce outperform their competitors and recover faster from recessions and financial setbacks. So when it comes to growth and innovation, engagement is key.

According to Lanteria, high engagement rates also lead to increased employee retention. Keeping the best talent today is harder than it used to be. An organization that has implemented a great employee engagement strategy and has highly engaged workers is more likely to retain top talents and attract new ones. Values and an employee-centered culture drive successful companies.

Employees who are highly involved in their work bring great benefits to the company and get a better quality of life at work. They get their energy from their work and maintain good mental health. At work, they do more good deeds; for example, they are willing to help a new employee acclimate without even being asked to do so. People also work in a flow state when they feel involved; time passes, and they are absorbed in their work.

How Is Employee Engagement Measured?

The easiest and most accurate way to measure the level of engagement among staff in your company is to conduct an employee engagement survey. Since employee engagement is an outcome, you can use a survey to ask questions about various factors that affect it. Thus, you will see which ones are most effective and what areas need improvement.

These are the things you should take into account before conducting an employee engagement survey:

• To understand how engaged your workers are, you need to develop a series of questions, not just one. Include open-ended questions as well.
• Asking the right questions helps you form an accurate picture of employees' satisfaction in your organization.
• Proper analysis of survey answers allows you to realize what actions need to be taken first and foremost.
• Knowing the general factors of employee engagement helps to understand certain trends of engagement.
• Comparative data gives you useful context for your engagement survey results.

When Should an Organization Measure Employee Engagement?

Strictly speaking, any time is the best time for an employee engagement survey. Of course, the timing of your engagement survey may affect its results, but keeping abreast of how satisfied your workers are with their job is always a good idea. You will understand how engaged they are and what you could do to make your organization a better place to work.

Create a readiness assessment, state the reasons for conducting the engagement survey, communicate the outcome to your employees, and follow up on the survey results. These are the steps that will make your survey helpful and meaningful; if you do this just for show, the engagement survey will only demotivate your workers and waste their time.

Keep track of employee engagement and more with Lanteria's All-in-One HR Platform! Reach out today to learn about how Lanteria can guide you to success.