What Does Employee Engagement Look Like?

Before we talk about what employee engagement looks like, there is one thing you need to know. Employee engagement and employee satisfaction are not the same. Satisfied employees may be content, but they may also be doing just the minimum required to get by. That certainly isn’t inspiring information. Whereas, engaged employees are 100% committed to the success or the organization and give all of their discretionary effort to make sure that happens.

Don’t get me wrong, you still need to measure employee satisfaction, but that’s not enough. If you’re not also looking at employee engagement you may be missing key information. Now let’s move on and look at a few indicators of an engaged (not just satisfied) workforce. Think about your own organization as you move through this list.

1. More than half of all employees routinely exceed performance expectations
2. Employees regularly take on new challenges and learn new skills
3. Employees understand how their job fits with the objectives of the work unit and overall company strategies
4. There is a clear sense of collegiality within teams and across departments
5. Problems are proactively approached, rather than reactively addressed
6. A significant number of new and creative ideas have come from employees in the last six months
7. Customers are wowed by the service they receive
8. Managers are active advocates for their team members
9. Managers understand and deliver on, the expectation of actively helping their employees develop new skills for current and future positions
10. Managers structure jobs with clear expectations and take into account the interests of employees

Does this accurately describe your organization? Chances are you could identify both areas of strength and opportunity in this list. The next question is are you ready to look beyond these initial indicators and do an in-depth examination of employee engagement in your organization?

Jenna