As Human Resource professionals and other organizational leaders, how do you know what you need to pay attention to with all the “noise” that comes with running the day-to-day business? When it comes to managing your people, there is one very important measure you can use to inform a strategy to create strong, productive, positive benefits for the organization: employee engagement!

Employee engagement is the degree of commitment, passion, and enthusiasm employees have toward their work and the organization for which they work. It encompasses many different aspects of an employee’s experience, including job satisfaction, motivation, loyalty, and happiness.

Key drivers of employee engagement include:

• Clarity of expectations;
• Connection to the mission or purpose of the company;
• Opportunities to learn and grow;
• Opportunities to the employee’s strengths in their current role; and
• Feeling cared about at work.

Engaged employees are willing to put in the discretionary effort to do the hard work, deliver on the organization’s mission, and push through when it matters. It goes way beyond just good feelings and perks such as ping-pong tables.

Employee engagement matters because it is highly correlated to productivity, retention, workplace well-being and satisfaction, and improved business outcomes.

Somewhat alarmingly, since 2020, employee engagement as measured by the percentage of engaged workers, has declined from 36% to 32% in 2022. Conversely, the percentage of actively disengaged workers has increased from 14% to 18% over the same period. Many of us have probably seen the impacts of these trends in the workplace over the past few years.

True to the axiom, “people don’t leave jobs, they leave bosses,” an employee’s experience with their direct manager makes up 70% of their engagement level. Therefore, employers need to make sure managers understand their impact and role in the engagement of their employees. Considering the staggering influence managers have, employers should invest in them and equip and empower them to have a positive effect.

As with almost all initiatives, employee engagement strategy starts with getting executive buy-in. Employees will see if the efforts are not being supported from the top, and even the best strategy is no good if it cannot be implemented properly due to a lack of resources and a shaky foundation.

Once there is an agreement to prioritize employee engagement, measure where the organization is today. This can be evaluated through lifecycle surveys (e.g., new hire interviews, stay interviews, and exit interviews), pulse surveys, employee sentiment surveys, and annual surveys. Annual surveys are extremely valuable, as they provide a necessary starting point for your strategy and to track progress.

Before launching an annual employee engagement survey, communication is critical. Communicate what you are doing, why you are doing it, what you plan to do with the results, and what you hope to achieve. Emphasize the confidentiality that will be maintained and use a third-party vendor when possible. Address questions employees may have, find out what approach will work best for your organization’s current culture, and start by meeting people where they are now. Ensure employees understand management’s commitment to take action, but don’t over-commit!

Once you have the data from the survey, don’t try to swallow the ocean! Start with one of the key drivers of engagement listed above to focus on. Gain employee buy-in and insights by involving them in the data analysis and subsequent action planning.

Developing an action plan is a critical piece of the overall strategy. One sure way to negatively impact engagement is to ask for feedback and then do nothing with it. Even if there’s an issue that’s not easy to resolve, your employees are already feeling and showing it. The data from the survey can help drive the decision-making. Set specific and measurable goals to track how well what you do accomplishes those goals. In addition to involving employees in the process, get managers involved! As discussed above, they have the biggest impact on employee engagement and need to understand that it’s not just an HR responsibility.

What if your managers are disengaged themselves or don’t prioritize the engagement of their employees? Help them understand the role employee engagement plays in workers’ productivity and turnover. For example, would they rather put in the time now to retain the current staff who are already trained, or would they rather spend (potentially more) time later hiring and training replacements when current staff leaves due to dissatisfaction? One of the benefits of annual employee engagement surveys is that you can use data to hold managers accountable for certain outcomes.

Ready to get started? Hawaii Employers Council offers an annual employee engagement survey to members at no additional cost. For more information about this valuable member benefit, click here. Registration is now open for HEC member companies. Simply, fill out the registration form.