Professional Documents
Culture Documents
a variety of industries, Gallup came up with the Q12, a 12-question survey that
identifies strong feelings of employee engagement. Results from the survey show
a strong correlation between high scores and superior job performance. Here are
those 12 questions:
Do you know what is expected of you at work?
Do you have the materials and equipment you need to do your work right?
At work, do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every day?
In the last seven days, have you received recognition or praise for doing good w
ork?
Does your supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about you as a person?
Is there someone at work who encourages your development?
At work, do your opinions seem to count?
Does the mission/purpose of your company make you feel your job is important?
Are your associates (fellow employees) committed to doing quality work?
Do you have a best friend at work?
In the last six months, has someone at work talked to you about your progress?
In the last year, have you had opportunities at work to learn and grow?
Studies
Engaged employees care about the future of the company and are willing to invest
the discretionary effort[1]. Engaged employees feel a strong emotional bond to
the organization that employs them. (Robinson)
[edit] Emotional attachment
Only 29% of employees are actively engaged in their jobs.[citation needed] These
employees work with passion and feel a profound connection to their company. Pe
ople that are actively engaged help move the organization forward. 84% of highly
engaged employees believe they can positively impact the quality of their organ
ization's products, compared with only 31% of the disengaged.[citation needed] 7
2% of highly engaged employees believe they can positively effect customer servi
ce, versus 27% of the disengaged.[citation needed] 68% of highly engaged employe
es believe they can positively impact costs in their job or unit, compared with
just 19% of the disengaged[1]. Engaged employees feel a strong emotional bond to
the organization that employs them.[2] This is associated with people demonstra
ting a willingness to recommend the organization to others and commit time and e
ffort to help the organization succeed.[3] It suggests that people are motivated
by intrinsic factors (e.g. personal growth, working to a common purpose, being
part of a larger process) rather than simply focusing on extrinsic factors (e.g.
, pay/reward).[4]
[edit] Involvement
Eileen Appelbaum and her colleagues (2000) studied 15 steel mills, 17 apparel ma
nufacturers, and 10 electronic instrument and imaging equipment producers. Their
engage employees."[8]
Effective Internal Employee Communications - which convey a clear description of
"what's going on". "'If you accept that employees want to be involved in what t
hey are doing then this trend is clear (from small businesses to large global or
ganisations). The effect of poor internal communications is seen as its most des
tructive in global organisations which suffer from employee annexation - where t
he head office in one country is buoyant (since they are closest to the action,
know what is going on, and are heavily engaged) but its annexes (who are furthes
t away from the action and know little about what is happening) are dis-engaged.
In the worst case, employee annexation can be very destructive when the head of
fice attributes the annex's low engagement to its poor performance... when its p
oor performance is really due to its poor communications.
[edit] Potential red flags
Inappropriate use of Benchmark Data - some of the more well established Employee
Engagement survey companies will state that the most important part of post sur
vey follow up is related to comparison of internal survey data to numerous exter
nal benchmarks. This seems to have rubbed off onto internal sponsors who demand
very specific benchmarks, being unaware that they are diluting the accuracy of t
heir analysis. Steve Bicknell, research analyst in over 100 Employee Engagement
global projects concluded that the standard comparisons by industry sector are f
lawed. Is it right to compare a Bentley employee to one from Vauxhall (GM) becau
se they are in the same automotive sector? He concluded that more information ca
n be obtained by looking at the kind of organisation that employees were a part
of (and its employee proposition), its stage in development, internal communicat
ion, its brand, motivation and culture.
[edit] See also
Organizational commitment
Empowerment
Flow (psychology)
Positive psychology
Internal marketing
Brand engagement
Employer branding
Employee branding
Brand engagement
[edit] References
^ a b c d Seijts, Gerard H. and Dan Crim (2006). "The Ten C's of Employee Engage
ment". Ivey Business Journal. Retrieved on 2006-11-09.
^ a b c d e f Konrad, Alison M. (March 2006). "Engaging Employees through High-I
nvolvement Work Practices". Ivey Business Journal. Retrieved on 2006-11-14.
^ a b c Engage Employees and Boost Performance. Hay Group (2002). Retrieved on 2
006-11-09.
^ Robinson, Dilys and Sue Hayday (2003). "Employee Engagement". In Brief (129).
Retrieved on 2006-11-06.
^ Wilkinson, Adrien, et al (2004). "Changing patterns of employee voice". Journa
l of Industrial Relations 46,3: 298-322.
^ Lockwood, Nancy R. "Leveraging Employee Engagement for Competitive Advantage:
HR's Strategic Role." HRMagazine Mar. 2007: 1-11. SearchSpot. ABI/INFORM Global
(PQ). McIntyre Library, Eau Claire. 22 Apr. 2007 <http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb
?did=1231781861&Fmt=4&VInst=PROD& VType=PQD&RQT=309&VName=PQD&>
^ Employee Commitment. Susan de la Vergne (2005). Retrieved on 2007-02-03.
^ a b c Employee Commitment Remains Unchanged..... Watson Wyatt Worldwide (2002)
. Retrieved on 2006-11-07.
^ a b Harter, James K., Frank L. Schmidt, and Corey L. M. Keyes (2003). "Well-Be
ing in the Workplace and its Relationships to Business Outcomes". Flourishing: T
he Positive Person and the Good Life: 205 244. Retrieved on 2006-11-08.
^ a b c d Ryan, Richard M. and Edward L. Deci (January 2000). "Self-Determinatio
n Theory and Facilitation of Intrinsic Motivation, Social Development, and WellBeing". American Psychologist Association 55: 68 78. Retrieved on 2006-11-06.
^ a b Hulme, Virginia A. (March 2006). "What Distinguishes the Best from the Res
t". China Business Review. Retrieved on 2006-11-14.
Robinson, D., S. Perryman, and S. Hayday (2004). The Drivers of Employee Engagem
ent. Institute for Employment Studies. Retrieved on 2006-11-07.
Wilkinson, Adrien (1998). "Empowerment: Theory and Practice". Personnel Review 2
7,1: 40-56.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employee_engagement"