How to Measure Employee Engagement in the Workplace

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Employee engagement is a key part of your organization’s performance. The more engaged an employee is, the more productive, creative, and committed they are to your organization which significantly impacts your company’s wealth. 

It’s imperative to keep up with measuring employee engagement so you can get a grasp on where changes need to be made to increase employee retention, satisfaction, and productivity.

3 Key takeaways you need to know
  1. Employing a variety of tools and methods, including surveys, is crucial for understanding employee engagement metrics.
  2. Measuring employee engagement takes effort from the company first to make proactive changes.
  3. Connecting with your employees and creating a positive work culture promotes an increase in engagement and productivity. 
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Benefits of Employee Engagement in the Workplace

Employee engagement is a measurement of how committed employees are to a company. It’s often confused with employee satisfaction, however, the two are not the same. 

As an employer, you should be focused on measuring employee engagement frequently due to its significant impact on business operations and profitability.

Employee engagement with each other and the company provides a sense of connection. When employees are engaged with their work, they feel purposeful and “passionate about their contribution to the company’s mission.” 

Tools to Measure Employee Engagement 

Okay, so we now know the importance of employee engagement, but how do you measure it? 

There are plenty of ways to measure employee engagement which provide different results. Before measuring employee engagement, ask yourself what kind of feedback you are trying to get out of this. 

Asking yourself this question will help you decide which approach to take on measuring the data. 

  • Calculate your employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS)
  • Employee engagement surveys
  • Small group discussions with the team members
  • One-on-one meetings
  • Focus groups with employees
  • Conduct exit interviews either in person or in writing 
  • Review your employee absenteeism rates
  • Company culture surveys
  • Review company turnover rate

What Affects Low Employee Engagement 

Although there’s no clear answer to why employees become disengaged at work, we can review trends over time within organizations and come to a common conclusion. 

The top reasons employees are disengaged in their organization result in organizational issues such as

  • Poor leadership
  • Lack of recognition 
  • No room for professional development opportunities
  • Excessive workload
  • No flexibility 
  • Organizational goals do not fit the mission statement 
  • Poor work-life balance
  • Toxic work environment

The good news is these are all changes that can be fixed over time! 

Growth and engagement from your employees means growth in your overall company and job satisfaction with employees. 

How to Increase Employee Engagement Metrics

Increasing employee engagement metrics is not a quick fix. It takes time and effort from employers and leaders. 

But just because it’s not easy, does not mean it shouldn’t be done! 

If you want to see an increase in production and profitability in your company, then create an action plan.

  • Surveys are a great way to start. They offer a gateway to conversations between employees and employers. 
  • Take advantage of both formal and informal communication through focus groups and one-on-one meetings. 
  • Engage in small group discussions, especially between departments, and ask open-ended questions to gain the most information. 
  • Providing employees with clear communication about the importance of engaging in employee surveys will guide them into taking action, resulting in higher employee engagement levels. 

Nothing makes an employee feel less valued than keeping them out of the loop with events and changes in a company. 

  • Clear communication with changes and updates in the company can keep staff up to date with new information circling the company, especially if you have staff who work remotely. Lexington Law quoted “60% of Americans would take a job they love over a job they hate, even if the position paid half the amount of salary they would earn at the job they disliked.” 
  • Reward and recognize employees who work hard. Recognition from other team members and employers can make a huge impact on employee satisfaction. “When employers create a safe, encouraging environment in which people can succeed, employees want to stay put” according to a report by TINYpulse

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The Challenge with Measuring Employee Engagement

Just like there are benefits to measuring employee engagement, there are also challenges that arise with it. 

Survey fatigue

With surveys being a great way to measure employee satisfaction at your company and gain insights, employees can often become annoyed and disengage with them if they are sent too often or contain the same information each time. This impacts response rates and limits their effectiveness. 

Misinterpretation with feedback

Surveys and meetings with employees can open up new communication, however, the feedback can also be misconstrued by employers. Surveys do not always provide the most informative responses nor do they capture the depth of employee feedback

Lack of trends

Not every answer from employees will be the same, but it’s still possible to notice trends within data, however, when employees provide uninformative feedback or complaints that you cannot change, it’s hard to understand how to help your employees 

Overall, even though there are challenges with measuring employee engagement, it’s still a significant report that needs to be measured if you want your organization to succeed and increase in revenue over time. 

How Peoplelytics Can Help Increase Employee Engagement 

Peoplelytics is a phenomenal tool used to help you measure employee engagement over time. No matter which survey you choose to run, you can be sure to expect the best results with overall engagement reports. 

You can even keep all results in one place to view over time. Peoplelytics lets you export written feedback for easy access to look back on to see if improvements are being made. You can even sign up for a free 14-day trial to test out the results yourself! 

Get tips, industry benchmarks, strategies to boost scores, and more!

Let’s Recap

Measuring employee engagement is a complex, but essential process, that requires a strategic approach, combining traditional methods with innovative technologies, and practices. Although complex, and possibly time-consuming, it is a lucrative procedure that should be done in every workplace. If you want your company to succeed, then you need engaged employees for passionate about their work and want to grow with the company.

The best thing you can do is invest in your employees, which in return invests in the company. So start investing in your employees today with our 14-day free trial and start the employee engagement process today.

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