Employee Engagement

What exactly is Employee Engagement?

For several years now, “Employee Engagement” has been a buzz phrase that employers and employees alike think they understand, yet cannot articulate easily. Employers want employees who will do their best work. Employees want jobs that turn them on and are worthwhile. In particular, Engagement is two-way: organizations must work to engage the employee, who in turn has a choice about the level of engagement to offer the employer.

How can Employee Engagement be measured? Is Employee Engagement measurable? Of course! Most companies try to measure Employee Engagement at this point in time. Overall, Employee Engagement is one of today’s most important business issues. It is a place where HR people are in position to make a real difference.

An organization which has studied Human Nature and Behavior for more that 70 years, created a feedback system for employers that would identify and measure elements of Employee Engagement, known as Gallup. They also came up with the Q12 ©, a 12-question survey that identifies strong feelings of Employee Engagement.

On the other hand, surveys differ from culture, environment or business. Therefore, this survey may or may not be applicable to your organization or the other. There is no single plan that works for everyone and a framework is essential for interpretation.

But what drives Engagement? If we accept that Engagement, as many believe, is ‘one step up’ from commitment, it is clearly in the organization’s interests to understand the drivers of Engagement. The strongest driver of all is a sense of feeling valued and involved. The line manager clearly is in charged of fostering employees’ sense of involvement and value.

The top driver in the Philippines is: Customer Focus. Filipinos believe that organizations that know how to satisfy their customers tend to be more successful. The other two key drivers are: Compensation and Benefits; and Strategic Leadership...