What is Employee Engagement?

Here at Driven Leadership, you will hear us talk a lot about employee engagement. And most business owners and employees have an idea of what it is. Unfortunately, most of us have never had the opportunity to run or work in a highly engaged business, and often, an unclear understanding of employee engagement causes businesses to not achieve high engagement.

Employee engagement is a relatively new term and in a way serves as a modernized version of job satisfaction. Researchers looking into job satisfaction and overall business performance realized that the term “satisfaction” didn’t really describe what they were observing in the real world. Satisfaction can be likened to that feeling after a big Thanksgiving meal – you know, where all you want to do is rest and enjoy your family. That type of employee didn’t really exist. No one was happy and satisfied unless they were tuned in and connected to their job and their company. The unsatisfied workers didn’t connect to the company, they didn’t participate in the business, and they did the minimal amount of work possible to skate by.

Engaged employees love what they do and it shows. They beam with pride when asked about their work and enjoy talking about the company they work for. In fact, they are just as invested in the overall vision and direction of the company as the leadership team – making them amazing brand ambassadors. In a building full of engaged employees, the energy creates a buzz in the air. The employees look forward to coming to work, staying and growing with the company, and contributing to the company’s success.

Focus on employee engagement instead of simply thinking about the bottom line, and you will reap the rewards of an engaged workforce including, higher profits, low turnover, greater efficiency, and enhanced creative problem-solving abilities at all levels within the organization.