How do you define an engaged employee? According to a recent surveys in the HR industry, engaged employees:
- Believe in the organization they work for
- Work to improve things
- Work to understand business context and the big picture
- Behave respectfully to colleagues and offer help when needed
- Will go the extra mile
- Keep up to date with developments in their field
How can you tell if your employees fit this model, though? How can you measure whether they're engaged?
First, forget about measuring morale and engagement with an annual employee survey. It would probably be too little, too late. By the time you get the results, too many incidents have probably happened—the worst one being that the best talent has left for the competition. You need to measure employee satisfaction, or happiness, at least once a month if not weekly.
Easy Ways to Gather Data
- Employee Weekly Questions. Distribute a one or two question survey every week, or put it in a place where employees will see it. Promising anonymity, ask questions like “How are you feeling about your job/this organization today?” and “Do you think [this company] is a fun place to work?” Or ask questions that may uncover answers to problems you've seen, such as "Do you feel like you get enough feedback from your manager?"
- One-on-one Meetings or Focus Groups. Whether you take the time to conduct short, regular one-on-ones with members of your team or convene small focus groups, be sure you ask everyone the same questions. You may want to use the following questions developed by Quantum Workplace, a company that builds science-based tools to measure and manage employee engagement, loyalty and retention. They ask employees to rank on a scale of 1 to 10 their responses to these statements:
- Management provides good leadership and guidance during difficult economic conditions.
- My job is mentally stimulating.
- I understand how my work contributes to my company’s performance.
- There are future opportunities for growth at my company.
- My company affords me the opportunity to develop my skills.
- I receive recognition and reward for my contributions.
- There is open, honest communication between employees and managers.
- I see professional growth and career opportunities for myself in this organization.
- I know how I fit into the organization’s future plans.
- Considering the value I bring to the organization, I am paid fairly.
Obviously, reading the answers to these questions will give you an idea of where your organization needs to improve.
Once you've gathered data, you need to know how to analyze it. A popular method is eNPS , or Employee Net Promoter Score. A derivative of the popular NPS system, it gives employers a way to measure employee loyalty and engagement.
Or, you can add to the feedback you gather by looking at some KPIs such as absenteeism, attrition or tenure with the company, knowledge-sharing activities, training hours or the number of kudos people give each other.
The important thing is to respond quickly to feedback. Gathering data is useless if you don’t act on it, and your employees will grow frustrated if you ask their opinions then ignore them.
At CPP, we offer HR solutions to fit your business. Please contact us to find out more about how we can help your organization increase employee engagement.
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