Is employee engagement the same thing as motivation?

Not quite. Motivation is one of the factors of employee engagement, but there are other factors too: trust and loyalty. It is the combination of all three factors that create engaged employees. Research shows that organizations with high levels of employee engagement have higher levels of performance, customer satisfaction and profitability, and lower levels of staff turnover than organizations with low levels of engagement.

What is employee engagement?

There are many different definitions of employee engagement. One I like describes it as “a heightened emotional connection that an employee feels for his or her organization that influences him or her to exert greater discretionary effort to his or her work” (The Conference Board, 2006).

Why does engagement matter?

Research by the Gallup organization states that at any one time

• 29% of employees are actively engaged in their jobs
• 54% are not engaged
• 17% are actively disengaged

Employees who are fully engaged are more connected to the organization and committed to quality and growth. They may often be the people we pay least attention to because they’re enthusiastic and get on with doing a good job without our help. This is all very well but be careful, these employees can quickly become disengaged if they start to feel we don’t care enough about them and their personal goals and aspirations. Helping them to create goals and fulfill their potential is key to keeping them engaged.

‘Not-engaged’ employees may be hard to recognize. They do their work every day, but the difference between them and engaged employees is that they focus on tasks rather than on outputs. They are quite happy to be given tasks and will get on and do them. They are present and they do their job but the emotional attachment isn’t there. They often feel that their contributions are not valued as they should be or that their potential is not being tapped. They often feel that they do not have close relationships with their manager or their colleagues. Hence their commitment is lowered as they don’t feel that anyone cares. These employees can become engaged if we spend time developing a relationship with them, helping them to understand the importance of their contribution, their talents and strengths and where they can make a difference to the organization.

Actively disengaged employees are the most damaging to any organization or team. They are not only unhappy at work; they are actively negative and vocal about their disenchantment or even animosity towards the organization or team. In some cases it is possible to change their ideas and reinstate a sense of belonging and commitment but in many cases these employees have already closed the door emotionally on the organization and leaving the organization may be the best option for everyone involved.

People want to be treated as individuals. Not the most ground-breaking news perhaps, but you would be surprised how many people I talk to who tell me they feel that they are just another number at work. Engaging our employees requires us to develop emotional bonds with them by creating a sense of meaning and purpose - connecting them to the vision and purpose of the organization.

Importantly, and equally challenging, is the fact that you can’t please all of the people all of the time. You are dealing with individuals and their needs will be different. Taking a blanket approach to your employees’ development or management is unlikely to help them feel individual.

Top tips to engage your team

Most studies agree that the strongest influencing factors on employee engagement is the relationship between an individual and their direct manager. Simple things like regular dialogue, having fun and receiving individual appreciation for their contributions can make all the difference to whether an individual is engaged or not.

The Gallup organisation have conducted large amounts of research around the topic of employee engagement and identify a number of statements - known as the Gallup 12 - that, if true, predict superior employee and team performance. The twelve statement are as follows:

1. I know what is expected of me at work.
2. I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right.
3. At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.
4. In the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work.
5. My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person.
6. There is someone at work who encourages my development.
7. At work, my opinions seem to count.
8. The mission or purpose of my company makes me feel my job is important.
9. My associates or fellow employees are committed to doing quality work.
10. I have a best friend at work.
11. In the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about my progress.
12. This last year, I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow.

If we think about those statements, there is nothing there that couldn’t be remedied if found to be untrue. Some of the things you can do as a leader to make people respond positively to the twelve statements are pretty simple:

1. Provide feedback and guidance
2. Provide the resources to solve problems or to do a job well
3. Talk to people about their strengths and talents and what they most enjoy doing
4. Give real recognition and/or reward
5. Make time to discuss problems. Be flexible; help people to actively balance work and home responsibilities
6. Help people identify their development areas and make time for them to develop
7. Seek ideas and input from everyone
8. Put peoples’ work in context; help them to understand where it fits into the bigger picture
9. Develop standards and implement them with your team
10. Provide opportunities for social interaction; promote fun and appropriate humor within the office
11. Schedule and keep regular dates to review progress
12. Provide opportunities for people to develop their potential

It may seem like a tough challenge, but why not challenge yourself? Maybe you decide to start now and take one step per month for the coming year to make every statement true for your team. You could survey your team now using the Gallup 12, and again in a year’s time to see what progress you have made.

Engaging your team and getting the best from every individual is a never-ending pursuit but it delivers results and satisfaction for you and your team, so take on the challenge. You and your team are worth it.

If you would like to discuss how to engage your employees and improve performance in your team, or if you want to know more about how to use any of the methods mentioned in this article, please contact us.

Ann Greene is the founder of Allagi and a specialist in corporate team development. She blogs and produces a monthly newsletter offering strategies, tips and articles on developing high performing teams, and can be contacted at www.allagi.ie.

Tags: employee engagement, Gallup, leadership, motivation, Q12, team development, Teambuilding

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