Now's the Time to Measure Employee Engagement

A recent article in Workforce Management, entitled "Downturn Puts New Emphasis on Engagement," points out that employee engagement — their commitment to their work and the connection they feel to their company — has never been more important. And it reports that there is evidence that the level of engagement is declining.

In difficult economic times such as these, there could be a slump in employee engagement and you might not be aware of it. The typical indicators of such a drop-off may not be evident. There may be no noticeable decrease in individual and team productivity. There may be no upward spike in voluntary employee turnover. But these seemingly positive indicators may well be a reflection of an uncertain job market with fewer opportunities for employees, rather than a clear indication that they are genuinely loyal, committed, and engaged.

The lack of unambiguous negative indicators can give you an inaccurate perception of the true level of employee engagement. As a result, you might take your eye off the drivers of engagement. These include, among others, employees' satisfaction with their job content, work relationships, management practices, recognition and rewards, communication, and opportunities for professional and personal growth.

The positive correlation between employee engagement and business results is widely accepted as fact. But how do you know to what degree your employees are engaged? Is there a breadth of commitment among your workers that keeps things going during tough times, and propels your company ahead as the economic environment improves?

Do you know for certain that your employees are committed to the success of your company? Do they see a good future for themselves if they contribute to its success? Will your good employees stick around when the job market recovers?

Observation is an unreliable way of knowing the answer to these critical questions. Even in good times, many employees will not articulate their issues or concerns before they start looking around for another job. When layoffs, downsizing, and economic uncertainty are in the news every day, the perceived risk of speaking up becomes even greater.

For these reasons, now is the time to survey your employees in a way that will reveal their true level of engagement. By so doing, you might learn that your workers are, in fact, highly-engaged and highly-motivated, and that little, if any, remedial action is needed. But if you learn that your people are disengaged, lack commitment, and see little opportunity for building a future with your company, you will be able to take effective remedial actions.

The key to a successful survey is to ask questions that will not only uncover whether employees are disengaged, but also why they are disengaged. By measuring the correlation among questions relating to the level of engagement and those that measure the drivers of engagement, we can identify the areas requiring attention. This enables you to minimize the expenditure of time and effort trying to fix things that aren't broken, focusing attention and resources instead on those that need improvement.

When the economy begins to get better, those companies that have encouraged, maintained, and reinforced high levels of employee engagement will have a significant competitive advantage over those who have not. Now is the time to build that advantage by assessing how your company is doing in this critical area.

— Elliott Brown, President, Elliott Brown & Associates

Contact us if you have any questions regarding gaining actionable information about the engagement of your workforce while there still is opportunity to improve it, if necessary. You can reach Elliott at elliott@elliottbrown.com, by phone at 415-552-0810, or call me at 925-867-4400, x225.