11 Things You Must Know to Develop and Sustain Employee Engagement at Work

Employee engagement is the level of commitment and connection each employee has to your company. In today’s market, employee engagement is an important factor in success. High employee engagement means that your employees will perform better; you will keep talented employees; customers will be more loyal, and drive stakeholder value.


This article will cover:

  • Why employee engagement is key to business success
  • The nature of employee engagement
  • The roles of management and HR in keeping employees engaged
  • Guidelines for employee engagement surveys and employee engagement initiatives
  • HR practices that increase engagement
  • Methods for engaging employees
  • Global issues that may affect employee engagement

1. Why Employee Engagement Important to a Business Success

Many high-performing companies rank employee engagement in one of their top five business strategies. Employee engagement is key to retaining employees, loyalty, and productivity. It also has an indirect effect on company reputation, customer satisfaction, and stakeholder value.


Engagement means different things to different people. For some, it may be common goals and trust; for others, it might be feeling supported by managers or supervisors. Overall, employees want to know their work is meaningful, and their time and effort are valued.

2. What Are the Results of Employee Engagement?

Employee engagement can save money for a business in the form of reduced workplace accidents, reduced overtime, and absenteeism. It also increases the productivity of employees.

3. Four Definitions of Employee Engagement

In general, employee engagement means that the employee is committed to the company and exhibits positive behaviors. Here are some of the most popular employee engagement definitions:

Quantum Workplace

The strong emotional and mental connection employees have towards their workplace is employee engagement

Gallup

Employees are considered engaged when they are committed to, enthusiastic about, and involved in their workplace.

Willis Towers

Employee engagement is measured by their willingness to contribute to the success of the company.

Aon Hewitt

If an employee is psychologically invested in the organization they are engaged.

4. What Is the Difference Between Engaged and Disengaged Employees?

The behaviors or mindset of engaged and disengaged employees will vary depending on the definition you use. Gallup says engaged employees are productive and loyal. Disengaged employees are average employees who do not seem committed to their work. Sibson Consulting has offered a different metric which is best displayed in a table.

Engaged employees:

  • Know what to do
  • Want to do it
Renegades:

  • Know what to do
  • Don’t want to do it
Enthusiasts

  • Don’t know what to do
  • Want to do it
Disengaged employees

  • Don’t know what to do
  • Don’t want to do it


Disengaged employees are happy to skate by doing the bare minimum; they are there to get a paycheck. This may show in behaviors such as:

  • Unwillingness to participate in social events outside of work hours
  • Avoiding contact or conversation with peers
  • Lack of positivity
  • Lack of contribution to meetings
  • 9-5 mentality
  • Griping to co-workers
  • High levels of absenteeism

When contrasted against each other, these are the behaviors of engaged employees vs disengaged employees:

Engaged Employees

  • Team-focused
  • Solution-orientated
  • Demonstrates a passion for learning
  • Optimistic
  • Goes above and beyond
  • Selfless
  • Shares credit
  • Accepts blame
Disengaged Employees

  • Self-centered
  • Negative attitude
  • Focuses on money
  • Pessimistic
  • Does the bare minimum
  • Ego-centric
  • Accepts credit
  • Passes along the blame

5. What Is The Difference Between Job Satisfaction and Employee Engagement?

While these two terms are often used interchangeably, job satisfaction and employee engagement is not the same thing. Job satisfaction simply leads to an employee’s happiness. It relies on things like pay, benefits, and time off. These are things that an employer can control for all of their employees.


Employee engagement means the employee is engaged with the values and work a company is doing and works hard to advance that work. An employee will work urgently and always look to take on extra tasks if they finish work ahead of schedule. They will go above and beyond to deliver better results than anticipated and will look for ways to innovate.

6. How Do You Build Employee Engagement?

The factors which affect employee engagement can be influenced at an organizational level and at a managerial level.

Organizational Factors

One of the research firms which has extensively researched employee engagement, Quantum Workplace, has identified the six biggest factors that drive employee engagement:

    • Leaders’ commitment to a happy and safe workplace.
    • Trust in the leaders to keep the business interests in mind.
    • Belief that the company will succeed.
    • Understanding of the impact of their work on the company’s success.
    • The leaders value their people and the work they do.
    • The company invests in its employees.

Management Factors

The relationship the employee has with their manager will greatly affect their engagement. A bad manager can cause even the most engaged employee to become disengaged over time. Gallup identified 12 core elements that link strongly to business success. Here are some the ones that relate to employees and their relationships with their managers.

    • What the employee receives from management and direct supervisors.
    • What kind of contributions an employee makes and how they are recognized.
    • Opportunity for growth and progression within the company.
    • A good relationship with supervisors and managers.
    • The equipment needed to do a good job.
    • Discretionary authority to make decisions needed for the day-to-day running of their job.

7. HR and Management Role to Employees Engaged

HR and management play a vital role in ensuring employee engagement initiatives work.

HR Role

HR should ensure their policies, procedures, and hiring decisions are made with employee engagement in mind. They should look to hire and keep talent who fit with the company culture and have the skills to help the business succeed.

The Role of Managers

Middle management plays a strong role in ensuring employees are engaged. One of the main reasons people leave a company is due to a bad manager. Therefore, companies need to ensure managers are properly trained, engaged, held accountable, and empowered to do their jobs.


To ensure managers can increase employee engagement, employers should:

    • Ensure all management and employees have the necessary tools and equipment to perform their duties
    • Assign managers new, exciting projects or promote them regularly to ensure higher engagement
    • Ensure managers have the authority to do their job
    • Offer leadership development training
    • Ensure managers are engaged with and passionate about the corporate values


A study Dale Carnegie conducted in 2017 showed that only 26% of leaders realized the importance of employee engagement. His results showed:

    • Only 42% of leaders think about, act upon, or plan for employee engagement regularly.
    • Only 26% of leaders think about, act upon, or plan for employee engagement every day.
    • Only 25% of leaders think about, act upon, or plan for employee engagement occasionally.
    • Only 5% of leaders think about, act upon, or plan for employee engagement rarely.
    • Only 2% of leaders didn’t see employee engagement as a priority and therefore, didn’t think about it.

8. How can HR improve and Sustain Employee Engagement?

General Guidelines

HR professionals should review all existing practices and creating new initiatives to increase employee engagement. Some ways they can prioritize employee engagement is by:

    • Making sound investments – After considering all options, HR should implement the practices and initiatives which will show more results for investment.

    • Develop a compelling case – HR should be able to show that the investment had positive and measurable results for the business.

    • Consider unintentional consequences – When designing HR practices for employee engagement, consider any unintentional consequences that may arise for employees with different backgrounds and circumstances.

    • Base investment decisions on sound data – Reliable measurements should be used to see the results of employee engagement. This may be customer satisfaction, profitability, quality, or productivity.

    • Create a culture of engagement – Have engagement as one of your company’s core values and ensure that all plans and policies are created with that in mind.

HR Practices

The following HR practices can increase employee engagement:

    • Job enrichment – Adding variety, respect, and meaning into tasks will help employees enjoy their job more. They will also become willing to help their co-workers and go above and beyond.

    • Recruiting – Hire employees who will be a good fit for the company and their team. Look for people who enjoy the work they do and love to be challenged.

    • Training and Development – Ensure employees understand how their job contributes to the company’s objectives. Offer regular training and courses to give employees opportunities for advancement and better job satisfaction.

    • Strategic compensation – Use incentives such as commissions or piece work to motivate employees and reward those who perform well. Incentives for knowledge and skills can also encourage employees to train and therefore perform better.

    • Performance management – Set goals which are attainable but challenge employees. Ensure these goals are in keeping with the company’s objectives and recognize employees who go the extra mile.

9. Communication is Critical to Employee Engagement

Communication allows managers and HR professionals to identify and resolve employee engagement issues right away. A variety of communication methods should be used to engage employees.

What Are Communication Opportunities?

Employers have many opportunities to engage employees and provide direction. Here are some of the most common engagement opportunities:

Formal Communication Opportunities

      • Hiring
      • Orientation or onboarding
      • Goal setting
      • Performance reviews
      • Employee surveys
      • Training
      • Communications from senior leaders

Informal Communication Opportunities:

      • Mentoring
      • Coaching
      • Recognition programs
      • Personal crises
      • Discussions about career development
      • Company social events
      • Recognition programs

Communication Methods

The communication method will depend on your company, the expected reaction of employees, and the size of the group you are addressing. Here are some common ways to communicate:

    • Regular Meetings – Regular teem meetings, whether that is weekly, or biweekly, can help employees feel engaged and like they are up to date with the company. These meeting should be used for recognition, department and company updates, and as a chance for employee to be heard.

    • Remote Communication – HR professionals and managers can use technology to ensure communication with their employees. This includes:
      • Social media
      • Mobile apps
      • Survey platforms
      • Internal blogs
      • Teleconferencing and videoconferencing
      • Email newsletters

10. Employee Engagement Metrics

Employee engagement surveys are very different to other types of employee surveys. When conducting an employee engagement surveys, an employer should know what engagement initiatives they want to test and what metrics they want to use to measure employee engagement.


An employee engagement strategy should address these five elements:

  1. How will the strategy be communicated?
  2. How will HR identify areas that need action?
  3. How will progress be measured?
  4. What actions will be taken following the survey results?
  5. How will the engagement strategy be continued?

What Are the Unique Elements of Employee Engagement Surveys?

Employee engagement surveys are created to measure employee’s sense of purpose, commitment, and motivation. When creating an employee engagement survey: companies should consider the following:

    • Include questions that can be asked frequently to measure progress.
    • Keep all language neutral and avoid negatively worded sentences to ensure employees are not lead into a certain answer.
    • Focus on behaviors related to customer service.
    • Beware of uninformative questions or loaded questions that may make employees automatically answer a certain way.
    • Keep the survey to a reasonable length. Long surveys might mean employees will not complete it or rush through it.
    • Tailor any surveys that a third party might provide for you.
    • Select your questions carefully as they will show employees what you care about.
    • Provide space for employee to comment. Whether this is comment spaces at the end of the survey or having some open-ended questions where employees are encouraged to respond.
    • Consider doing a few different types of surveys, some short surveys that address specific issues, and other surveys that are more general in nature.

11. How to Use Employee Engagement Surveys

Once data from an employee engagement survey has been collected, it should be reviewed and broken down by department. This will make it easy for employers to identify certain departments which have an engagement issue and which departments are doing well. From the results, general company-wide and specific department action plans should be made. Some experts say that department heads and team managers should create plans for boosting employee engagement. This would be a way of ensuring employee engagement in these leaders.


After a survey, senior management must be engaged with the issues that arise and committed to delving into the issues and working to change them. Many companies use focus groups to get a better insight into the engagement issues and brainstorm ideas.


Some tips to help companies run successful engagement surveys are:

  • Communicate that the survey is an organizational initiative and responses are anonymous.
  • Create a committee who will review the survey results and brainstorm ideas. This should have a wide range of people with differing seniority to ensure a commitment to engagement.
  • Create focus groups to delve deeper into some of the issues raised.
  • Involve all managers and supervisors in the process of planning resolutions.
  • Group all comments or open-ended responses by theme rather than by department to ensure confidentiality.