Do your employees jump out of bed each morning excited to come to work? When they’re at work are they totally absorbed in what they’re doing? According to a ton of research, the answer is, unfortunately, “probably not.”
Employee engagement is about building an environment where employees are fully absorbed by their work, enthusiastic about achieving their goals, and consistently take action to further the organization. A fully engaged employee is willing to go the extra mile because she cares about the organization’s well-being. He puts his entire mind, body and soul into work when he’s on the clock.
So, if you have employees who work hard or put in long hours, can you say they are engaged? Not necessarily. Plenty of people hate their jobs but work long hours because they think they have to in order to receive a paycheck. If people don’t like their jobs they are peddling the wheels to get by, but they aren’t taking your organization to the next level.
Engaged employees work hard, but they are also satisfied with their jobs and experience high levels of morale, commitment, motivation, and loyalty. In turn, your organization experiences high levels of retention, productivity, innovation, attendance, customer satisfaction, and a good reputation. It’s safe to say that organizations who focus on engagement are probably outperforming competitors who don’t.
So how do you know if employees are engaged, and what they need to become engaged if they aren’t?