What is Employee Engagement?

In 2006, The Conference Board published "Employee Engagement, A Review of Current Research and Its Implications." According to this report (published in Management-Issues), twelve major studies on employee engagement had been published over the prior four years by top research firms.

Each of the studies used different definitions and, collectively, came up with 26 key drivers of engagement.

At least four of the studies agreed on these eight key drivers.

1. Trust and integrity – how well managers communicate and 'walk the talk'.
2. Nature of the job –Is it mentally stimulating day-to-day?
3. Line of sight between employee performance and company performance – Does the employee understand how their work contributes to the company's performance?
4. Career Growth opportunities –Are there future opportunities for growth?
5. Pride about the company – How much self-esteem does the employee feel by being associated with their company?
6. Coworkers/team members – significantly influence one's level of engagement
7. Employee development – Is the company making an effort to develop the employee's skills?
8. Relationship with one's manager – Does the employee value his or her relationship with his or her manager?

But all studies, all locations and all ages agreed that the direct relationship with one's manager is the strongest of all drivers.

BOTTOMLINE: "Employee engagement is a very big deal. There is clear and mounting evidence that high levels of employee engagement keenly correlates to individual, group and corporate performance in areas such as retention, turnover, productivity, customer service and loyalty. While differences varied from study to study, highly engaged employees outperform their disengaged counterparts by a whopping 20 – 28 percentage points!