Time To Blow Up Employee Engagement

Business and HR leaders want engaged employees. It leads to higher organizational commitment (think retention) and productivity. Employees even want to be engaged. No one wants to drag themselves out of bed to a job they don’t enjoy. Companies have been measuring employee engagement for decades, and recent measurement points to a record rise and a record fall. Within a span of a month, Gallup reported a record high in employee engagement in the early stages of the global pandemic at 38%, compared to a normal of 30%. Then, in June, it saw a remarkable drop to 31%. How could we have done so well (albeit, a short-lived feat) in arguably one of the most stressful work environments of our lifetimes?

Let’s begin with why engagement dropped so fast in June (7 percentage points) from a record high. Gallup data shows the largest decline in engagement was reported by managers and leaders. Non-whites and blue-collar workers were also less engaged. Gallup’s reporting suggests civil unrest, uncertainty of businesses on how to reopen, and workers returning from furlough or layoffs as key factors in the decline. It is clear that ongoing pandemic and work disruptions are having an impact on employee engagement. 

But in the early stages of this crisis people were at their highest levels of engagement, ever. And I believe the reason is clear: empathy. Business leaders and managers were demonstrating genuine empathy for their people and supporting employees as the entire nation was swept up in crisis. Leaders did what we expect of them — they remained calm and cared for the needs of their people. That’s not to say in June they suddenly shut off the outpouring of empathy. But it may be that managers and leaders are getting stretched too thin, suffering themselves, and not as vigilant at doing the things that keep people engaged. 

Decades of Engage2Excel research identifies the design elements of an appealing employee experience. In the words of employees themselves, the data shows there are seven things that businesses can do.  In fact, those organizations who focus on these seven elements below enjoy higher customer satisfaction, operating margin and shareholder return than those that don’t, and we also know that these attributes account for more than 80% of the variance in employee engagement scores.

• Recognition — a shout out or acknowledgment for contributions, big and small
• Exciting work — a job that is challenging, fun, and interesting  
• Security — knowing that employee effort and a well-managed organization will equate to job security 
• Pay — Fair compensation to include, but not exclusively, pay and benefits that match the employee effort and value to the organization 
• Career development — opportunities for training and a career path
• Conditions — physical comforts and tools to be successful and, more importantly, a culture that is inviting, inclusive, and focused on teams 
• Truth — open and transparent communication from managers and top leadership 

Now that we know how to impact a significant portion (80%) of employee engagement, how might we address any other gaps? We know this: employees want to be treated with dignity and respect, receive clear communications about performance expectations, and know that their contributions are valued and appreciated. 

For companies that are successful at delivering on the aforementioned seven factors that impact employee engagement, leadership (senior executives to line managers) must view the employee experience as vital to business success as they do the customer experience. Business leaders go to great lengths to empathize with customers. In fact, business leaders don’t consider new product development without extensively considering the customer experience and how they are making those buyers feel throughout their journey. As businesses, we are hyper-focused on every want, need, and expectation of the customer. 

So, the level of empathy we extend to customers and their experiences/journeys should be applied to employees. People have experiences/journeys in their jobs. They search for a job, go through the hiring process, onboard with the organization, and then hopefully grow in their role and retire one day. The key to more fully solving for employee engagement may be in providing empathy to employees in every aspect of their interactions with an organization. 

A vast majority of employees (93%), HR (97%), and CEOs (90%) agree organizations need to be empathetic to its workers, according to recent research by BusinessSolver. And 82% of CEOs believe that financial performance is tied to empathy. Empathy is not a perk, a tech platform, or a program. But being empathetic can lead to best practices that can help drive employee engagement. More importantly, people need to feel their bosses and organizations care about their wellbeing, especially in a time when work and home lives are becoming increasingly blurred. 

Quite simply, business and HR leaders should bring an empathetic mindset to the employee experience to unlock gains in employee engagement. The crises of 2020 revealed that the missing ingredient was just plain old empathy. Not perks. Not gimmicks. We all need to show our people that we care about their experiences, just like we would those of the customer.