Does Employee Engagement Matter?
"The relationship between engagement and performance at the business/work unit level is substantial and highly generalizable across organizations."
An October 2020 Gallup report, The Relationship Between Engagement at Work and Organizational Outcomes, looked at 456 research studies across 276 organizations in 54 industries to determine the relationship between employee engagement and organizational performance measures. The report considered 12 employee engagement factors and 11 performance outcomes, from profitability, quality and productivity, to safety, absenteeism, and turnover.
The results are clear: employee engagement matters. Organizations “scoring in the top half" on employee engagement have "more than double their odds of [performance] success compared with those in the bottom half. Those at the 99th percentile have nearly five times the success rate of those at the first percentile.” The more engaged the employees, the more successful the organization's performance.
Among the measured employee engagement factors were:
Clear expectations;
Opportunity to do what I do best;
Recognition for good work;
Someone at work cares about me;
Someone at work encourages my development;
Structured time to discuss my progress, achievements and goals ;
My opinions count;
Opportunities to learn and grow;
Connection to mission or purpose.
This research confirmed for me much of what I talk about when I present on successful teams. I encourage team leaders to support the three characteristics of successful teams: trust, purpose and engagement, which are well represented in the report's 12 employee engagement factors. Successful teams support organizational success.
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