A traditional definition of employee engagement is straightforward: engagement is the overall job satisfaction of the employees. A standard approach of many organizations is to have the employees complete a satisfaction survey once a year where the “job satisfaction” question is deemed as the most important outcome. 

This approach is fine…but incomplete. In most of these “traditional” surveys, the questions tend to identify the manager as the key element in creating job satisfaction.  Our research has shown, however, that for all but the most menial positions, the paradigm is different. For most, engagement doesn't just equate to job satisfaction. Engagement is enduring, whereas job satisfaction is fleeting and narrow – a necessary, but insufficient condition in and of itself. There are two other component parts to engagement: 

• Advocacy: Would you recommend your company as a place to work?

• Desire to stay: Would you still like to be working with your company in another two years?

These three elements - job satisfaction, advocacy, and desire to stay - make up the engagement index that we use throughout our research.

Dispelling the myth of "manager is all"

Over the past four years, we've collected tens of thousands of responses in order to help organizations focus on the engagement of their people. Each scenario has been different, and so the make up of the questionnaire changes.  In each situation, however, the engagement index served as the outcome measure – in other words, the score that must rise in order to demonstrate progress.

So what drives employee engagement? The conventional wisdom of “Manager is All” was dispelled, as four major themes emerged. In order of importance they are:

1. Life at work
2. Corporate values
3. Leadership
4. Manager

The "ingredients" of each of these themes vary from organization to organization. But the overall themes are consistent – for employees to be truly engaged, they require their life at work to be fulfilling. In return, the employee will keep his or her side of the bargain through contributing ideas, energy and intelligence. A clear sense of favorable corporate values and a trust and belief in the leadership of the organization are the next important factors, as they lead to the employee's belief that their work is valued, and that their contribution will help realize organizational goals. The relationship with their manager is of lesser importance, but remains a critical enabler. 

1. Life at Work – The Right Environment

Employee engagement depends most of all on the “life at work” factor, which is a composite of a number of factors, including:

Challenging work – Drudgery is a non-starter…especially if the employee was promised more.

Resources to get the job done – No one wants to feel handcuffed and frustrated on the job.

Empowerment/autonomy – Give your people the resources and space to do their best work

Work-life balance – Do your employees have control of their lives?  Are long hours for a greater good…or because that’s what everyone else is doing?

2. Corporate Values – What's Valued Here?

Corporate values are very much related to life at work, serving as descriptors of what the company stands for and the direction it's headed. We don’t examine what companies have written down, rather, we asked people what they saw valued or rewarded in their organization and which of those things led to greater engagement. Here is what we found:

Support – Support is a social contract, enabling employees to trust the company to provide its fair share of the bargain.  If workers feel that the company is supportive – financially and emotionally – they will work harder and produce high-quality work.

Free to be Themselves – Freedom can take many forms, from business attire to the approach to problem solving. This is also closely related to diversity – valuing different ideas as well as different backgrounds.

Motivation –  Motivation manifests itself in a “buzz of positivity” around the organization, resulting in a universal “can-do” attitude.

Respect – If employees don't feel respected by the organization, they will certainly not be engaged.

3. Leadership – A Trusted Direction

Workers need to believe in what they and the organization are there to achieve - they want to understand the overall business strategy, feel confident about the stability of the organization and feel that senior leadership will listen to their ideas. While there are many items that are deemed important in the senior leadership area, two prevail as most significant:

Trust – Never has trust in senior leadership been so important than after the recent highly-publicized corporate governance debacles. Trust in the competence and honesty of senior leadership directly impacts engagement.

Open Communication – Workers don't want to look at senior leaders as unapproachable, but as colleagues with whom they can share ideas in open discussion. And they expect senior leadership to listen.

4. The Manager – Fourth…But Not Least

The manager is, of course, important, but not as important as previously assumed. Workers – specifically highly-skilled workers – tend to look to their manager for specific needs rather than to be inspired or to be mentored. The following managerial contributions still contribute to engagement:

Performance Review –  This pulse-taking on the direction and progress of one’s career is quite important.  To be truly engaged, workers want to know if they're doing well on the job, and why…or why not.

Recognition – The manager is typically the vehicle by which recognition occurs when workers achieve something significant. Recognition need not be continual, mind you, but recognition for work well done is a must.

The biggest lesson that arises from our research is the need to challenge conventional wisdom, whether it's emanating from the multitude of business books on the bestseller list or internal sources who feel they “know” the keys to engaging employees at your organization.  And though those internal "know it alls" may well be right, each organization is vastly different in how it can and should act in order to extract the most value from its employees.

So what can you do to ensure that you engage your employees? Ask lots of questions to understand how your employees view their relationship with the organization.  Analyze the answers to determine what are the key drivers of employee engagement within your organization.  Take heed of the results, take action…and let your employees know that their voices have been heard.   

Finally, choose your battles wisely – it's far better that you do the most important things well than do many things poorly.