Employee Engagement: Myths, Predictions, & Your Responsibilities

That’s not a typo. I meant to say “your responsibilities” in the title. Employee engagement is commonly thought of as an HR concern. However, as I learned in conducting a recent email interview with engagement expert Don MacPherson, this is just one of many myths about employee engagement. In the interview, I asked Don to share some common misunderstandings about employee engagement. He also discussed the current and future state of employee engagement and what every employee needs to know about engagement in order to maximize satisfaction and success at work. Don is a partner at Aon Hewitt, a global talent solutions business. Formerly, Don was the president and co-founder of Modern Survey, an employee survey and talent analytics solutions provider acquired by Aon Hewitt in early 2016.

Elissa: What is the current state of employee engagement?

Don: Globally, engagement is on the rise. According to our Aon Hewitt 2016 Trends in Global Engagement Report, 65 percent of employees around the world are moderately engaged or highly engaged. That is up from 62 percent a year earlier. There are great variations by country, however. Much of that is driven by volatility and uncertainty in markets like Russia, Brazil, parts of Africa, and other places that are facing economic or political challenges.

Elissa: What are some myths or misunderstandings about engagement that you come across in your work?

Don: Here are a few.

Elissa: What future advancements do you see on the horizon in terms of measuring and managing employee engagement?

Don: Here are a few.

Organizations are moving toward providing reports at the individual employee level. This is a confidential report that helps employees understand how engaged they are and what they can do about it.

Pulse surveys are replacing or augmenting the annual employee survey. Some organizations are measuring quarterly or even monthly.

In the future, things like wearable technologies, network analysis, and social media analysis will be used to understand the employee experience and how engaged people are.

Elissa: In your upcoming APQC webinar you will be talking about building a culture of engagement. Can you explain what this is and why it’s important?

Don: An organization has a culture of engagement when every employee knows what the concept of engagement is, what the drivers of engagement are, how to use those drivers to engage others, and what their responsibility is for owning their own engagement. Building this culture starts as early as in the interviewing process.

Elissa: Here is more information on the webinar as well as a list of APQC resources on the topic of employee engagement.

Creating a Culture of Engagement

Do your employees report a strong sense of purpose at your organization? Do they trust senior management and have confidence that the organization is moving in the right direction? Does everyone -- from the CEO on down -- feel like they are contributing to the company’s success?

These are some of the hallmarks of a culture of engagement. If employees, from the C-level to the rank and file, aren’t engaged, business performance suffers and turnover is high. In a culture of engagement, employees have a clear idea of the organization’s purpose, its plan, and how it will accomplish its goals.

Join this webinar and learn how organizations can address and boost engagement. Find out why involvement of the organization as a whole, leaders, and individual employees is crucial in creating a culture of engagement.

Date: Wednesday, May 11

Time: 1:00 p.m. CDT

APQC Resources on Employee Engagement

Photo Credit:Ramesh NG