Employee Engagement Metrics

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Free pizza, on-site fitness, and pool tables all sound great, but do these employee perks actually increase employee efforts, passion and commitment? Do they give employees the urge to go above and beyond?

The short answer is – sometimes. But how do you measure if they are having an effect?

In this guide you will learn exactly what employee engagement metrics are and how they can be used successfully to measure employee engagement the right way.

Let’s begin.

What exactly is employee engagement?

Employee engagement is the extent to which employees feel passionate about their jobs, are committed to the workplace, and are willing to put in discretionary effort. 

In recent years employee engagement has increasingly shown to be a critical driver of success. Increased levels of employee engagement foster customer loyalty, improve organizational performance, and ensure talent retention. 

What are the benefits of improving employee engagement?

Employees are the backbone to every business and keeping them engaged is vital to get them to go that extra mile. But what are the benefits of improved employee engagement? Let’s discuss a few in detail.

It can help to increase productivity

Research shows that engaged employees are more productive. This may not be rocket science but when employees feel connected and engaged in their work, they will often strive to work harder. The more engaged employees are the happier they are in their work, and the more invested they will be in their job. This often translates into stronger performance and productivity. 

Better manager/employee relationships

According to research, when employees feel comfortable and engaged, they are more likely to voice their concerns and opinions. In turn, feedback provides employers the opportunity to change processes and improve how the business is run. 

Attract new talent 

Research has also proven that if potential employees discover that your company offers an employee-focused environment, they will be more eager to join your organization. A focus on employee engagement may be all it takes to put you in a better position over other employers. 

Improve retention rates

Employee turnover is expensive and time-consuming, so retaining the talent you have is crucial. If employees feel satisfied and engaged in their work, they won’t want to leave your organization

What is an employee engagement survey?  

Employee engagement surveys are a great tool to help you understand how much effort the employee is willing to expend. 

An employee engagement survey should be created following an employee engagement strategy and should incorporate these components: 

1. Include questions that could be asked every year. This will help you establish a baseline for future measurement. 
2. Avoid loaded and uninformative questions. For example, questions such as “Do you enjoy working overtime?” will likely result in a “no” response even from those who are engaged. 
3. Keep the survey concise. Extensive surveys reduce participation rates and may result in skewed responses because employees give specific answers to finish the survey as quickly as possible.
4. Quantitative data is great, but consider keeping some questions open-ended, so employees can write in-depth comments. 

What should I include in my engagement surveys to get useful metrics?

Here’s what you will want to measure in your employee engagement survey:

Mental Health

Mental health has been an increasingly important topic in the last few years. Organizations have an increasing responsibility to safeguard employees and address mental health concerns. 

Possible survey questions to include to check mental health: 

• Do you feel the organization provides adequate access to employee mental health resources? 
• Do you feel your manager supports the mental health of their employees? 

Recognition

While it may not seem like an obvious factor, employee recognition is critical to your organization. When employees understand their worth, and its impact to the overall success, they are more likely to be engaged. 

Possible survey questions to include: 

1. Do you feel employees are recognized when going above and beyond? 
2. Do you feel valued and appreciated by the organization?

Manager/employee relationships

Employee engagement is dependent on many relationships within the organization. This is because collaboration and cooperation are essential to productivity. 

Possible survey questions to include: 

1. On a scale of 1- 5, how comfortable do you feel approaching your manager?
2. On a scale of 1-5, how comfortable do you feel communicating with your team members? 

Professional development opportunities

Focusing on career development is one way to positively impact engagement levels in your workforce. Companies that give employees the opportunity to grow and develop are often the ones with happier and more engaged staff. 

Possible survey questions to include: 

1. Do you feel employees are provided with opportunities to expand their talent and expertise? 
2. Do you feel you have enough knowledge and expertise to do your job effectively? 

Work-life balance

With more employees working from home than ever before, it’s become critical that employees understand where work ends, and home life begins. A good work life balance is vital for happy employees.

Possible survey questions to include: 

1. On a scale of 1 to 5, what would you rate your work-life balance?
2. How often do you receive communication from colleagues after your typical work hours? 

How do I measure employee engagement?

Here are some things to consider when measuring engagement in your workplace. 

Identify what your employees care about

Consider asking employees to rate their opinion of topics including employee recognition, professional development, trust in leadership, and overall communication. Make sure questions cover a wide range of topics that impact engagement with answers given in a 1-5 or 1-10 format.

Remember that engagement is constant not a once-a-year thing

An annual engagement survey is common in workplaces, but behaviours and preferences can change more frequently. To avoid survey fatigue, consider making more frequent surveys ‘pulse surveys’, and save the more extensive surveys for a later, deeper dive. 

Include all employees 

It might be tempting to exclude specific employees or departments from engagement metrics. It’s crucial, however, to include as many employees as possible. Leaving our certain segments of employees will skew your survey results. 

In conclusion 

To avoid turnover meltdown, businesses need to prioritize employee engagement more and more. Those that do will not only elevate the motivation of existing employees but will attract the best new recruits. 

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