Employee Engagement
Once upon a time, there were two employees at DBW and Co. Ollie joined the team as a Sales Development Representative while Follie joined as a Customer Support Specialist. They both completed the company’s onboarding program, but only Ollie received ongoing training and mentorship with his fellow SDRs. His team also met on a weekly basis, celebrated successes, and regularly practiced sales pitches. Follie worked in an isolated cubicle, rarely had 1:1 time with his manager, and had little practice interacting with customers before they put him on the floor by himself.
Three months passed, and Ollie was thriving. He regularly hit his sales quota, helped create new team training, and actively participated in team meetings. On the contrary, Follie regularly arrived late to work, failed to meet major milestones, and rarely participated in meetings. Frustrated and bored, Follie moved on to another opportunity while Ollie flourished and grew at DBW and Co. for years to come.
What is employee engagement?
While the above tale of employee engagement is fictional, it’s a situation that happens too often at companies all around the globe. The good news? Employee engagement isn’t rocket science. Before you start overhauling your employee engagement strategies and build a team full of Ollies, it’s important to understand what employee engagement really is.
According to Gallup, employee engagement is when employees are involved in, enthusiastic about and committed to their workplace. We also found a few more employee engagement definitions that we believe are worth sharing:
“Employee engagement is the emotional commitment the employee has to the organization and its goals.”—Kevin Kruse, Forbes
“Employee engagement is the strength of the mental and emotional connection employees feel toward their places of work.”—Quantum Workplace
“Employee engagement is an emotional state where we feel passionate, energetic, and committed toward our work.”—DecisionWise
The concept of employee engagement is nothing new. But over time, it’s also been mistaken for other employee qualities. However, employee engagement is not the same thing as:
- Employee happiness
- Employee satisfaction
- Employee commitment