Survey details top issues that cause employees to feel engaged and those that make them seek greener professional pastures.
According to a recent survey of 3,000 workers, overall employee engagement stands at 71%. However, diving deeper, it’s clear that they like some aspects of their employment more than others. For instance, respondents said they’re happiest with their jobs (70%) and the people at their company (69%). Just 64% cited their manager and 60% the organization itself as greatest sources of satisfaction. Read on to find out what specific benefits and opportunities people say drive employee engagement.
Seeking to identify the leading influencers of employee engagement, the survey asked respondents to rank items that make them want to go the extra mile on the job. The top 10 were:
1. I believe my organization has an outstanding future.
2. I trust the senior leadership of my organization.
3. The senior leadership of my organization has communicated a vision of the future that motivates me.
4. I believe this company puts as much energy and investment into its people as it puts into achieving its business strategy.
5. Our organization is stronger because of its culture.
6. There is great, open, honest, two-way communication in my organization.
7. My organization provides me with the opportunity for learning and development.
8. I believe I am rewarded fairly for my hard work and contribution (e.g., compensation, benefits, perks).
9. I am excited about the work I do every day.
10. Senior leaders have clearly explained the reasons behind the changes made in the organization.
Interestingly, all of these engagement drivers relate to the organization and the decisions executives make.
According to responses, engagement tends to slip with the organization’s longevity. Engagement at companies more than 30 years old stands at 68%, while young companies (those under five years old) have a 77% engagement rate. At the same time, however, the study identified no real connection between employee engagement and company size.
The study authors also looked at what makes people quit their jobs; and it turns out that organizational issues drove disengagement as well as engagement. Most commonly, employees’ decisions to seek new jobs related to their doubts or disbelief that senior leadership has communicated a vision of future that motivates them and that the company invests as much in its people as in meeting business goals. Lack of trust in leadership was another key factor causing employees to seek positions elsewhere.
Want better engagement? Start with the hiring process, study authors suggest. They looked at engagement across companies that use behavioral assessments in the hiring process and found that these organizations had a 22% higher engagement rate than those employers that didn’t use these tools for hiring.
