How to Boost Employee Engagement in a Slow Economy

With companies running lean and mean, none can afford even one disengaged employee, say researchers
You’ve thrown an employee appreciation party. The job satisfaction numbers on the annual survey look decent. Is it time to check “improve employee engagement” off your list?

Not so fast! According to experts, job satisfaction isn’t the most important goal. An “attitude of commitment” to the mission is the key, particularly during tough times, says Kevin Groves, associate professor of organization theory and management at Pepperdine University. Companies should make things like action-learning projects (a group of people from different divisions are invited to work together and tackle a challenge) and job cross-training a part of the daily culture. “Whatever you can do to build networks and allow people to see beyond their silo to how their roles really matter to the company is valuable,” he says.

Marcie Pitt-Catsouphes, Ph.D., director of the Sloan Center on Aging & Work at Boston College and author of Engaging the 21st Century Multigenerational Workforce, agrees.[1] “With companies running lean and mean these days, they can’t afford to have even one employee show up who is not engaged. It can have a major impact on the business,” she says.

Workers who are emotionally engaged in a company’s mission are more likely to tackle tough problems and look for creative ways to expand the business. They contribute more to the bottom line, too: Significantly increasing engagement levels among employees can up their discretionary effort by more than 50 percent, according to research done by the Corporate Leadership Council.[2] In a Gallup study of nearly 8,000 business units across 21 industries, companies whose engagement scores rose into the top 25 percent achieved 7 percent higher productivity.[3]

But the benefits of engagement extend deeper. High engagement allows a company to weather difficult times without excess turnover. “We’ve found [higher engagement] adds to people’s resilience in getting through high-pressure times,” says Pitt-Catsouphes. In addition, engaged employees are healthier, and, over the long haul, less costly workers. “It’s the difference between people who cross the threshold totally wiped out at the end of the day and those who feel invigorated by what they do. Those are the people who are more willing and able to go the extra mile,” she says.

Here are some strategies experts recommend for boosting engagement:

Tailor engagement programs for different audiences. People want to be heard, but what they are asking for varies, Pitt-Catsouphes says. Gen Xers particularly value training and development through stretch assignments, while workplace flexibility makes women and Gen Y workers tick.

Abolish blanket reward systems. Nothing can drain engagement faster than a committed employee who receives the same acknowledgment for meeting a goal as the team’s weak link, says Groves.

Minimize “status” hierarchy. Southwest Airlines, software developer SAS and others foster engaging corporate cultures by having everyone eat in the same cafeteria, follow a similar dress code and park in the same lot. “Symbolic differences can carry a lot of weight. Feeling like ‘I can only communicate with people at my own level’ stymies communication and undermines the feeling that everyone’s commitment matters,” Groves says.

Invest in Wellness. Healthier people are more engaged, according to Pitt-Catsouphes’ findings. While it’s hard to untangle the cause from the effect (does engagement protect against stress, or is it easier to be engaged if you’re feeling well?), the finding underscores the notion that funding for a company gym or nurse hotline is money well spent.




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[1] http://www.metlife.com/assets/cao/mmi/publications/studies/mmi-engaging-21st-century-workforce-study.pdf

[2] Driving Performance Through Retention and Employee Engagement, http://www.usc.edu/programs/cwfl/pdf/Employee%20engagement.pdf

[3] http://www.gallup.com/poll/150383/Majority-American-Workers-Not-Engaged-Jobs.aspx



This article was featured in the December 2011 issue of Working Mother Research Institute’s email newsletter, Working Mother Research Institute Essentials. To read additional stories from that issue, see the related content section above. To subscribe to Working Mother Research Institute Essentials, register on the newsletter page of this website.