I believe we are all blessed with an inbuilt antenna to pick up signals in the workplace. The workplace that has high engagement, bustles with energy, rings with laughter and resonates with debates. Some management gurus call it the "smell" of the place. What is important to note is that there are no metrics. It is a "touchy-feely" experience that we are taught to ignore in our quest to quantify everything.

The CEO and the HR head were reviewing the Employee Engagement Score of the Organisation post the latest survey. The HR head presented an increase in the percentage of engaged and empowered employees by a few points that sounded encouraging. But, something was not right.

The CEO couldn’t corroborate the results with what his gut was telling him – people, to him, seemed more disconnected than usual, and he was also getting feedback from customers about a slide in customer intimacy. What was not tallying up then?

Such scenarios are not an uncommon occurrence. How then, do we reconcile the metrics with what our gut tells us?

There exists an undeniable correlation between engaged employees and organizational success, and thus, organizations assiduously strive to improve the engagement of their employees. Several HR consultancies propose employee engagement surveys to measure how “engaged” the employees are. These surveys generate a substantial amount of data that gives the organization numerical summaries based on demographics, employee tenure, gender, management level, and many other dimensions.

The data helps in developing action plans with responsibilities and target dates of completion. Such excel spreadsheets are reviewed regularly, and then appropriate boxes are checked. Finally, the organizational leadership waits with bated breath for the next Employee Engagement Survey (EES) and exults if they see a few percentage points improvement or tries to review when there is no palpable change.

Unfortunately, in my experience, many organizations go through this cycle several times without noticing any perceptible change in employee engagement levels, leave alone improvement in business results.

Does the improvement in a few percentage points of the EES score signify an uptick in employee morale? How does improved engagement look like in employee behavior?

A Different Look at Employee Engagement

I believe we are all blessed with an inbuilt antenna to pick up signals in the workplace. The workplace that has high engagement, bustles with energy, rings with laughter and resonates with debates. Some management gurus call it the “smell” of the place. What is important to note is that there are no metrics. It is a “touchy-feely” experience that we are taught to ignore in our quest to quantify everything.

Can we quantify the smile that an employee flashes to you when you enter the office, the enthusiasm with which a customer is serviced, and the celebration of an organizational goal even if the functional objective isn’t met?

To understand what drives employee engagement, one needs to understand the employees first. Without understanding what excites and motivates employees to give their all to the organization, we cannot hope to improve engagement. One must question oneself, “What kind of an organization and workplace would I give my 100 percent to?”

If we can honestly answer this question, we can come closer to solving the riddle of what drives employee engagement.

I have tried to do this myself, and here is what my answer was.

1. Engaging Purpose: I would feel engaged with an organization that has a purpose I can identify with. At an intellectual level, I understand that every organization’s primary aim is to make profits and deliver shareholder value, but at an emotional level, I may not connect with it. Engagement is about emotions and not necessarily numbers. Is there a higher purpose that an organization serves?

For example, it is not easy to find a higher purpose for an organization that deals with, let’s say, industrial chemicals. I can then imagine identifying with the CSR activities this organization is engaged in as it makes me feel that I am contributing to a nobler cause than just making profits.

2. Engaging self-worth: I contribute more in situations and places where I feel valued as an individual, and my contribution is valued. However, there is a difference between the two — I feel valued when my colleagues respect me for the person I am, the values I represent, my point of view over issues. My work is valued when I see an acknowledgment of my capabilities and their contribution to the organizational objectives.

Organizational values of respect for inclusion, diversity of gender, regionality, opinions, honest feedback, and reflection go a long way toward engendering this feeling of being valued as a person. Transparency and communication are the two pillars on which the edifice of valuing an employee’s contribution stands.

Transparency ensures all employees see the “bigger picture” and the role that their job plays in achieving organizational results, and open communication ensures this is acknowledged publicly.

3. Engaging well-being: I would feel engaged in a workplace where I feel safe and looked after. Every human being seeks security and progression. However, they also understand that no organization can guarantee security and continued career progression. What I, as an employee, would rejoice is an organization that openly communicates business trajectory and helps me navigate my feelings of insecurity that an increasingly unpredictable business environment fosters.

When we reactivate our antennae to look at employee engagement from a human perspective instead of a management one, we can expect better and more sustainable improvement in employee engagement measured with the number of authentic smiles one receives while interacting with employees. A word of caution: We want engaged and empowered employees, but don’t expect a smile on every lip every day!

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