What does engagement even mean these days?
or, measuring and making sense of your own engagement at work
Are you engaged?? Not, like, to be married. I mean, are you engaged at work?
Just like when we were in our 20s, everyone seems to be talking about engagement, but this time it has nothing to do with rings or proposals. Given record levels of burnout, mass layoffs and the desire to squeeze every last ounce of productivity out of the remaining workforce, companies are becoming increasingly concerned with making sure their employees are engaged in their work.
At the same time, research shows that 74% of remaining employees experience a decline in engagement and productivity following layoffs. And, of course, that makes sense. How can anyone feel engaged in their work when their psychological—and financial—safety is at risk? According to Anne Helen Petersen:
Layoffs are the worst for the people who lose their job, but there’s a ripple effect on those who keep them — particularly if they keep them over the course of multiple layoffs. It’s a curious mix of guilt, relief, trepidation, and anger. Are you supposed to be grateful to the company whose primary leadership strategy seems to be keeping its workers trapped in fear? How do you trust your manager’s assurances of security further than the end of the next pay period?
Even if your organization isn’t laying off employees, I’ve heard from a lot of people that it’s hard to feel invested at work right now. As one client described it, her tank reached “empty” during the height of the pandemic and never fully recovered. Sometimes it’s higher than others, but she estimated it hasn’t been over 70% since the beginning of 2019. Because she perpetually feels like she’s running on fumes, it’s hard for her to feel like she’s bringing her best self to any setting, especially work.
What is engagement?
Employee engagement is defined as the “degree to which employees invest their cognitive, emotional, and behavioral energies toward positive organizational outcomes.” And it matters because research continuously shows that engagement drives performance. For example, engagement is correlated with reduced absenteeism and turnover. Engaged teams also perform better on sales and customer satisfaction metrics.
It’s clear why engaged employees are valuable to an organization, but should you, as an employee, care about whether you’re engaged at work? I suppose that’s a personal question that depends on a combination of your values, current stage of life, and your competing priorities. But I will note that, for many people, engagement is a prerequisite for work satisfaction.
Measuring engagement
In the 1990s, Gallup (the analytics company known for their public opinion polls) developed an instrument called the Q12—thus named because it contains 12 essential questions to help businesses gauge the degree of engagement among their employees. Since its creation, Gallup has administered their questions to over 25 million employees around the globe.
When respondents take the formal instrument, they answer the 12 questions on a 5-point Likert scale and their proprietary algorithm calculates the degree to which they’re engaged in their work. Gallup makes the 12 questions publicly available, and I think you can get a pretty good understanding of your engagement just by reflecting on the 12 questions in bold below. (I’ve added in my own bullet points for each Gallup question to spur additional reflection):
I know what is expected of me at work.
Do you understand your job responsibilities?
Do you know what excellence looks like in your role?
Does your manager set clear expectations?
Do you receive ongoing feedback?
I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right.
Do you have the tools and equipment (software, hardware, etc.) to be successful in your job?
Do you know how to procure needed resources?
At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.
Do you know the part of your job is most rewarding?
Are you working to the top of your abilities?
Is your manager responsive to requests to better align your work with your strengths?
In the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work.
How do you like to receive recognition? Is the type of recognition you receive aligned with your preferences?
Is there a culture of recognizing others for their successes?
Does your organization celebrate team successes, in addition to individual successes?
My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person.
Do you feel psychologically safe at work?
Who, at work, is most invested in your success? How do they demonstrate that?
How do you demonstrate your investment in your co-workers and direct reports?
Is there a culture of caring at your organization?
There is someone at work who encourages my development.
Do you have a sense of which development opportunities are most important to you? Does your supervisor?
Are you given regular feedback? Do you ask for feedback?
How do you challenge yourself to continue your own growth and development?
At work, my opinions seem to count.
What makes you feel valued at work?
Do you feel most comfortable sharing your opinions in certain settings or with certain people?
Are you open to differing opinions? Do people feel safe sharing their opinions with you?
The mission or purpose of my company makes me feel my job is important.
Do you understand how your work contributes to the larger organizational mission?
Does your organization’s mission align with your personal values?
My associates or fellow employees are committed to doing quality work.
Do you know what “quality” means to you? Do you know what it means to your organization? Are those definitions aligned?
What motivates you to do your best work?
How do you motivate others to do their best work?
I have a best friend at work.
When you think about your closest work relationships, what makes them meaningful to you?
Do certain colleagues fill certain roles for you?
How do your work relationships impact your performance?
What impact do you have on your colleagues’ engagement and performance?
In the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about my progress.
Is the formal performance evaluation process at your organization helpful to you?
What opportunities are available for informal feedback?
Do you talk to direct reports/more junior employees about their development and progress?
This last year, I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow.
What experiences, trainings, or projects will be most helpful for reaching your career development goals?
Have you spoken with your manager about your needs?
Now what?
In reflecting on how to make sense of your responses, it’s useful to consider Gallup’s Engagement Hierarchy. Much like Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, this model maps the questions into categories and then displays them with basic needs at the bottom, and increasingly higher-level needs moving upwards. As I said above, it’s hard to be engaged when your basic needs aren’t met.
For those of you in a leadership role, I ask you to reflect on how you think your employees might answer these questions. If you feel like most employees at your organization are disengaged, it’s time to start asking why. One way to start is with employee focus groups to pinpoint particular areas of challenge. If organizational trust is low, you may consider bringing in an external consulting to perform a climate assessment (this is something I can help with).
If disengagement is isolated to a single direct report, I would encourage you to check in with that individual directly. Take a nonjudgmental stance and adopt a curious mindset. Many people may feel “put on the spot” if you bring up this topic without warning or context. Instead, consider emailing in advance of your next one-on-one to let them know that you’ve noticed a change in their behavior and want to check in on them. When you meet, make sure you really listen to what they tell you—don’t become defensive—and ask questions to probe deeper. Once you’ve both had a chance to reflect, you can begin to engage in trouble-shooting. If the issue is individual- or team-based, inquire whether others are having the same experience. If the issue is systematic, advocate for change where you can.
There are so many teachers who would struggle to answer these positively.