Employee engagement is about how enthusiastic and connected people feel about where they work. It goes far deeper than job satisfaction.
When employees are genuinely engaged, they don’t just show up, they put in extra effort, because they want to, and they also see themselves as staying with the company over the long term.
But, what makes the difference between a disengaged and a truly engaged workforce?
Before looking at what makes the difference, let’s remind ourselves why employee engagement is important.
Study after study shows that the business case for employee engagement is compelling. Gallup's most recent State of the Global Workplace: 2024 Report reveals significant contrasts between highly engaged and disengaged teams.
Gallup’s research comparing top and bottom quartile business units, demonstrates how engagement directly impacts key business metrics: boosting productivity; profitability and wellbeing while reducing absenteeism; safety incidents; and quality issues. Take a look at the report to get the figures.
As engagement is fundamental to the business and the people who work there, it’s important to know what drives this employee sense of connection and belonging.
The answer lies predominantly with immediate leadership. Gallup’s research reveals that managers account for an astounding 70% of the variance in team engagement levels.
It argues that great managers motivate team members and move them from “indifferent to inspired”.
Great managers know how to spark engagement. They set clear goals and give regular, meaningful feedback. They build individual accountability and take time to build real connections with each team member, understanding what makes each person unique and valuable.
When managers show genuine respect and bring out the best in their people, employees find real purpose in their work. They are more interested in what they do – and that leads to better results and greater enjoyment of the job.
Understanding what is needed to engage each individual team member is one thing. But, how can HR support leaders to develop and use the skills needed to drive engagement with their teams?
Leadership development has a role to play. This can be fed by the detailed - both qualitative and quantitative - results from a 360-degree feedback tool.
Tools such as Talent 360 allow organisations to customise and configure the platform for their specific organisation: its values; culture; and important behaviours. It means that a particular 360 assessment can be designed for managers and leaders that encompasses those areas you want to benchmark and pinpoints areas for development planning and emphasis. Using a 360 review also means that managers and leaders get to understand how their team currently perceives how they operate – and flag areas for focus.
The results from a 360 review form the basis of a coaching conversation, as well as action planning, with changes over time measured through the re-use of the 360 questionnaire at a later stage.
Without such information, it can be difficult for managers to understand how they are viewed as a manager by their team, where they are currently doing well and where they could do things differently, in order to have a greater positive impact on engagement. This can also focus the development conversation and drive improvement in leadership capability.
As well as giving your managers the insight needed for development and progression via a 360, managers also need the right tools to strengthen employee engagement. These are the tools that support goal setting and tracking, the regular check-ins and purposeful conversations.
They need access to a talent management platform that is easy to use and quick to update. One that their team members can ‘own’ and manage themselves, requesting and receiving feedback from their own team.
The Gallup report also reports that their research shows “when managers are engaged at work, non-managers are also more likely to be engaged”.
This multiplier effect makes investing in manager engagement particularly crucial for organisational success. In the hands of an experienced facilitator, a 360 can prompt a conversation and reflection with the manager about their engagement levels. By focusing on strengths, their fit with their current role and the quality of the relationships above, around and below a manager can drive real insights about how they can maximise their own engagement and apply themselves effectively at work.
HORIBA MIRA is an outstanding organisation. With a vision of the world in which the automotive industry is not only a driver of change but a catalyst to support a sustainable and thriving planet, it understands that its people need to feel engaged with and connected to the business’s ambitions – and their own particular roles.
It is committed to understand how engaged people felt with the business, and what was important to them. More than this, the firm wanted to make sure that it learned from its engagement survey data and that it took action to build a greater sense of belonging.
Just as outlined in the Gallup Report, the senior team also view employee engagement as a measure of leadership and manager effectiveness within the company. It chose to use the Head Light Talent En-Gauge tool.
In doing so, it was able to:
You can read the full case study here.
Next Steps
Want to learn more about enhancing employee engagement, introducing 360 as part of your leadership development and implementing effective performance reviews?
Contact us to find out more.