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Examples of engagement methods in various companies. Engagement test Q12, which will weed out ineffective employees

We will tell you what engagement is and why it is important for a company that employees are involved in their work. Let’s share original ways to increase staff engagement that your colleagues use in their practice.

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What is employee engagement

At first glance, the goals and objectives of the employer and employee do not coincide. The strategic goal of the employer is to obtain maximum profit at minimum costs, and the employee’s goal is to sell his labor at a higher price. For a long time, this state of affairs was considered completely natural and was the basis of many methods and theories of organizational management, which can not be called either effective or correct. These approaches completely excluded the use of the most powerful motivational tool - employee engagement. Engagement is the interest of employees in the results of their work and achieving the strategic goals of the company.

Employee engagement is manifested not only in the fact that they are interested in the success of the company, are loyal to it and are satisfied with the content of their work. It is important that employees are proactive and have prospects for personal and professional growth. This allows them to participate in the formation and development of corporate culture, maintain team spirit and healthy working relationships in the company.

Example: career card of an employee of the Energomash company

Engagement doesn't happen in a vacuum. In order for employees to be interested in the success of the business, so that they, according to their inner conviction, work with maximum productivity and are creative in their work responsibilities, the employer must provide appropriate conditions, create such an atmosphere in which the employee wants and can realize his full potential.

What are the benefits of employee engagement for a company?

Statistics show that employee engagement is a condition for high competitiveness and efficiency of an enterprise. According to Gallup, on average, the number of engaged employees in steadily growing companies is about 60%, while in those companies that occupy leading positions in the market, this figure is at least 90%.

High employee engagement has many benefits for a company. In particular:

  • productivity increases;
  • new methods and ideas appear based on knowledge of the characteristics of a particular production;
  • Sales markets are expanding, new clients and partners are coming to the company;
  • there are more loyal employees who do not want to change jobs;
  • You can save on searching, selecting, adapting and training staff.

Action plan aimed at increasing staff engagement

How to assess employee engagement

An effective way to investigate employee engagement is to conduct a survey. It's best not to use standardized questionnaires, such as Gallup's Q12. Such questionnaires show over-involvement and do not reveal true problems with staff. Therefore, to assess employee engagement, it is better to create your own questionnaire. Below is a step-by-step algorithm on how to do this.

Step 1. Rewrite the standard introduction to the questionnaire using marketing techniques. Employees do not complete the survey when they do not understand their benefit or do not receive evidence of confidentiality. Remove these objections at the very beginning, even before the questions - in a personal letter asking you to take the survey and before the instructions in the questionnaire. When you ask employees to express their honest opinions, people want to understand why. Otherwise, they won’t waste time answering. Bonuses for everyone will cost the company dearly. It makes more sense to promise free but useful changes - for example, optimizing processes.

Step 2. Develop instructions for questions. Explain how to answer them, tell us about the gradation of points. Note that there are no right or wrong answers. There are only honest ones.

Step 3. Include no more than 15 questions in the questionnaire. One minute per question. This way you can keep your employees focused. The best format to use is 14 four-choice questions + one open-ended question.

Step 4. Rephrase template questions to suit the realities of your company. It is important that they cover situations that employees encounter in the company.

Step 5. Provide different questions for different categories of employees. It will not be possible to create a universal questionnaire for all positions. Therefore, different questionnaires need to be developed for managers and line personnel.

Example of a questionnaire for line personnel

Download the questionnaire

In addition to large-scale surveys, you can also conduct monthly or weekly pulse surveys. This way, you won’t lose sight of important problems and will be able to quickly identify and eliminate them.

How to conduct a pulse survey: instructions

How HR can manage employee engagement

Practice shows that employee engagement is quite amenable to assessment and administration. But to successfully manage employee engagement, several conditions must be met. The main thing is to increase confidence in the company’s management and give employees the opportunity to understand the directions and goals of the organization’s development. Since the personification of the company is its leader and, as a rule, the entire enterprise team looks up to him, from department heads to ordinary performers, his participation in the formation of staff involvement is not a recommendation, but one of the requirements.

Personnel, in addition, must clearly see the relationship between their working conditions, career, wages and the success of the company, the stability of its position in the market. The levers for managing engagement include the development perspective. HR should take into account that the formation of employee engagement must be carried out taking into account the individual characteristics, life values ​​and needs of each of them. But there are also general recommendations:

  • employees must have the right to vote and the opportunity to be heard, so that each of them wants to express themselves and, therefore, reveal their professional and personal potential as fully as possible;
  • a fair and open system of remuneration and distribution of non-material incentives will allow each employee to clearly see the relationship between their contribution to the common cause and the remuneration received;
  • the system of non-material incentives must be adapted to the real needs of employees and take into account their preferences;
  • the opportunity for development and growth, the introduction of educational and advanced training programs at the enterprise that help achieve these goals;
  • where there is no need for a strict hierarchy and command style of management, democracy in communication and respectful attitude towards all employees, regardless of their position, have a positive effect.

How to increase staff engagement: 4 cases

Case No. 1: “I love my company”

The essence of the idea. Sometimes the company's management does not take into account that the lack of understanding of the company's goals, the strategic tasks facing it, its organizational structure and the activities of each division can be a strong demotivating factor. An employee in such a situation feels detached and insecure. It is necessary to carry out a set of activities that will help employees feel like a team with common goals. Such events may include master classes for managers, as well as master classes for employees, which will be conducted by their immediate supervisors; thematic meetings with employees of other departments; competition “I love my company.”

There are many options for holding such competitions; they can be found on the Internet and adapted to the characteristics of your company. In our case, we will consider as such a task the work on a film-interview, in which employees will talk about how they understand employee engagement and suggest ways to increase it.

How to organize the process. In order for the filming of the interview to be successful, you must:

  • obtain the support of department heads and involve them in the filming process;
  • gather teams and invite each to choose their own thematic focus of the film, so that, united by a common theme, all films turn out different and reveal the idea from several points of view;
  • involve as many employees as possible in the film-making process, who can act not only as interviewees, but also as screenwriters, assistant directors, and administrators;
  • provide employees with the necessary equipment and resources, including time, premises, access to the necessary information, etc.

Since there are no special requirements for the quality of filming, employees can use video cameras built into their phones, but they will need special programs for editing.

What is the advantage of the case? Working together on a film whose plot is united by the themes of loyalty, job satisfaction and involvement is not only an exciting process, but also a factor of intangible motivation for all its participants:

  • this will allow employees to unite and get to know each other better, since close communication is usually hampered by the lack of common work topics;
  • the spirit of competition is always an energy charge and positive emotions;
  • the topic of the importance of the company in the life of the staff will allow both ordinary employees and managers to comprehend this issue, think about the values ​​​​of the corporate culture that unite them, accepted norms and standards of behavior and management style;
  • A memorable, bright, motivating and uniting event for employees will be the discussion of the material filmed by the teams, the selection and awarding of the winners.

Case No. 2. We increase staff engagement by training managers

Managers at all levels will be able to openly discuss among ourselves those management tools which they use in their work. By joint efforts, they will be able to find more effective approaches to subordinates, which will help increase the level of staff motivation by an order of magnitude.

The essence of the idea . Personnel involvement largely depends on the psychological climate in the organization, and it, in turn, depends on the immediate manager and his management style. The manager's responsibilities include increasing employee motivation and demonstrating their importance to the company.

The set of measures aimed at improving the psychological climate in teams depends on financial capabilities, corporate culture, and the specifics of the organization’s activities. But training of managers must be carried out first: they must learn to increase the level of motivation of employees, competently organize feedback and apply the most effective management methods and tools. Special trainings and master classes are a traditional form of training for managers.

What is the advantage of the case? The advantages of this method of training include not only the dissemination of the best practices of effective managers, but also the fact that they can become “work on mistakes” and help to avoid them in further interaction with subordinates. Discussion of issues that concern every manager, solutions proposed by more experienced colleagues make training as effective as possible. To consolidate the received material and check how much managers apply knowledge in practice, you can hold a competition between departments for implemented ideas that helped increase the degree of staff involvement and directly interest them in the development of the organization.

Case No. 3. Story competition

HR managers who used this case to increase the level of engagement note that in addition to achieving the main goal, they were able to significantly improve the HR image of the organization.

The essence of the idea. There are many positive examples in any organization where leaders helped employees realize their importance. The answer was the feeling of gratitude experienced by subordinates, which improved the results of their work and influenced their attitude towards the employer as a whole. Such cases and stories are a source of cases for HR specialists. If you introduce them to newcomers, this will increase the level of staff loyalty and involvement by an order of magnitude without any financial costs. Therefore, it is important that such stories are available in the company, and that their participants become an example for other employees and managers.

How to organize a story competition . You will need:

  • inform employees about the competition and involve the organization’s management, who will advertise it and encourage employees to take part in it;
  • ask managers and other staff to remember such stories, write about them and send their stories about real events that helped improve the climate in the team and attitude towards management to the competition;
  • edit stories and post them publicly on the corporate portal for discussion and voting;
  • select and reward the winner.

What to write about in stories to increase engagement

To choose a winner, you can use different methods: voting on the portal; jury deliberation. Or you can refuse to award an individual victory and reward everyone who took part in the competition. In any case, try to tag all participants. The best prize is an intangible reward.

note

It is quite possible that employees will not show much interest in the competition at first. People generally do not tend to be enthusiastic and responsive to orders. In order for them to leave their comfort zone, the HR manager will have to actively implement the idea himself, be an example of activity and positivity. When the first results come, many will join in, since the process is quite exciting and allows you to demonstrate not only professional, but also communication and organizational talents. Recognition of these talents by the employer will arouse in employees a reciprocal feeling of gratitude and a desire to demonstrate high results.

What is the advantage of the case? The competition will not only help increase staff loyalty and motivation, but will also have a positive impact on the company’s HR image - if such stories are posted online, even if they are published only on the corporate website. They can be read by applicants and those interested in the company's vacancies. This will help candidates better understand the corporate culture and its specifics, the company’s leadership style and the relationship between management and subordinates. Internal corporate information makes company vacancies more attractive. This simplifies and speeds up the search for suitable candidates.

Case No. 4. The spirit of competition

Since the spirit of competition is one of the most effective tools not only for motivating to achieve a goal, but also a factor in uniting the team, it should be used to increase staff involvement by organizing a team game.

The essence of the game. There are many options for corporate games and competitions. A fairly simple and at the same time effective game is the “House” game, in which teams recruited from representatives of different departments must jointly solve a common problem in the shortest possible time - build a model of a house from toy bricks.

How to organize the game "Home". To play the game, purchase a construction set for children or order a special “Young Builder’s Set”, which will contain enough parts to, for example, build a model of your company’s office building. Enlist the support of managers, let them campaign, notify their subordinates about the competition, and gather participants into teams. Bring to the attention of each team the simple rules of the game:

  • bricks will be given to the team for completing a corporate task - holding an event that improves the psychological climate or working conditions, helping employees of another department;
  • The team receives an additional number of bricks if it manages to attract a new team from another department to jointly complete the task and join forces with it.

What is the advantage of the case? To differentiate each team's contribution to the construction of the layout, the bricks of different teams can be painted a different color, or simply keep a record of the number of building parts given to each team. This approach will help maintain the competitive spirit until the end of the game.

Although each team is rooting for itself, as a result they are all engaged in one common cause and the end result - a built house - is a symbol of unity, friendship, one big family. The finished model can become the main exhibit of the company's future museum or an award for the winning team of the competition.

Recently, a very interesting topic has been actively discussed on the Internet - the index of personnel involvement in the labor process. In this article I would like to shed some light on this seemingly scary concept.

What is employee engagement?

Involvement is the psycho-emotional state of an employee’s attachment to the company in which he works.

Visible signs of lack of or low employee engagement:

  1. Employees imitate work activity: do extraneous activities at work: drink tea, surf the Internet, discuss personal problems with colleagues
  2. In case of difficulties or unusual situations, the employee does not take responsibility, but waits for instructions from the manager
  3. Employees often miss deadlines, red tape and delays reign at the enterprise.
  4. Employees work from bell to bell
  5. The company has a high level of staff turnover
  6. Employees resist all innovations and initiatives in every possible way
  7. Middle managers are unable to motivate their subordinates
  8. Employees of different departments either do not communicate at all, or there is a “cold” war between them for life and death.
  9. Employees gather in informal groups and “befriend” each other during working hours

What is actually happening in the company:

  1. Company employees do not understand why they work, what goals they pursue in their work
  2. Employees do not know the company’s goals and objectives for the near future
  3. Employees do not understand what the company and their immediate manager expect from them
  4. Employees mechanically perform their work without thinking about the causes and consequences
  5. Employees cannot organize their own work process
  6. Employees do not show any initiative even within their competencies
  7. Employees have no interest in training and professional development
  8. Employees are indifferent to the results of their own work
  9. Employees are indifferent to the company's performance

What does this lead to a low level of staff involvement:

And this leads

  • to a decrease in labor productivity,
  • low staff efficiency,
  • which leads to a decrease in the company's competitiveness
  • and a decrease in profits.

According to estimates from various research companies, company profit growth can be up to 30% with increased employee engagement. By and large, there is nothing surprising in the results of these studies. Whatever one may say, the basis of any company is people, the very people who work in this company.

Those who disagree with this statement believe that with a properly configured system of business processes, setting tasks, reporting systems, and so on, the company will develop and profits will grow. Is it so?

Any, even the most modern system for optimizing business processes can be ignored by those for whom it is created at the enterprise; the most modern equipment will not work like Swiss chronometers if people treat their work carelessly. Moreover, a negative attitude towards work can lead to direct losses: a disinterested sales specialist will not work with the client with dedication and will not ensure the possible sales volume. In the end, he can always say that the client does not need anything. And the most ironic thing about this is that he seems to be right.

I'll explain. In the absence of an understanding of why an employee is selling this or that product, he may not delve into the customer’s problem and may not ask that very necessary question, but decide for himself that the client does not need anything. At the same time, he firmly believes in this.

Or another example. A production employee can cause losses by neglecting his work and damaging expensive equipment. And why? Yes, because he does not associate himself with the company he works for, and accordingly this very equipment is not his, it is someone else’s, which means it can be treated as something alien, unimportant.

How do you influence the level of employee engagement?

1. General situation in the company

Openness of the company and its managers to discuss goals and objectives, the opportunity to discuss with employees the difficulties in implementing certain projects.

For example, if company managers offer to discuss some innovative project with staff, then employees understand that their opinion is important, they can bring in some new ideas or adjustments to the project. And the main thing is that after an open discussion, the project is easier to implement, since employees consider this project partially theirs and are ready to make efforts to achieve the result.

Availability of dialogue in crisis situations at the enterprise.

For example, for some reason, the company began to delay wages, the employee is unhappy, none of the managers comment on the current situation, the business owner has withdrawn himself from dialogue with the staff. What's happening? Staff motivation drops sharply. Even if no one is looking for a new job (let’s say there is nowhere else to work, since the enterprise is a city-forming enterprise, or there are simply difficulties in the labor market), then work efficiency drops sharply, which leads to negative consequences.

Personal example is also very important. For example, if a manager requires employees to come to work on time, and at the same time he himself is regularly late, then the question arises: “he can, but we can’t”

2. Information Policy

The more information is revealed to the staff, the easier it is for employees to understand what they as a company are doing, where they are aiming and, most importantly, why they are assigned certain tasks.

For example, the company's management decided to introduce a new product to the market, but none of the employees were informed about this strategic decision. In this case, the task is set to conduct a detailed audit of the market for a product that the company does not sell. The staff has a silent question: why do this? Some employees believe that they are overloaded with work on the principle of “so that they can do something.” As a result, the task was not completed in full and unsatisfactorily.

Could it have been done differently? Yes. The task would have been posed correctly if the company's managers had explained the reason for this task, and also communicated what results they expected from the audit and from the launch of the new product. In this case, employees would have a cause-and-effect relationship in their heads, an awareness of why they should do this as efficiently as possible and for what.

3. Personnel policy

Here we are talking about the selection, adaptation, and training of personnel. If the emphasis is on the attitude towards work in general and the profession in particular. The main idea of ​​the personnel policy is to select personnel who initially share the values ​​and principles of the company. In this case, the adaptation of personnel is faster and easier, and it is much easier to train and motivate such employees. To make it clearer, I’ll give a trivial example: you shouldn’t hire an ardent Greenpeace supporter and a vegan to work at a slaughterhouse; I think your values ​​will run counter to his values. 🙂

4. Diversity of tasks

Oddly enough, routine reduces the level of engagement. This is due, first of all, to a decrease in the employee’s interest in his work process. Therefore, it is very good to change the situation among employees, make changes to tasks, and develop a system of career and professional growth. For example, periodically move employees to other facilities, to other departments, offer retraining or change their place of work (in the sense of territoriality).

5. Level"Freshness"

You need to understand that a tired person cannot work effectively. Therefore, it is necessary to strictly follow the rules of time management: everyone should rest, and the rest should be of high quality, with a change of scenery, with new impressions and emotions. This will allow a person to generate more useful ideas. The main thing is to plan when sending an employee on vacation so that work does not become a routine that literally makes you sick, and the employee works in “stand by” mode.

What does employee engagement consist of?

1. Involvement in solving corporate problems

  1. Awareness of the company's objectives. If an employee knows about what goals and objectives the company sets for itself, what processes are taking place in the company, then we can talk about a high level of his awareness. Knowing and understanding the company’s objectives, the staff builds a clear cause-and-effect relationship between their work and the work of the company as a whole.
  2. Correct understanding of tasks. Not just a correct understanding of tasks, but their unambiguous interpretation by both company managers and ordinary employees. To do this, goals and objectives need to be formulated quite specifically (in principle, the SMART goal setting technology is well suited for this), and most importantly, in a language that every employee can understand. It is worth saying that for specialists of different profiles, tasks should be deciphered in a language they understand. It is considered a good indicator if 80% employees understand the tasks correctly.
  3. Support and acceptance of corporate tasks. It should be made clear to each employee what the individual will gain if the company achieves corporate objectives, as well as what he or she may lose if the objectives are not achieved. Again, the explanation must be made in clear language, and the reward must be consistent with the employee's values.
  4. Active promotion of corporate objectives. The maximum level of involvement is characterized by participation in the development of corporate tasks, their promotion and attraction of supporters. As a rule, such employees are called “creators.” Moreover, this can be not only managers, but also ordinary employees. These are particularly “ideological” people who know how to formulate a problem themselves, look for solutions, put forward initiatives, and most importantly, implement these projects. The more such “creators” there are, the more people are involved in the process of solving corporate problems. “Creators” become opinion leaders, agents of change, one might say “disturbers” of the peace, who perfectly move the company forward. Such people need to be sought out and nurtured. We will talk about the methods in the following articles.

Involvement in the work process (interest in work in general)

  1. Understanding your tasks, knowing management’s expectations, understanding the criteria for evaluating your activities. Understanding your own tasks does not come down to knowing your job description, which you definitely need to know. A task, in this context, is the end result that an employee must strive for, and the job description only describes the regulations and methods of solution, although practice shows that this document is often formal. In addition to understanding his own tasks, the employee must clearly know what is expected of him, what results, what initiatives (or nothing is expected of him at all...), as well as by what criteria his work will be assessed. Evaluation criteria are very important not only for the external assessment of a person, but also so that he himself can understand to what extent he is working effectively or not. After assessing his effectiveness, an employee can take action to change his behavior or the way he solves a problem.
  2. Opportunities for high-quality performance of tasks. Most often, resources are needed to complete a particular task. You cannot ask a person to complete a task if he is not provided with resources: normal working conditions (comfortable temperature, availability of basic household items such as water, sewerage, absence of rats in the office, and so on), equipment and tools, materials, information, and so on.
  3. Positive job evaluation on a regular basis. As they say, “a kind word pleases a cat” 🙂 It is very important to recognize the merits of an employee on the part of the manager. This increases the importance of a person and motivates him to meet the expectations of the manager and the company as a whole.
  4. Constant attention to the employee. Demonstration of interest in the results of an employee’s work on the part of colleagues and the manager also increases the importance of a person; the employee feels needed in the team.
  5. Interest in the employee's opinion. Demonstration on the part of colleagues and the manager to the employee’s opinion also affects involvement in the process. Interest in assessing the situation and problem from the outside, informal communication on work topics and a free exchange of opinions increases the efficiency of not only each employee individually, but also the team as a whole, as they say “one head is good, two are ugly, but still better” :)
  6. Training opportunity. The opportunity to learn and develop in the process of work allows an employee to be fulfilled, as well as grow professionally in the eyes of colleagues and himself, which is very important, at least from the point of view of the need for respect (Maslow’s classification of needs)
  7. Understanding the importance of work. Pride in your profession, company, industry.

3. Initiative and focus on improving the efficiency of one’s work and the development of the company

  1. Independent work planning, understanding of priorities
  2. Focus on team results
  3. Passionate about work
  4. Indifference to work in general and to the results of work in particular
  5. Creative and non-standard approach to problem solving
  6. Initiative in solving personal and corporate problems

When assessing the level of involvement, as a rule, only involvement in the work process is assessed. The study focuses on assessing the level of employee loyalty and satisfaction at work. Assessing all three parts of engagement provides a complete picture of staff attitudes towards their profession, work and company. As a rule, the weighting coefficients for each part are made equal, but depending on the characteristics of the study and the priorities of the company being studied, the weighting coefficients can be assigned from 0.2 to 0.5 (the total should be 1)

Assessing the level of involvement and interpreting the results

Depending on the method of studying the index (level) of involvement, the result can be presented as a percentage from 0% to 100% or as an estimated coefficient k in the range from -1 to 1. To interpret the result, you need to calculate the resulting engagement level indicator

0% — 30% (-1≤k< -0.4 ) destruction zone, a situation in which the existence of an organization is called into question, since, most likely, it employs people oriented towards destruction, they are not interested in either the profession, or the job, or the company, or the industry in which they work

30% — 45% (-0.4≤k< -0.1) zone of uncertainty, a situation where there is no exact idea in which direction the company is moving: towards destruction or increasing the level of involvement. in this case, you need to look especially carefully at the dispersion of results among the employees surveyed, and the indicator of involvement in different departments and departments. If the spread of answers (standard deviation) is small, then most likely there is a decrease in the level of involvement

45% — 65% (-0.1≤k<+ 0.3 ) zone of indifference, the situation that most often occurs is a sign that the personnel policy needs to be changed

65% — 80% (+0.3≤k< 0.6 ) performance zone, a situation where a company can show good results, you should carefully study all the indicators that make up the level of involvement and make adjustments to the personnel policy

more than 80% (0.6≤ k< 1 ) effective development zone, an indicator of a high level of staff involvement in the work process; as a rule, such results are found among managers, in companies with a small number of employees and in conditions of horizontal management

Why is it important to study engagement levels?

Perhaps someone really believes that the engagement index (level) is just a fashionable trend. In fact, this is another criterion for the company’s performance, which must also be considered as an indicator of revenue, profit, profitability, and so on. People working in a company are the same resource that needs to be preserved, strengthened and developed. By annually assessing engagement, you can respond in a timely manner to changes in the mood of employees and to changes in market trends in general.

Instead of a conclusion.

An engaged employee is - "speaks" always speaks positively about the company when communicating with colleagues, clients, and potential employees "remains" wants to work in his company for a long time, connects his professional and career future with only one company for which he works "strives" makes extra efforts for the success of business and company

METHODOLOGY FOR CALCULATING THE PERSONNEL ENGAGEMENT INDEX
Skriptunova E. A.
Human Potential Management No. 2 (22) April 2010

Sparkle in the eyes, enthusiasm, lively response to innovations, the desire to complete the task in the best possible way, a fountain of ideas - all these are external manifestations of employee involvement. Any employer dreams of having such engaged employees. When employees are not involved in the life of the company, they do not understand and do not share its goals and do not strive to realize them. Involvement is thus characterized by the degree to which the interests of the company and its employees coincide.

Understanding exactly the level of involvement of personnel and individual groups in the company’s affairs, what factors it depends on, and where “bottlenecks” are observed is very important for competent personnel management. This article will talk about what engagement is and how to measure it, what levels of engagement there are, what engagement depends on and what measures help increase it.

What is employee engagement?

By employee involvement we understand the degree of participation of employees in the life and activities of the company, the coincidence of the interests of the company and the interests of employees, a positive attitude towards their work, which leads to increased productivity.

Engaged employees feel involved in the company's affairs, they feel that they are needed, that their work is important. As a result, their labor productivity increases, and their innovative output also increases when employees, on their own initiative, generate ideas for the development of the company and implement them themselves.

Here are sketches from the life of two companies that clearly demonstrate the impact of employee engagement on the company's success.

Since its founding, the small company has taken a course towards openness and constant dialogue with employees. All the company’s affairs were discussed at meetings, brainstorming sessions were periodically held on a wide variety of topics: what are our competitive advantages, what market niches are best for us to develop, how to design an advertising brochure, what is the portrait of our ideal client, etc. The employees were interested in participating in the discussions; they saw that management accepted many of their proposals. Discussions continued in informal settings, after work, over a cup of coffee, and at joint “cultural outings” on weekends. At the same time, the company was not able to provide a level of payment even at the level of the market average; salaries were low. But the employees loved their work and quit very rarely (and if they did quit, it was often under pressure from the family, which began to be jealous of the person for his work, since it occupied too much space in his thoughts).

Another small company entered the market with a unique product that allowed it to charge high levels of pay for its staff. The management of this company believed that since the company provides its employees with a high level of payment (significantly above the market level), it has the right to demand from them full dedication and unconditional dedication to the business. At the same time, information was provided to the staff in very measured doses. The motivation system was a closely guarded secret, and if one of the employees secretly told his colleague how much he received, he was immediately fired. Suspicion was also encouraged in other matters. The informal slogan of the company became: “There are enemies all around, be vigilant.” This attitude also spread to colleagues. Management did not inform employees about the results of the company's work; employees were reluctant to share any information with each other. While management believed that employees should work hard, employees, in turn, believed that management should provide them with everything they needed and pay them a lot. As a result, various fines gradually came into use and were increasingly used. And the workers worked strictly according to schedule, turning off the computer at exactly 6 pm and going home, regardless of whether the current task was completed or not. Naturally, no one had any desire to put forward any proposals for improving work or to communicate even after work with colleagues-enemies. Turnover increased year by year, despite the high level of pay.

Let's highlight the main signs of employee engagement:

  1. Interest in work, which is expressed in the desire to do one’s job as best and as quickly as possible. An employee voluntarily stays late at work to complete a task. He thinks about work outside of working hours, tries to find a solution to some issues. Discusses work issues with colleagues on his own initiative because he is interested in it. Reads specialized literature and enjoys studying. In general, this attitude towards work leads to the satisfaction of a job well done.
  2. In addition to interest in work, an engaged employee is distinguished by an understanding of his tasks and the ability to independently set priorities. If an employee is involved, he will never sit at work “idly” or engage in extraneous matters, he will never say “I did what you said, I don’t know what else to do.” An engaged employee himself can determine what tasks need to be solved; even if current plans are completed, he will find something to focus his efforts on.
  3. Finally, engagement manifests itself in higher levels of initiative. Involvement leads to a focus on continuous improvement of both one’s own work and business processes in the company.

As a result, the main effect of employee engagement is increased productivity and organizational development through grassroots initiatives. As a result of staff involvement, an innovative environment is formed in the company, facilitating both the emergence of innovative ideas and their faster implementation. If innovation is introduced from above, it usually takes a long time and is difficult. If the initiative comes from ordinary employees or they quickly understand the essence of the innovations proposed by management and are involved in their implementation, then the implementation time is reduced significantly.

In addition, the higher the staff involvement, the better the atmosphere in the team, the higher the level of staff satisfaction with work in the company.

Thus, involvement is a complex indicator that measures the state of a company’s corporate culture and the potential for its development due to the staff’s concern for their work and the affairs of the company in which they work.

What influences engagement?

Engagement depends both on the efforts of the company and on the characteristics of the employee himself. By understanding what factors influence engagement and how developed they are in the company, you can manage this process.

A company can create an environment that encourages engagement. What are these conditions?

General situation in the company, an atmosphere of openness and dialogue is very conducive to engagement. On the contrary, the presence of double standards, discrepancies between the words and deeds of management reduces engagement. Company traditions and the personal example of opinion leaders have a huge impact on engagement. If informal leaders are sincerely interested in the company's affairs, they form a circle of similar enthusiasts around themselves. If the leaders are cynics and skeptics, then showing interest in the work becomes almost indecent.

Whistleblowing Policy personnel is also very important. If there is a desire in a company to keep as much information as possible secret, then you should not expect involvement.

Promotes engagement and progressiveness of the control system. The practice of creating cross-functional working groups, organizing the exchange of experience, and various types of horizontal communications leads to an increase in staff participation in decision making, and as a result, to an increase in involvement.

The lack of clear goals and understanding of management's vision regarding the company's prospects leads to a decrease in engagement. Afraid of making a mistake and doing something wrong, the employee prefers to do nothing at all.

It is also important personnel policy, the greatest influence on personnel engagement is exerted by such components as the personnel selection system and the career promotion system.

If the selection system takes into account not only the education, work experience and professional skills of a job candidate, but also the candidate’s general attitude towards work and his profession, then usually the level of involvement in such a company is higher.

The company’s existing career advancement system also has a strong influence on engagement. If the most professional and active employees regularly move up the career ladder (or in small companies they have the opportunity to expand the range of functions they perform and receive greater authority), then engagement increases. Moreover, it is important that involvement is a condition for career growth and indifferent employees cannot apply for promotion. In general, the higher an employee's level in the job hierarchy, the higher their level of engagement usually is. Often, simply because at a higher level of the hierarchy, an employee has access to more information, he has greater influence on decisions made.

Subjective factors influencing engagement include:

  • Employee age
  • Work experience
  • History and prospects for career advancement, as well as the current level in the company hierarchy

Research shows that young people under 35 are less engaged than their older counterparts. Moreover, the problem is global in nature, the modern younger generation in different countries is more indifferent to work, and if there is such an opportunity, they prefer not to work at all. Therefore, it is very important for companies to pursue a special policy towards young people, identify the needs of young people, and strive to combine them with the company’s goals. And in general, pay more attention to this group of personnel, implementing various youth programs that are interesting to young people and increase their interest in work.

Also, many companies notice that involvement and the desire to develop the company and grow with it without creating certain conditions fades over time. The newcomer strives to quickly join the team; he is full of energy and ready to move mountains. But gradually the enthusiasm and fighting spirit fades. Frustration accumulates, and the belief that something can be changed quickly disappears. And the longer an employee works in a company, the more relaxed he is about his work. Yes, professionalism is growing, effective work methods are being developed, contacts and connections are being established, and awareness of internal organizational processes is taking place. But the desire to work all night long to cope with the task disappears. There is less and less interest in new tasks and initiatives of management. The new strategy is either not noticed at all, or is accepted with skepticism: “Well, we swam, we know.” This especially applies to employees whose functions and tasks have not changed for a long time. When interest in work decreases, the greatest effect is exerted by an increase in powers, an expansion of the range of tasks to be solved, and new perspectives. If an employee does the same job year after year, then his involvement at best does not fall, remaining at the same level. Of course, there are exceptions. But if we take the average worker, this is exactly the case. It is clear that such a situation cannot satisfy the company’s management, which itself is usually involved in the company’s affairs as much as possible and expects the same attitude from its subordinates.

The higher the position, the higher the involvement due to objective reasons. The ability to influence company policy maximizes engagement. And a higher level in the hierarchy provides the employee with a large amount of information; he better understands the processes taking place in the company and has the opportunity to influence them.

Therefore, engagement is generally not an issue for senior managers. These are people who themselves are called upon to involve their subordinates and lead them. There are no particular difficulties with the involvement of career-oriented people, who are regularly promoted, thereby expanding the range of their influence and opportunities. As a result, the main difficulty is the involvement of ordinary personnel in the life of the company, either not aimed at career advancement, or who do not have the opportunity for such advancement.

Therefore, it is important for companies to pay attention (involve, interest) to such groups of personnel as young people, non-career-oriented employees, and employees who have worked in the same position for more than 5 years.

In addition, engagement can even be influenced by the general situation in the country and even in the world. Today, a year and a half after the start of the crisis, many employers note a decrease in labor productivity caused by seemingly subjective factors. Even usually active and caring employees lose interest in work, initiative decreases, and employees themselves reduce their working hours. People are not interested in news and do not discuss company affairs in an informal setting. These are all signs of accumulated fatigue and decreased engagement caused by macro factors. The influence of such factors is usually temporary and sometimes requires the employer to simply understand and be sensitive to its staff. Sometimes it is more important to give employees a break without expecting too much enthusiasm from them, then after some time you can resume a variety of engagement programs.

How to measure your engagement level

Our proprietary methodology for assessing the level of involvement is based on an algorithm for generating involvement. By understanding how engagement is formed, we can assess the situation for each factor and calculate the engagement index.

This methodology assumes that staff engagement is formed by three components:

  • involvement in solving corporate problems
  • involvement in the work process, interest in work in general
  • initiatives and focus on improving the efficiency of their work and the development of the company

Each of these components contributes to the calculation of the engagement index. Depending on the specifics of the company, the weight of each component in the index will vary. For a company that sets itself ambitious corporate goals and strives to involve as many of its employees as possible in solving them, the weight of involvement in solving corporate problems will be greater than other factors. However, it should not exceed 50%, because For ordinary employees, involvement in the work process as a whole, attitude towards their work as such, remains more important, regardless of the extent to which the employee is involved in solving strategic corporate problems due to his functional responsibilities. The third factor has the minimum weight when calculating involvement - initiative and focus on the development of the company through the introduction of innovations. This factor should be taken into account, but you should not assign a weight of more than 20% to it, because innovations bring results only if they are implemented and subsequently used in the current work process.

Let's take a closer look at each component.

Involvement in solving corporate problems

Involving personnel in solving corporate problems begins with informing personnel as fully as possible about these tasks (see Figure 1). In order to enthusiastically solve the assigned tasks, you must at least know that such tasks have been set.

The head of a mid-market company was surprised when consultants told him that sales managers were not monitoring overdue accounts receivable and were not making any special efforts to reduce them. He believed that such a task was a given, and never informed his subordinates about the state of affairs in the company as a whole and did not emphasize how important this indicator was. Subordinates, in turn, believed that everything was fine with accounts receivable in their company. They all came from other companies where this indicator was higher, so they believed that things were not just normal, but good. This opinion was confirmed by the fact that the manager spoke about margins at all meetings, but did not mention overdue accounts receivable at all. Therefore, the department heads were also surprised that the company was faced with the task of reducing overdue accounts receivable and that the manager attached such importance to this task.

Of course, the maximum task is to achieve 100% awareness of staff about corporate tasks, but in practice this can be very difficult to achieve. There are employees who are unaware of corporate objectives, not because the information is not communicated to them or they do not have the opportunity to receive it, but because they do not want to be informed. They are simply not interested in such information and ignore it even if they are told about it personally. However, such employees can also be involved in corporate processes. Repeated repetition of information through various sources of information still allows you to convey the necessary information to all personnel.

For three years, one large company pursued a policy of increasing customer focus. A survey that was conducted before the start of the explanatory campaign showed that the staff did not understand at all what management required of them. Many believed that if they are market leaders and known to any consumer, then this already makes them customer-oriented. Therefore, when thinking through the algorithm for informing staff, management understood that special emphasis needed to be placed on explaining the very term “customer-oriented”, showing employees with examples what is customer-oriented behavior and what is not. A wide variety of methods were used for these purposes. Standard - publication on the intranet of relevant regulatory documents in which this task was set and justified, interviews with top officials in the corporate press, a series of publications about the positive experience of different departments, trainings for personnel directly working with clients. Unusual forms of information were also used. The commercial department has introduced the practice of collecting photo complaints from clients. Any client could take a photo or video of something that caused his dissatisfaction with the company. The files were received in a single center, processed, and based on them, material was prepared once a quarter, which was posted on the intranet, shown at meetings, and used for educational purposes. The photos and videos were funny, and soon the staff began to watch with interest the release of new materials. At the same time, everyone was very keen not to become the main character in such material. The “Customer Day” campaign also resonated with the staff. One day per quarter, each employee of the commercial department was sent on a business trip to a related department (as a client) in order to identify facts of client-oriented and non-client-oriented behavior. The more the employee was able to notice facts (both negative and positive), the higher such a business trip was rated. Department heads summarized the observations of subordinates once a month and also posted them on the intranet as a visual demonstration. After three years of such explanatory work, most of the staff already understood what the company’s task was, what customer focus was, and what they wanted from them (both management and clients).

In other words, the next step towards involving the employee in solving corporate problems after informing about these tasks is to achieve a correct understanding of the goals set. It is important that the employee not only knows about the tasks facing the company, but also understands them correctly and sees the connection between his work and the general goals of the company.

To do this, it is necessary to organize a feedback system to make sure that employees understand everything correctly. In this case, feedback can be both centralized and personal.

A large logistics company came to the conclusion that the most effective feedback tool at the company level as a whole is annual monitoring of staff opinions, which was carried out in the form of a questionnaire. Survey data was compared with employee statements on an intranet forum. Next, the results of the analysis were brought to the attention of all managers, who were tasked with holding information meetings in their teams, answering those personnel questions that are most often encountered in the company and identifying questions that direct subordinates have.

In another manufacturing company, the practice of holding monthly meetings directly in the workshops, at the workplaces of production teams, has worked well. Over the course of a month, staff questions were collected (via mailboxes in the workshops and e-mail), these questions were systematized and distributed to the managers to whom they were addressed. A group of managers and leading specialists (the head of the workshop, one of the deputies, an economist, a standard setter, a personnel officer, and a trade union representative) entered the workshop on schedule. The work of the brigade was stopped for half an hour and the management communicated with the workers, first answering questions received in advance, and then answering oral questions. The meeting began with a brief speech by the shop manager, who talked about the latest news, which he, in turn, learned from the general director. At the end of the meeting, the personnel officer prepared a protocol, taking into account which questions were asked, which caused a response or dissatisfaction, which remained unanswered and required a solution. The shop manager constantly monitored the implementation of these protocols. Thus, management was always aware of what the staff was thinking about and how correctly they understood the assigned tasks.

The next level of involvement is support and acceptance of corporate tasks. You can ensure employee support by getting them interested by showing them the benefits (both tangible and intangible). In this case, it is already necessary to use motivational tools. It is important to show that participation in the implementation of common tasks increases the status of the employee, trust in him from management, and provides him with additional opportunities (both for his own development and direct participation in decision-making for the development of the company).

A large company in the service sector decided to implement a quality management system. Appropriate decisions were made, bottlenecks were identified, and work began to implement the plans. However, after four years, management did not notice any special effects from their efforts in this direction. It was decided to reconsider approaches to the involvement of ordinary personnel in solving this problem. An action learning project was launched, built on the cascade principle. Training began with the management team. Because Since all the managers already had a good grasp of the theory of the issue, the training took place in the form of preparing an improvement project. Each special technology manager selected the most important task in his field and developed a project for its solution. Moreover, his task also included the inclusion of his subordinates in the project, who were entrusted with individual parts of the overall task. Based on the results of project defense, management decisions were made. In particular, each subordinate division received a target in the direction of searching for improvements. At the middle level of management, more in-depth theoretical training was carried out, because In the five years since the beginning of the implementation of the management system, many employees have already changed at this level, and it was important to create a unified conceptual field for everyone. The same was done at the performer level. Almost every employee was given the task of identifying an opportunity to improve efficiency, putting forward an improvement proposal and implementing it (or organizing its implementation). To enhance staff participation in this work, the following was done:

  • a competition was introduced based on the number of submitted proposals from each structural unit
  • in the report to the monthly directorate, each manager had to report on the results of this work
  • a change was introduced to the certification regulations. Any promotion became possible only if the employee developed and implemented some kind of improvement proposal.
  • an innovation award was introduced, which was allocated to the best divisions based on the results of the competition
  • In the weekly corporate newspaper there was a column “Implementing a quality management system”, which described the projects being implemented.
As a result, within a year, work in this area intensified; many initiatives that had previously been slowed down for one reason or another were finally launched.

As an indicator of this level of involvement, you can use the % of staff participation in the implementation of innovations (participation in various projects, working groups, initiatives)

The first three levels of engagement discussed are aimed at working with all employees. Those employees who demonstrate higher engagement can be considered as the company's talent pool. It is clear that there are not so many such employees anymore and work with them should be more targeted and personal.

Level 4 of involvement involves not only knowledge, understanding and support of corporate objectives, but also their active promotion and attraction of supporters. Employees who demonstrate this level of involvement are opinion leaders and change agents. It is possible to assess how developed this level is in a company by determining the percentage of personnel who participate in corporate competitions, put forward proposals, and come up with initiatives.

And the maximum level of involvement is characterized by participation in the development of corporate tasks. Employees who have this maximum level of involvement are creators who themselves shape the present and future of the company, participate in management bodies, not only as managers, but also as initiators of any innovations (innovators, winners of a competition of initiatives, members of public councils ). Rice. 1.

Thus, if we translate the described levels of involvement in solving corporate problems into numerical values ​​and assign the corresponding score to each level, we will obtain the following gradation.

Engagement level Description Point
Lack of engagement I don't know anything and I don't want to know 0
Low level of engagement Almost nothing Don't know, but in principle I don’t mind knowing 1
Below the average A lot of I know, but I don’t understand everything 2
Average Well informed Understand corporate objectives, their essence and meaning 3
Above average Well informed, understand and I share corporate tasks, I support them 4
High Well informed, understand and accept tasks, am their guide, actively I attract to supporters' changes 5
Maximum level of involvement Well informed, understanding, accepting, promoting corporate objectives, initiating new ideas and initiatives, actively forming corporate tasks. 6

A tool for measuring involvement in solving corporate problems

Let's consider exactly how you can assess involvement in solving corporate problems using staff surveys. Our methodology involves using the following question in the questionnaire:

“Our company is implementing various innovative projects. Rate your attitude to each of the listed tasks on the proposed scale. In the table, in each line, select the answer option that suits you."

* The table shows the respondent’s answers, which will be used below in calculating the engagement index
Corporate tasks and projects I don't know about it, I'm not interested I don't know, but I'd like to know I know about this I would like to take part in the implementation I take part in the implementation I participate myself and involve my colleagues I took part in the development of this task and coordinate its implementation
Points 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
Implementation of a quality management system
Entering a new sales market “A” +
Optimization, regulation and automation of order processing procedures +
Program for retaining youth in the company +
Introduction of management accounting +
Optimization of the motivation system +
Creation of an intranet portal +
Company rebranding +

A list of corporate tasks is formed for each company depending on its current priorities. It is important to select for assessment key tasks and projects, the implementation of which is most important for the company. The employee notes to what extent he is involved in solving each of the proposed tasks. The answer options correspond to the levels of engagement discussed above.

Involvement in the work process

Based on the above, our methodology includes the following criteria for involvement in the work process

  1. Understanding your tasks and functions, knowledge of management expectations and evaluation criteria
  2. Opportunities for high-quality performance of work, provision of conditions (equipment, materials, information) for normal work
  3. Regular positive assessment of work, recognition of merit from management
  4. Constant attention to the employee, demonstration of interest in the results of his work on the part of colleagues and management
  5. Interest on the part of colleagues and management in opinions and assessments, informal communication on work topics, regular, free and interested exchange of opinions
  6. Opportunity to learn and develop, grow professionally during work, new tasks and assistance in their implementation
  7. Understanding the importance of your work. Pride in the profession and the company you work for.

Work Engagement Measuring Tool

To measure the level of involvement in the work process, we use a question in the questionnaire formulated according to the principle of semantic differential. The respondent is asked to find the place corresponding to his opinion on the scale between polar statements.

“In the table, each row lists opposing statements. Place a check mark or cross in the box between the two statements that is closest to your opinion.”

*The table shows the respondent’s answers, which will be used below in calculating the engagement index
I agree with the statement in the left column I rather agree with the left column Something in between I rather agree with the right column I agree with the statement in the right column
Points 4 3 2 1 0
I understand what my functions are and what I must do. + My tasks are not clearly defined, it is not clear to me what I should do and what does not belong to my functions
I know what management expects from me + I don't understand management's expectations
I know by what criteria my work is assessed + I don't understand how my work is evaluated
At my workplace, all conditions have been created for high-quality work (equipment, materials, information) + The conditions at my workplace do not allow me to do quality work
The manager pays enough attention to me, I have the opportunity to discuss any issue + I don't feel cared for by management
The manager and colleagues are interested in the results of my work + I'm not sure that anyone needs what I do
Management appreciates my achievements and celebrates my successes + Management does not notice my successes and achievements
Colleagues and management often turn to me for advice. + Hardly anyone is interested in my opinion
I often discuss work issues with colleagues outside of work hours + I have neither the time nor the desire to discuss work problems even after work
I have an interesting job, I have the opportunity to learn, develop, and solve new problems + I do the same thing all the time, new tasks do not arise and there is nothing special to learn in my work
I have a very important job, I am proud of it and put my soul into it + There's nothing to be particularly proud of in my work, and I don't get paid to put my heart into it

Initiatives and focus on improving the efficiency of one’s work and development of the company

We use the following as criteria for initiative and focus on improving the efficiency and development of the company:

  • Independent work planning, correct understanding of work priorities
  • Focus on team results
  • Passionate about work
  • Indifference to work and labor results
  • Creativity and initiative

Initiative Measurement Tool

To measure this component of the level of involvement, we use a list of statements with which the respondent agrees or disagrees. For agreement with statements 1,2,4,5,6,8, one point is awarded, for disagreement with statements 3,7, one point is also awarded.

Check all of the statements below that you agree with.

  • Every employee should know what tasks are a priority and do the work without waiting for instructions.
  • If a company party turns into a production meeting, this is normal, it means people are passionate about their work.
  • They prepare that you need to be careful with taking initiative, because... it is punishable by execution.
  • If you are passionate about your work, you forget about your personal problems.
  • You need to be interested in the work of your colleagues and help them.
  • A good employee always responds to calls from management to present his proposals.
  • It’s enough just to do your job well; initiative and creativity can do harm.
  • If you have ideas for improving the work, you must express them

Employee Engagement Index

Scales of the components of involvement and the weight of each of them

*The list highlights the respondent’s answers, which will be used below in calculating the engagement index
Engagement Rate Question scale (points) Number of questions Index by indicator (points)
Involvement in solving corporate problems 0 to 6 8 From 0 to 48
Involvement in the work process 0 to 4 11 From 0 to 44
Initiative 0 to 1 8 0 to 8
Overall employee engagement From 0 to 100

If it is necessary to “customize” the methodology to the specifics of a particular company, the scales of the components of involvement remain unchanged, but the number of questions may change. Due to this, you can change the weight of each component in the calculation of the engagement index.

From the above examples, we will calculate the Engagement Index of the employee who filled out the questionnaire:

  • TOTAL involvement in solving corporate problems=34
  • TOTAL involvement in the work process = 27
  • TOTAL initiative = 4
  • TOTAL engagement index = 34 + 27 + 4 = 65
Thus, the engagement index of this employee is above average.

The company's personnel engagement index as a whole is determined as the arithmetic average of the engagement indices of all respondents.

It is important that the sample for the study is either complete (for small companies) or calculated in a special way and is representative.

The considered methodology for calculating the engagement index assumes flexible adjustment to the specifics of the specific company in which engagement is measured. Settings can be made:

  • by changing the weights of each of the three components of involvement (involvement in corporate tasks, involvement in the work process, initiative). To do this, it is necessary to increase or decrease the number of statements offered to the respondent for evaluation in each block of questions.
  • due to the possibility of changing wording depending on the specifics of the company. When assessing involvement in solving corporate problems, the formulation of the actual tasks should include the priority tasks of a particular company. The wording of the second and third components may also change depending on the current priorities and characteristics of the company.

However, it is important to note that once the methodology has been adjusted and adapted to the needs of a particular company, it should not change in subsequent studies. It is optimal to assess the level of staff involvement once a year, in the form of monitoring, i.e. measure engagement using a unified methodology. Only in this case will the data be comparable and can be used to assess the effectiveness of ongoing activities to increase engagement.

According to Gallup, companies with highly engaged employees are 20% more productive and profitable. A study by the international consulting company AXES Management showed that such organizations find it easier to retain talent, and their customer satisfaction is 5% higher. We tell you how to measure (and increase) the level of engagement of your employees.

The term "engagement" refers to an employee's interest and attachment to his company. Often, managers believe that their employees are 100% engaged at work. In fact, no company in the world can boast of such an indicator. Employee engagement can only be determined through research.

Who needs it?

It's useful for any company to know the level of engagement of its staff, but it's especially useful if business performance is deteriorating. For example, startups often experience rapid growth in their early years. There are few employees, they have a common goal - high involvement. But as staff expands and tasks become more complex, employee productivity decreases and staff turnover occurs.

Engagement research will allow the company to understand its mistakes.

How to measure engagement?

The most proven and clear method for medium and small businesses today is considered to be a questionnaire developed by Gallup. The employee answers “yes” or “no” to each of the 12 points of the questionnaire:

I know what is expected of me.

I have everything I need to do my job.

I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.

Over the past seven days, I have been praised for my good work.

My manager cares about me as an individual.

My opinion is taken into account.

My colleagues consider it their duty to do good work.

The goals that the company sets for itself make me feel that my work is important.

One of my best friends works at my company.

Over the past six months, I have been interviewed about my progress at work.

Over the past year, I have had the opportunity to study and grow professionally.

Based on the employees' responses, you will see what demotivates the staff. For example, if the majority of employees answered “no” to the last question, the company should provide them with the opportunity for corporate training.

The level (index) of involvement is determined by the arithmetic average of positive responses. A good result is an indicator above 80%, a bad result is below 50%.

3 survey rules

Make the survey anonymous by asking employees to indicate only their gender, age, and the department in which they work.

Ensure that at least 50% of employees participate in the survey.

Conduct research at least once a year.

How to increase engagement?

So, you have found out what factors negatively affect staff by measuring the level of engagement, and you want to increase it. Here's what you need for this.

Mentoring and corporate events. Over several years of systematic work with personnel, OBI in Russia was able to achieve 84% engagement. At the company's central office, Team Insight is held annually - a meeting between the CEO and each department “without ties”. All office employees regularly go to work in stores for informal communication with the target audience. Twice a year, the company's top management visits each retail outlet and answers questions from employees at any level. High engagement ultimately reduced the company's turnover rate by 40%.

Non-material motivation. Our agency, for example, has a flexible schedule: you can come at 9, 10, 11 o’clock. Once a month, each employee can work from home. Russian startup CarFix is ​​offering employees a paid day off by September 1, a 10 percent discount at a nearby cafe and corporate rates for visiting a fitness club.

Gamification system. The Yulmart company introduced a game based on the theme of the movie about the racers "Fast and Furious". If an employee made an average check greater than yesterday, he moved faster. Every day, an employee could see on a special website where his car was relative to other employees. The competitive spirit helped increase sales by 1.5 times without increasing staff. Another example: Odnoklassniki launched Bagathlon, in which programmers competed in eliminating bugs, “leveled up” and received prize points. As a result, in just 5 days, half of all errors were corrected, and employees even played in the evenings and on weekends.

Constant feedback and collaboration on projects. The Enter company used the IMAGO project (imago is the stage of insect development from larva to butterfly). Each employee could suggest how to improve the company’s work (for this purpose, a special section was created on the corporate portal). The proposals were considered by the innovation committee, and the best ones were implemented. Since the company implemented a gamification system (each employee could see how many points he had on the portal), the author of an effective idea became a project leader during its implementation and increased his rating. The employees with the most points went on a trip every six months at the company's expense.

Mentoring or coaching. This function can be performed not only by an HR specialist, but also by any employee. For example, there is a “4 lunches” program. Each employee can choose a partner - it doesn’t matter whether it’s a colleague from a department or a neighboring department, a secretary or the general director. For a month, partners have lunch or breakfast together once a week - regularly and voluntarily. The “mechanics” of lunch are as follows: in the first 30 minutes of the meeting, one interlocutor tells the other about his successes for the week. In the remaining half hour, he makes a promise to his colleague that next week he will come with a new concrete result. Then the roles change. The one who acts as a listener cannot comment or redirect a colleague. His job is to listen and share his experience. This practice brings together and develops employees - in addition, you can do without a professional coach: often motivation can be supported by a simple promise.

Forming involvement is the highest management aerobatics. Yes, this work for the long term does not give immediate results. But such an investment will definitely yield a commercial result.

Personnel involvement is the desire of employees to bring maximum benefit to the company and do everything possible to achieve its goals, performing actions beyond the scope of their direct duties.

Employee engagement is directly linked to business success and customer satisfaction. Employee engagement is driven by curiosity, interest in the company's goals and interest in the result, and not by fear of fines, dismissal, etc.

2. Methodology for assessing employee engagement

There is no single algorithm that answers the question “How to measure employee engagement?”, since each employee has his own specifics. Employee engagement is made up of three things, the first of which is what he says about his work. For example, the same HR manager conducts interviews, recruits employees, and describes the company as if it were a paradise and generally a dream job. But what do we actually see? In the evening, in a bar, he expresses to his friends with a three-story obscenity how much he hates his job and dreams of prescribing the signature “left hand” to his boss. It is a person's sincere feedback that indicates whether he is engaged or not.

The second question is how long is he willing to work in the company? A year, two, ten, until something better comes along, or stay in the company as long as possible?

And the third point - how often does the employee think about work in his free time? If a person before going to bed thinks about what useful things he can do or offer at work, he can definitely be called involved. Unfortunately, we are mere mortals and cannot read people’s thoughts, so special companies develop tests to study and monitor employee engagement, and sometimes they consist of more than 70 questions.

3. Personnel involvement as the highest level of motivation

Engagement is not a skill and cannot be taught or forced; it is a person’s own conscious choice. Even if workers have exactly the same responsibilities, working conditions and payroll system, they will often be divided into several groups. Those who want to do nothing and rather “get away” from work, those who are basically satisfied and will work for a long time without making additional efforts, and those who perceive the company’s business as their own, do everything possible for its prosperity and development.

Involvement is a valuable quality that can and should be developed in your students, inspired to new achievements, and motivated.

For example, the Teplotekhnik company decided to increase staff involvement with the help of new ideas. The idea was that each employee could offer his ideas on how to improve the company's work, and in a short time they would be considered by managers and a decision would be made to implement it or not. Then the financial result of the innovation is calculated (if any) and the initiating employee receives a monetary incentive. Also, these factors are taken into account when calculating its KPI, the result is visible to everyone, and who wants to look bad in the eyes of their colleagues? Ideas were actively coming out one after another, the best idea generators were on the honor board, employees were thinking about work not only at the allotted time, and this is involvement.

4. The impact of employee engagement on profit

Naturally, easily involved personnel are the most in demand; such people are many times more effective than ordinary non-involved employees. The involved staff does not think before each action, “should I do this, or is this the work of Vasily from another department?” he takes responsibility and does it. The more involved employees in a company, the less staff turnover, a more comfortable atmosphere where “everyone is on board”, a coordinated work process and maximum output. All this helps to improve quality and increase productivity, which provides additional profit for the business.

5. How to increase employee engagement

Each person has their own concept of a great dream job, for some it’s a big salary, for others they prioritize their own development, for others the atmosphere and leadership are important. There are companies in the world that combine all these factors; almost everyone dreams of working for them. So what needs to be done in order to involve staff in the goals of the enterprise and get closer to the status of a dream company?

Of course, you can’t force anyone, but to increase staff engagement, you can create the following favorable conditions:

Staff engagement is an integral part of the effective operation of the entire sales department. We are developing the necessary motivation system for maximum staff involvement as part of the “Creation of a sales system” service. To get a free consultation on all your questions, simply fill out the form below and we will contact you!