Are your employees engaged?

When companies work with the wrong criteria, their results are not in favor of the company. There are not only a few companies that concentrate on employee loyalty and end up with a mediocre but loyal group of employees. These employees have no intention of going anywhere anyway. They know that even if they go, they won't find a better job. Companies need to find, develop, and protect engaged, not loyal, employees.

Employee happiness is a concept that entered the business lexicon in the mid-1970s. Companies that believe that their employees must be happy to be productive have taken various steps to achieve this happiness. Employee happiness studies started to be made widespread in this period. Although these steps have brought various benefits, it cannot be said that focusing on the happiness of the employee alone is the right approach. A person who spends  time at work 8 to 5, and is generally happy may not be beneficial to the company.

In the same period, companies concentrated on employee engagement. The logic here was that the company wanted to benefit from the people it invested in for a long time. It was a serious investment of time and money to recruit and train people, and wait for them to reach a level of useful contribution. Undoubtedly, the departure of good people from a company is a significant loss. However, it is not the right approach to put everyone in the same pot and evaluate them with a loyalty scale. Think about it, would you like to work with a person with great results and a very high contribution for 2 years, or with someone who spends time at work and whose contribution is questionable, until he retires?

Then, if the criterion that will bring benefits to both the company and the employee is not employee happiness or loyalty, what is it? This is where the definition of engaged employees comes into play. Let's try to define what employee engagement is. Engagement is an emotional and mental commitment to the company. It is a measure of employees' bringing their hearts and minds to their job, rather than checking them at the gate. It emerges as trust, motivation, passion, creativity, initiative, and commitment. To understand what this is like, imagine that every employee in your company comes to work every morning believing that she can affect the fate of the company. Engaged employees say positive things about the company, want to be part of the company, and try to deliver beyond what is expected. It is the engaged employees who realize innovation in companies.

Many companies have two other groups of employees. Those who are not engaged have basically quit psychologically. They give their work their time, not their energy and creativity. There is also another group who is actively disengaged. They are busy destroying what others do. They are not only unhappy, but they also bring their unhappiness to life.

Of course, it is up to companies to create engaged employees. In fact, it should be one of the important goals of companies. Because engagement pays off. Because the cultural environment that can take companies forward is an environment that supports engaged employees. Better business results can only come with engaged people. According to a study by Towers Watson, businesses with engaged employees earn 6% higher net profits. According to the research of Kenexa company, the share returns of companies with engaged people are five times that of the others! Actually, the formula is simple. Engaged employees realize innovation and drive processes and systems forward. This brings new business and increases profitability.

So how is engagement achieved in a company? First of all, a company management that is engaged itself is required. Personal development and growth opportunities and environment definitely benefit. Ideally, it is desirable that this growth is towards another job in the company. A motivating company vision benefits. Challenging tasks that hone skills are helpful. It helps to have one’s finger in the pie by contributing to the decisions. An atmosphere of trust and a proper relationship with the person you are reporting to are also very helpful.

If employees in a company can answer "yes" to the following questions, it can be said that there is a suitable environment in that company to engage employees:

* Do I trust them?

* Do they care about me?

* Am I informed?

* Are they listening to my ideas?

* Do I have any power to take action?

* Can I improve myself?

* Do I feel like I own the job?

* Do I belong here?