Key Drivers of Employee Engagement are Not What You Might Think

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drivers of employee engagementThe minimum wage has been in the news a lot this year.  Just recently, Zeynep Ton – an adjunct associate professor at MIT and author of the book Good Jobs Strategy – was on CNN discussing a better way to think about the employees at your organization.  She notes that when employees are viewed and treated disposably by companies, the result is low engagement and poor job performance – employees’ hearts just aren’t in their work.  She believes that labor is an asset to be maximized and when that is done, it reduces costs and drives profitability everywhere else in the system.

Retailers like QT, Costco, and Trader Joe’s are consistently praised for treating their employees better than their competitors. By investing in their employees with higher pay, training opportunities, better benefits, and greater schedule flexibility, these retailers demonstrate how engaged employees improve operational performance and increase profit.

It is important to note that increasing pay or hiring more people is not usually the answer to companies’ problems. At Infosurv Research, our experience is that money is typically not the solution.  In fact, most often salaries aren’t a key driver of engaged or disengaged employee behavior – unless the salary is so low that it is inadequate to meet the employee’s needs.

It’s worth figuring out where improvements can be made and what to eliminate.  In our experience, engaged employees want to feel a connection to their work – to find meaning and dignity (as Zeynep mentions in the interview).  They also want to feel like they make a meaningful contribution to the success of the organization.  All these things and more can be measured and identified with employee engagement surveys.

If you are interested in driving profits through improved employee  engagement levels, contact an Infosurv Research sales consultant today to find out more about the many ways engaged employees make a real different to your bottom line.

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Lenni Moore

Lenni Moore is the Director of Operations at Infosurv. She’s always been passionate about fostering strong professional relationships. It’s precisely these relationships that allow her to exceed her clients’ expectations because she knows exactly what they want and then leverages her experience to get it for them.