What’s the ultimate goal of employee engagement?

To my way of thinking, the purpose of employee engagement is to enable company success while increasing employee satisfaction and retention.  Programs that increase employee engagement will support and enhance:

• Employees’ understanding of and buy-in to company strategic goals;
• Employees full understanding of their job duties which in turn promotes good performance;
• Employees’ healthy relationship building with management and coworkers; and
• Overlap between the employee’s values and the company’s desired employee relations values.

Comprehensive engagement

Comprehensive employee engagement binds the employee to the company – building a strong and healthy relationship.  When employees are engaged they understand the company’s strategic goals and weigh important decisions against them. Engaged employees have a healthy sense of where the company’s goals and their personal goals intersect. Engaged employees abide by a set of personal values that are in sync with the company’s values. Engaged employees not only know and understand the company’s strategic plan, they also understand how the activities of their own positions fit within that plan and help to achieve its goals. Engaged employees work collaborative with others because they understand how “silo” thinking distracts from productivity and prevents success. Finally, engaged employees understand and benefit from an evaluation of their work quality by the company. They are active participants in supervisory discussions. They offer ideas and suggestions and are open to feedback because they want to improve and do well. In addition, they can rely on a pledge that supervisors will provide constructive feedback building on their strengths to address and improve weak areas.

Accountability for end results

Full engagement can’t really be achieved without accountability. The company is obligated to create good working conditions and to make sure employees have the tools they need to do well.  The company must also be accountable for establishing a respectful environment in which the employee can achieve their highest level of performance free of abuse and intimidation. Employees must show up and be personally responsible for their conduct and results. Supervisors must act responsibly on behalf of the company, model healthy, productive habits and achieve their own end results as well.

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