PPB April 2019

Employee Engagement Allen Schweyer explains the significance of engaged workers in the success of any organization. FIVE MINUTES WITH Allen Schweyer, chief academic advisor of the Incentive Research Foundation PPB What exactly is employee engagement? How would you describe the behaviors of an employee who is considered “engaged?” Schweyer Employee engagement might be best de ned in contrast to employee satisfaction. Satis ed employees are typically content with pay, work conditions and bene ts. Good pay and bene ts will attract people to organizations. Engaged employees are inspired. They identify and align with the organization’s goals and mission. They derive purpose from their work. They go beyond simply doing what’s required of their job, they devote extra ‘discretionary’ effort. They are more likely to commit to their rm and remain with it longer than disengaged or merely satis ed employees. PPB How can high employee engagement bene t both the organizations and the employees? Schweyer Organizations bene t in a number of ways. As above, they bene t from employees’ discretionary effort and much lower turnover. They also bene t because engaged employees are more likely to volunteer their ideas, help their colleagues, share information and embrace change initiatives. Engaged employees are better corporate citizens, they help create a ‘talent culture’ that, in turn, engages other employees and makes it easier to recruit other top talent. Engaged employees bene t from greater enjoyment and ful llment from their work. They are also more likely to progress and achieve their career aspirations. Moreover, engagement at work spills over into engagement outside of work, improving life and relationships overall. PPB Can you share a bit about the new research published by the Incentive Research Foundation about the psychological bene ts of employee engagement? Schweyer The IRF conducts and supports a range of research relevant to employee engagement. Speci cally, the IRF focuses on one of the key drivers of employee engagement: recognition. Recent research demonstrates the clear link between the use of incentives, rewards and recognition, and enhancement of intrinsic motivation in employees. In other words, well-selected incentive, rewards and even simple thank-you’s reinforce the condition that engages employees. PPB Can you share about the ve types of psychological bene ts, and how employers can engage all ve? Schweyer Psychological bene ts of employee engagement include feelings of purpose and meaning, which satisfy employees’ higher order needs for self-actualization. Relatedness is another bene t, which ful lls employees’ need to belong and feel connected to others at work. Mastery, which gives employees a feeling of competence and con dence. Autonomy provides employees with agency choice over their work and how to perform it, and nally, inclusion and respect, which satisfy employees’ need to be heard and to contribute. PPB What are some examples of successful engagement initiatives and programs that you’re familiar with? Schweyer Google’s ‘Project Oxygen’ comes to mind. Here, the company studied the attributes of successful frontline managers. It determined the elements that made managers into the type of leaders that inspire employee engagement in their teams. This is just one of several initiatives Google has launched to drive higher engagement. More information on the study is available at www.culturesummit.co/articles/employee- engagement-best-practices. PPB How can businesses determine whether a new employee engagement initiative is working? Schweyer Leaders should establish a benchmark for employee engagement rst, using a survey, and repeat the survey at least annually. As initiatives are launched, their impact can be measured in changes on the survey. Some rms are moving toward other indicators, such as brief daily polls, and/ or technologies that measure employee job- seeking activity. Another good indicator is a change in attrition. If attrition goes down after an engagement initiative, it is a reasonable indicator that the program is working. PPB Have you noticed a change in the emphasis on employee engagement in recent years? If so, what do you think is driving this change? Schweyer Use of the term ‘employee engagement’ accelerated years ago. But emphasis on engagement, unfortunately, tends to rise and fall somewhat with the economy. Over the past few years, it has risen again to the top of the agenda in many rms as a means to both retain employees and gain greater productivity. The change is driven by a tight market for talent, the high costs of attrition and an ultra-competitive business environment. The Incentive Research Foundation (IRF) is a nonpro t foundation that funds research studies and develops products serving all segments of the global incentive industry. IRF focuses its efforts on research that underscores the value and power of incentive and motivational programs. | APRIL 2019 | 67 THINK