Getting past employee satisfaction to engagement

A happy employee is an engaged employee, or so many business leaders think. But is this necessarily the case? A study conducted by MetLife suggests otherwise, indicating that employee loyalty sank to a three-year low in 2011. As HR Bartender notes, there are some notable differences between happiness and engagement, and company heads need to consider these as they strive to make a better workplace.

Employees' satisfaction is directly correlated to their happiness. Satisfied employees are those who are content with their jobs and the responsibilities being asked of them. They come in, do their work and go home. However, they could still be neutral about the company itself. For example, a graphic design artist could be perfectly content with what is being asked from him or her, but that doesn't exactly mean he or she feels loyal to the employer.

This type of employee, while satisfied, isn't engaged or motivated to further help a company improve. If a company tried to adopt a new means of doing business that disrupted this individual's workflow, this apathy could quickly turn negative and result in a workforce that is actually discontent.

“These employees can be excellent performers,” the news source adds. “It's not to say they're doing anything wrong. They are delivering what the company asks of them. But they aren't engaged. An engaged employee is going to work toward moving the business to the next level.”

The happy medium

Now, imagine a Venn diagram. One circle is engaged employees, the other is satisfied ones. The ideal worker would be one who falls in the middle. The question is this: How do companies get employees engaged?

The Kaizen mindset can help in this regard because it is all about employee engagement. This philosophy involves everyone at all the different levels within a company and seeks to empower the entire workforce. Once everyone is on the same level and working toward creating a better company, the business will have a workforce of engaged individuals.

“The first thing [companies] need to do is let employees own their career,” HR Bartender explains. “It's their professional life and they deserve to have control over it. It also means our role as managers and leaders has to be one of a facilitator versus director … managers have a great opportunity to help their employees reach decisions by asking questions and walking them through a process.”