Employee engagement was introduced in the 90s as a management concept. Now, this idea is generally adopted by business leaders and founders all over the world. Since then, it has been used to improve the confidence of employees in the brand and build team courage.

From its ubiquitous nature, it is evident that employee engagement is the key to performing business operations effectively. Employee engagement is the type of connection that exists between your company and your employees. Employees are said to be engaged when they contribute their quota and are devoted to the company.

Organizations with engaged employees do better than those without engaged employees in double folds and such business will enjoy huge benefits. Besides, most business leaders agree that employee engagement is vital to operating a productive business. Therefore, you need to leverage this concept as your competitive advantage in your field.

Employee engagement definition

Employee engagement is the relationship between your employees and your business, their fulfillment with the job roles and duties, and performing beyond what expected of them. It is about their dedication and loyalty to the company their job and the vision of the company. Though regular payment is important to any employee, employee engagement implies that your employee is not there for the take-home pay but to go the extra mile for the company and its goals. Engaged employees have the best interest of the company at heart and align their values with that of the workplace.

Employee engagement is different from career fulfillment or employees’ level of happiness in their workplace. Nevertheless, engaged employees are expected to be in high spirits with their work because they team up with their employer to achieve the same goal.

Employee engagement vary from organization to organization. Although the meaning of employee engagement is usually the same all over the world, the components of good employee engagement differ from company A to company B. Business leaders and managers have a different personality, hence, they will have different perception about what makes up employee engagement.

Take a look at your employer branding method, and then ask yourself this question What do I understand by the term employee engagement? Once you proffer an answer to that, you will have a better idea of ways to execute strategies that will engage your employees. 

Types of employee engagement

There are diverse ways to implement a policy that keeps employees engaged, appreciate, set company objectives, and resist the urge to micromanage them. No two employers will have the same definition for employee engagement or establish the same concept. On the other hand, there are three primary stages of employee engagement that applies to all kinds of businesses.

Digging deep into employee level of engagement and their relationship with their work we have the following.

1) Highly engaged employees

These are categories of employees who have the best interest of the company at heart and will do whatever it takes to fulfill the company mission. In other words, their loyalty and commitment to achieve the company goals are unquestionable.

Engaged employees participate in an employee advocacy program and they give their all to see the company grow.  

2) Unengaged employees

These types of employees will do nothing outside their assigned duties and they work to get their salary at the end of the month. They desire to accomplish the company goals and vision but will not make extra sacrifices to get it done. Without a good employee engagement policy, your employees are likely not to be engaged.

3) Actively disengaged employees

These categories of employees have zero commitment to the company values. They care less about employee engagement and could possess goals and vision contrary to your business and leadership style. Their level of engagement at work is nothing to write home about because nothing seems to interest them.

More than 70% of the employees are on MarketBeam, our employee advocacy platform.

– Director of Demand Generation, an Akamai Company

 How to engage your employees?

A good business leader engages his employees by understanding their goals and acknowledging their commitment to the company. To achieve that, you need to concentrate on the following elements of employee engagement:

• Dedication
• Motivation
• Trust
• Loyalty

• Dedication

Engaged employees will be fully dedicated to your company schedule. They will do more than their job duties and assigned responsibilities. They experience some level of loyalty from their work so they work extra to give back to the company.

• Motivation

Engaged employees will be inspired to give their best at work. Motivation can come from various people within the company – like their direct managers, executive team or an industry influencer who works with the company. For example, a cybersecurity startup hired an advisor who ran a very large cybersecurity company in the past. All their employees are motivated to work toward the common goal and basically increased confidence in the company. 

• Loyalty

Engaged employees are steadfast with their employer and the company they work for. They experience support from their brand so they give their loyalty in return.

• Trust

Engaged employees will believe in the choices you make for them and you need to trust they will do the best thing for the brand. Consistent communication and recognition is the key to strengthen the trust between employees and the brand they work for.

Advantages of employee engagement

• Businesses with engaged employees will flourish and have higher productivity than others.
• Actively engaged employees will have no reason to quit their jobs.
• Engaged employees are loyal and inspired to discharge their job duties efficiently.

Using MarketBeam, an employee advocacy platform, will improve employee engagement by making them thought leaders; increase corporate social media reach and elevate authentic branding.