Employee Engagement Increasing
April 14, 2009 by Phil Gerbyshak
Filed under Business
According to a recent survey conducted by Modern Survey, U.S. worker’s employee engagement is trending upwards:
Wow, this is shocking news to me! I’m shocked in a very good way.
The news and all the “experts” think employee engagement is decreasing, or at least should be decreasing in a bad economy, and now, a survey shows us that is wrong!
Maybe it’s increasing because managers are being more intentional about engagement now, and they realize with less ways to pay folks, they need to invest more time saying thank you and doing the little things that add up to a BIG boost in engagement.
Or maybe it’s something else.
Questions for you:
Why do you think employee engagement in the US is increasing?
Or do you think the survey just asked the wrong people?
Thanks to David Zinger for pointing this survey out.
Phil, I think a couple of cautions are in order. First, there is no indication of the margin of error of this survey. That’s a vital data point for any survey which must be considered before any meaningful analysis can take place.
And, while I would prefer your explanation, that managers are getting better at facilitating the engagement of their teams, another explanation is plausible (after assuming the numbers have some validity once we know the margin of error): fear.
People who are afraid of losing their jobs in an economy such as exists today will tend to stay where they are (fear breeds stasis), go the extra mile in an effort to avoid getting caught in the next layoff, and may well view the company’s future with hope because it helps lessen the fear.
I hope your scenario is correct. My gut tells me mine is more accurate. Either way, I’d love to learn the margin of error in the survey!
I think Rick hit on most of the points I would. Unfortunately fear is the great motivator. I would also like to have some context for the numbers. I’m assuming this study has been going on for more than just the past two readings, if not, it will be a while before we’ll know what it really means.
Phil, I think Rick makes some excellent points.
I hope, however, that the fear moves us to a place where we can see the ‘logic of teamwork.’ We really are all in this together. We might see that organizations failure, can facilitate my own personal failure.
I also hope that organizations become more keenly aware of the flip side of this. That the organization’s success must also equate to an equitable share of success for those who help build it.
Fear might play a role. It’s also possible that the recession is forcing more communication as company’s change patterns and policies to deal with the downturn.
So, it might not be the best news in the world. However, there’s never anything wrong with an up-tick!
Thanks for the data.
Fred: Fear is unfortunately a very good motivator, though not for long.
It is too soon to tell, but it’s still interesting to think about.
Thanks for your comment, and for your follow-up post Rick! VERY insightful!