4 new ways to measure employee engagement

There are more effective ways to measure employee engagement than surveys. This author provides some insight.

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Employee engagement has many definitions and measures.

Scholars [1] describe employee engagement as “the emotional and intellectual commitment to the organization.” Employee engagement has also been defined as “positive attitudes and behaviors enabling high job performance, which are in tune with the organization’s mission.”[2]

In its “State of the Global Workplace” report, the Gallup Organization found 13 percent of workers are fully engaged in their jobs, 63 percent are not engaged and 24 percent are actively disengaged.

The most common way organizations measure engagement is by using survey items that measure satisfaction, effort and commitment to the organization. Other techniques include mood monitors, employee opinions, focus groups and social media sentiment.

However, there isn’t much research on measuring employee engagement.

How valid and reliable are the above measures? Can employee engagement surveys really tell you how engaged your employees are? Are self-perceived employee engagement levels a better measure of employee engagement? How about direct measures of employee behavior and linking engagement to business outcomes?

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