Survey: Overall employee engagement up 10 percentage points

A new survey from Temkin Group proves it, finding that engaged employees are more likely to do extra work when not asked, stay after hours to finish a project, make constructive suggestions for company improvement, and recommend that friends and family apply for jobs.

The bigger question, and one with a less obvious answer, is whether employees are generally engaged. The survey found that the numbers are improving, but some groups are more likely to engage, while others lag.

Ragan.com asked HR and internal communication experts to comment on some key findings.

57 percent of employees are highly or moderately engaged, up from 47 percent a year ago.

Mark Sutherland, chief communications officer at PR firm Elasticity, says the increase in engagement could be a sign of an improving economy.

“Engagement has a lot to do with a view to the future,” he says. “As things improve and companies once again begin to invest in the future, the perceived stability increases, and engagement increases.”