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I've worked at big companies. I've been a part of or led the charade they call employee engagement. And I'm writing to tell you they've got it all wrong. 

Employee engagement is NOT the once-a-year or every-other-year survey (to save costs) that employees are supposed to fill out. And even though that's not employee engagement, companies are calling it such. It amazes and saddens me at the business decisions that are made off of this impersonal and random survey. 

Basically what companies are doing is taking an employee's temperature on one day and making expensive and strategic business decisions for years to come off of one multiple choice question. The only thing worse than that is when they've asked the same question repeated years and see an "improvement."

That's employee engagement? Really?

Let me tell you what I think employee engagement is. It's internal communication. It's listening. It's responding. Not once every two years. But every single day. You want a solution? Ask the people who are experiencing the problem. And when you ask a question, ask an open-ended one. 

In a talk I had with a communicator recently they shared, "Our employee engagement score went up." Me, "What does that actual mean?" Communicator, "I don't know but it has to be good right?"

I recently spoke at an IABC Phoenix luncheon and showed the picture featured on this post. I asked the audience, "If this is one of your employees, is he engaged?" Hell yes, he's engaged. He knows exactly what he wants. Now is he engaged on the right thing? I hope not. (I think the image even made a few squeamish.)

So companies need to figure out what engages employees and then make sure it aligns with business goals and objectives. 

Years ago there was a Gallup study that talked about three levels of employee engagement: 

1. Engaged
2. Not engaged
3. Actively disengaged

You're fighting an uphill battle right away when only one out of 3 is good. And from what I've seen, this challenge typically falls on the shoulders of employee communications. Employee comms has a vital role to play in engagement, but shouldn't carry the burden. 

There's nothing wrong with polling employees to see what they think about various topics. And maybe that's part of employee engagement, but it's not properly measuring employee engagement in my opinion. 

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