EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT SURVEYS: WHY THEY’RE IMPORTANT

Engagement plays a crucial role in retaining employees. Effectively utilizing employee opinion and engagement surveys (EOES) gives your employees a voice that can help the organization succeed and maintain its staffing levels by measuring employee satisfaction.

Valuable Insights

EOES can also provide valuable insights into what processes or policies work and which ones don’t.

Insight into Employee Satisfaction: Surveys provide direct employee feedback regarding their satisfaction with various aspects of their job, workplace environment, company culture, and management practices. This insight helps companies understand what is working well and what needs improvement from the perspective of their workforce. https://aaimea.org/hr-support/employee-opinion-engagement-surveys/
Identifying Issues and Concerns: Surveys can uncover underlying issues or concerns that employees may not voice openly otherwise. This includes workload-related matters, communication, career development, workplace relationships, etc. Addressing these concerns can improve morale and productivity.
Measuring Engagement Levels: Engagement surveys assess employees’ commitment and motivation towards their work and the organization. Higher engagement levels are linked to increased productivity, better customer service, and lower turnover rates. Surveys help measure these levels and identify areas where engagement could be strengthened.
Enhancing Communication: Surveys encourage open communication between employees and management. When employees feel their opinions are valued and acted upon, it fosters a culture of trust and transparency within the organization.
Supporting Decision-Making: Survey data provides quantitative and qualitative insights that can support decision-making processes within the company. For example, it can inform strategic planning, policy development, and resource allocation.
Benchmarking and Tracking Progress: Surveys allow companies to benchmark their performance over time and against industry standards. Tracking trends in survey results helps gauge the effectiveness of initiatives aimed at improving employee satisfaction and engagement.
Boosting Retention and Recruitment: Employees who feel valued and engaged are more likely to stay with the company. Positive survey results can also enhance the company’s reputation as a desirable place to work, aiding recruitment efforts.

Gallup and Deloitte Studies

Gallup and Deloitte’s studies conducted in the past year highlight the diverse perceptions of executives and employees regarding employee engagement. Gallup released a survey in January 2024 regarding Employee Engagement/Disengagement Trends for 2023, and Deloitte released a report in July 2024.

Here is a summary of those results.

Gallup – Employee Engagement and Disengagement Trends in the U.S. (2023)

Category	Percentage	Details
Engaged Employees	33%	34% midyear; recent slight decline. Each 1% change = ~1.6 million employees.
Not Engaged Employees (Quiet Quitting)	50%	Employees not engaged with their work or workplace.
Actively Disengaged Employees (Loud Quitting)	16% decline	Represents a significant decrease in actively disengaged employees.
Lost Productivity	$1.9 trillion	Due to not being engaged or actively disengaged employees.

Key Insights

Employee Detachment: Increasing detachment with less clear expectations, lower satisfaction, and reduced connection to the mission.
Care Factor: Employees feel less cared for as individuals.
Performance Impact: Engagement trends significantly influence organizational performance outcomes.

The largest areas of decline fit into five themes:

Feedback and Performance Focus
- Received meaningful feedback in the last week.
- Performance managed to motivate outstanding performance.
- The manager keeps me informed of what is going on.
- Pride in the quality of products/services.
- Freedom to make decisions is needed to do my job well.
Goals/Priorities
- The manager includes me in goal setting.
- Feel prepared to do my job.
Wellbeing
- The organization cares about my well-being
- Able to maintain a healthy balance between work and personal life.
Team
- Feel like part of the team.
- Know what my coworkers are expected to do.
- Have partners I can always rely on at work.
- The team takes time to reflect on and discuss what we might do better.

Deloitte Report on Human Sustainability (July 2024)

Deloitte released a report in July 2024 that shows 80% of CEOs feel pressured by employees, customers, and board to improve “human sustainability.” Human Sustainability is the degree to which an organization creates value for people as human beings, leaving them with greater health and well-being, stronger skills and greater employability, good jobs, opportunities for advancement, progress toward equity, increased belonging, and heightened connection to purpose. Here’s what they found:

Category	Percentage/Details
Executives’ Belief that they are Advancing Human Sustainability	82%
Workers Belief that the Company is Advancing Human Sustainability	56%
Executives’ Belief in Well-being Improvement	70%
Workers Believing in Well-being Improvement	33% Only 1 in 3 workers say their Physical (34%), Mental (32%), Financial (35%), and Social (31%) well-being improved last year.

Key Insights

Pressure on CEOs: 80% feel pressured to improve human sustainability.
Executive vs. Worker Perception Gap: 82% of executives vs. 56% of workers believe in advancement.
Well-being Improvement: Only 1 in 3 workers report improvement, contrasting with 7 in 10 executives’ belief.
Benefits of Advancing Human Sustainability:
- Improved Experience: 70%
- Increased Engagement and Job Satisfaction: 70%
- Increased Productivity: 70%
- Desire to Stay Long-term: 70%

Understanding how your employees perceive the organization and how they feel about how they are treated is essential. A positive employee experience with high levels of engagement leads to increased productivity and retention.

Overall, employee opinion and engagement surveys are crucial for creating a positive work environment, improving organizational effectiveness, and fostering a culture that supports both employee and company success.

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT SURVEYS: WHY THEY’RE IMPORTANT

Valuable Insights

Gallup and Deloitte Studies

Gallup – Employee Engagement and Disengagement Trends in the U.S. (2023)

Deloitte Report on Human Sustainability (July 2024)

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