If you've been keeping up on your business reading, you've probably noticed that employee engagement is the topic du jour. Why? Much like the tolls of a natural disaster, we can't help but talk about it. The numbers are shocking.
At their worst, the stats show:
That last one makes you think doesn't it? What's worse: that they'll quit your company, or stay? Faced with the costly options of present-but-absent or simply absent workers, your only choice is to act. But act on what? The stats are everywhere, but they largely come from Gallup, whose "2013 State of the American Workplace Report" details them in 68 pages of detail. How do they come to these results? In part, they use Gallup's Q12®; a collection of 12 questions that measure employee engagement based on workers’ responses. Each question represents a workplace element that has a proven link to performance outcomes.
The subjects of these questions range from understanding their employer's expectations of their work, to having opportunities to learn and grow, to feeling a sense of faith and confidence in their peers, to having some kind of working relationship with their supervisor.