Most companies know employee engagement drives success. In fact, disengagement costs the global economy $438 billion, and if all employees were engaged, there’d be a $9.6 trillion boost in productivity. However, measuring engagement can be tricky. What does an engaged employee look like? And if you can’t define that clearly, how can you track it?
This article discusses the importance of measuring employee engagement, the metrics to track when doing so, 11 ways you can measure engagement, and how to fix common mistakes HR makes when doing so.
Contents
Why should you measure employee engagement?
The challenges of measuring employee engagement
Employee engagement metrics to track
Post measurement: How to turn results into action
Common mistakes and how to avoid them
Why should you measure employee engagement?
Tracking engagement helps HR understand and influence key outcomes, like productivity, innovation, retention, and customer satisfaction. Disengaged employees hurt morale, slow down progress, and are more likely to quit.
Measuring engagement early helps fix problems before they worsen. It also strengthens HR’s role in long-term planning by demonstrating to leadership the connection between employee engagement and business performance. Regular feedback and action based on data can also build trust among employees, as it shows them that their input matters.
The challenges of measuring employee engagement
Properly measuring employee engagement requires you to also be aware of the challenges you’re likely to face in doing so. For instance, engagement can be emotional and subjective and therefore, difficult to quantify through employee engagement metrics.
Additionally, employee engagement surveys often miss the mark — they’re either too broad, too infrequent, or not honest if trust is low, skewing the data collected from them. At the same time, misreading survey results (e.g., interpreting them without the right context) can lead to the wrong conclusions.
You may also face low participation rates or even dishonest answers in your engagement surveys. This may indicate a lack of trust or skepticism about whether feedback will lead to meaningful change. In such cases, AIHR’s Lead Subject Matter Expert, Dr Marna van der Merwe, advises offering clarity on the importance of surveys and how you’ll use the results.
She says, “Reinforce confidentiality, keep the survey short and easy to complete, and ensure managers actively encourage participation. Most importantly, follow up with visible actions. Employees need to see their input leading to real improvements. Over time, this builds credibility and encourages more honest, meaningful responses.
“Alternatively, consider supplementing survey data with qualitative data collection mechanisms, such as interviews and focus groups, to better understand current sentiment and engagement levels.”
Employee engagement metrics to track
Here are some employee engagement metrics you can use to track engagement in your organization:
- Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS): This asks how likely employees are to recommend the company as a workplace. Responses are split into promoters, passives, and detractors, giving a clear picture of satisfaction levels among employees.
- Turnover and retention rates: These metrics track how many employees voluntarily leave the company. High turnover can signal low engagement, poor development, or bad leadership, which indicates how well the employer supports and develops employees.
- Absenteeism rates: High absenteeism rates may point to disengagement or poor working conditions. Use this metric to investigate the root cause of frequent unplanned absences before they have a significant negative impact on staff.
- Learning and development (L&D) participation: Measure sign-ups and completion rates in training programs. Low participation rates may mean employees lack the motivation to grow, or simply don’t see the value in doing so at your company.
- Internal mobility: This metric tracks promotions, role changes, and transfers. A lack of movement may suggest a lack of talent growth and development opportunities at your organization, which can hurt employee engagement.
- Pulse survey scores over time: Pulse survey scores use a rating scale to measure employee engagement and satisfaction over time. Changes in these scores can help you identify trends and shifts that could affect engagement levels.
- Manager effectiveness: People leave managers, not jobs. Tracking your company’s manager effectiveness through 360 degree feedback and performance reviews can help you understand how this affects employee engagement levels.
Learn to measure and drive employee engagement
Build your skills in measuring and driving employee engagement to ensure long-term retention, reduce turnover, and boost your employer brand.
AIHR’s Talent Management & Succession Planning Certificate Program teaches you how to identify, develop, and engage staff, foster a positive experience throughout the employee life cycle, and identify and minimize flight risk to retain crucial talent.
11 ways to measure employee engagement
Here are 11 effective ways to measure employee engagement in your organization:
1. Annual engagement surveys
Annual employee engagement surveys typically include 30 to 50 questions shared with the entire company. Responses to these surveys can give employers a macro, in-depth, and largely accurate picture of engagement across the entire workforce. They can also provide a benchmark on which to monitor changes over time.
2. Pulse surveys
Pulse surveys are smaller engagement surveys HR distributes more frequently than annual surveys (e.g., quarterly, monthly, or even weekly). These surveys offer a real-time view of engagement and morale and can help you focus your efforts to improve employee engagement.
3. Stay interviews
Stay interviews refer to the one-on-one conversations HR schedules with employees to understand what the organization is succeeding in and what it could improve to make employees more likely to stay. This can help you decide what actions to take to improve employee engagement, motivation, satisfaction, and retention.
4. Exit interviews
Exit interviews take place once an employee hands in their notice, or shortly after they’ve left. Their purpose is to gather information on why these employees decided to leave. Without fear of negative repercussions, their feedback is likely to be more honest and help you understand how you can improve engagement and retention.
5. One-on-one meetings
Employee-manager one-on-ones facilitate meaningful conversations on performance, goals, engagement, and satisfaction. They allow staff to offer honest, constructive feedback on their employee experience. This gives you detailed, real-time insights into their current engagement levels, which you can track over time.
6. eNPS surveys
eNPS surveys ask staff how likely they are to recommend their organization as a place to work. This quickly gauges overall employee sentiment and tracks changes over time. For best results, combine eNPS with an annual or pulse survey for more detailed, multifaceted data that can inform your employee engagement strategy.
7. Focus groups
Focus groups involve hosting groups of employees to facilitate open discussions on their workplace experience. You can use the discussions in these small groups to gather qualitative, in-depth insights into factors that affect your organization’s employee engagement, including the root causes of low engagement levels.
8. Feedback tools
Anonymous feedback tools, such as survey software, suggestion boxes, and anonymous messaging platforms, allow staff to share honest, real-time feedback without fear of retaliation. This increases participation rates, results in more candid feedback, and helps employees feel heard, which in turn drives engagement.
9. Behavioral data
Analyzing patterns in staff interactions with one another and their work environment (e.g., logins to company training programs, project contributions, or recognition platform use) can provide valuable data on factors impacting engagement and performance. You can then use this information to improve the employee experience.
10. HRIS reports
These reports allow HR teams to view and analyze data from their Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS) relating to areas such as attendance, performance, and promotion data. This can help you identify key areas for improvement, which can then inform your organization’s employee engagement strategies.
11. Manager assessments
Through 360 degree feedback from relevant parties, manager assessments can help you assess how effective your current leaders are at managing and supporting their teams. This can help you determine how to improve their ability to create a positive and engaging work environment for all employees and increase engagement.
Post measurement: How to turn results into action
Data is only useful if you act on it. Start by analyzing results to find patterns and root causes. Break down responses by team, department, or tenure to spot trends that might skew your overall picture. Be open about what the data shows, and share it with your team.
At the same time, work with both managers and employees to build action plans focused on key issues. Set SMART goals to track progress, and keep everyone in the loop with regular updates. Finally, link your efforts to real changes (e.g., updated policies or new training programs), so employees and leadership can see progress. That can help boost engagement further.
Common mistakes and how to avoid them
Here are some common mistakes HR makes when measuring employee engagement, and how to avoid them.
Mistake #1: Asking too many questions
Keep your surveys focused with 10 to 20 well-chosen, relevant questions. You can also create and distribute shorter pulse surveys to gather targeted feedback more frequently.
Mistake #2: Using unclear or biased questions
Use simple, straightforward language, avoid leading questions, and seek diverse perspectives to help create surveys. Then, pilot them before distributing them to the workforce.
Mistake #3: Measuring employee engagement only once a year
Administer shorter employee engagement pulse surveys with simpler questions throughout the year to gain real-time feedback without causing survey fatigue.
Mistake #4: Ignoring open-ended answers
Organize and categorize your qualitative data properly to help you identify recurring themes and patterns. Use spreadsheets or a dedicated analysis software to help you.
Mistake #5: Relying on just one measurement method
Use a range of methods that help you gather both quantitative and qualitative data, so you can capture a full picture of employee engagement. Don’t overuse any one tool, either.
Mistake #6: Not acting on results
Employee engagement survey analysis is just the first step. You should also identify factors harming engagement, prioritize addressing them, and make a plan to address each one.
Mistake #7: Not training managers on results discussion
Provide training to ensure managers have the skills to communicate with, support, and mentor their team members, so they have sufficient growth and development opportunities.
To sum up
Measuring employee engagement provides you with valuable insights on what the organization is doing well and what it can improve to keep its workforce happy, productive, and motivated at work. This also helps you drive retention and minimize employee turnover.
At the same time, frequently tracking engagement levels with a range of suitable tools, analyzing your results, and taking appropriate actions in response will help you win the trust of employees and build an organization people enjoy working for.
