Employee Engagement - Potential Red Flags

Potential Red Flags

• Inappropriate use of Benchmark Data - some of the more well established Employee Engagement survey companies will state that the most important part of post survey follow up is related to comparison of internal survey data to numerous external benchmarks. This seems to have rubbed off onto internal sponsors who demand very specific benchmarks. Whilst some research analysts claim that the standard comparisons by industry sector are flawed others disagree. Is it right to compare a Bentley employee to one from Vauxhall (GM) because they are in the same automotive sector? The alternative argument is that both organisations would likely draw from similar worker pools and would as such wish to better understand expectations of workers in that industry and how they compare to competing employers.
• A focus on data gathering rather than taking action may also damage engagement efforts. Organizations that survey their workforce without acting on the feedback appear to negatively impact engagement scores.
• According to the Conference Board and other recent studies, employee engagement has deteriorated significantly in the US and the UK over the last five years. Measuring and managing the wrong or incomplete set of engagement drivers is partly if not mostly to blame. Rigorous engagement measurement encompasses 15 attitudinal drivers formed by employee experiences.