what is employee engagement

Glossary/E/Employee Engagement

What is employee engagement?

Employee engagement is widely described as the extent to which employees feel attached and committed to their organization and their job. It can help determine whether or not the relationship between an organization and its employees is healthy.

From an organizational perspective, employee engagement is an approach that organizations take to ensure employees remain loyal and committed to them, help lower attrition rates, and show higher levels of productivity.

Not to be confused with:

Employee Empowerment

Employee empowerment is the act of giving employees a fair amount of autonomy, in terms of business ...

Employee Satisfaction

Employee satisfaction is the level of contentment that an employee feels within their job. It is als...

Not to be confused with:

Employee Empowerment

Employee empowerment is the act of giving employees a fair amount of autonomy, in terms of business ...

Employee Satisfaction

Employee satisfaction is the level of contentment that an employee feels within their job. It is als...

Employee Empowerment

Employee empowerment is the act of giving employees a fair amount of autonomy, in terms of business ...

Employee Satisfaction

Employee satisfaction is the level of contentment that an employee feels within their job. It is als...

Employee Empowerment

Employee empowerment is the act of giving employees a fair amount of autonomy, in terms of business ...

Employee Satisfaction

Employee satisfaction is the level of contentment that an employee feels within their job. It is als...

Employee empowerment is an essential component of employee engagement, but they’re not the same thing. Empowerment can come from having a certain degree of autonomy over one’s work or not being micromanaged, but an empowered employee is not always an engaged one.

Employee satisfaction is more to do with how content an employee is with their pay, the working environment, or the kind of work they’re doing. An employee might be delighted with their job and organization but still, be disengaged.

What are the four different levels of employee engagement?

Engaged and committed: Also called actively engaged or highly engaged employees, these are the people who are highly productive, genuinely passionate about their work, and can also motivate other lesser engaged employees.

Engaged: Though not as enthusiastic as the first category, these are the dependable employees who deliver work on time, are consistently productive, and very dedicated to their job role and the organization.

Disengaged: Also known as the group which is “neither engaged nor committed,” these are the employees who are neither attached to their work nor the mission of the organization, do the bare minimum, and do not have any specific goals.

Actively disengaged: The most dangerous of the lot, these are the employees that have mentally checked out, are only around for the paycheck, simply do enough to ensure they’re not fired and can create an environment where other employees feel demotivated and detached.