7 themes for engaged employees
Askemo uses 7 themes to monitor and optimise employee engagement.
The choice of ‘engagement’ is a conscious one. We look beyond ‘satisfaction’, because there is quite a difference between a satisfied employee and an engaged employee, especially in behaviour. So before you read on, we like to make you aware of the difference between the two.
A satisfied employee is happy in his work and working conditions. He is happy with his colleagues and happy with the working conditions. He performs his work without exerting excessive effort. Keywords are: routine, reactive and passive. A happy employee does not inhibit the growth of your organisation, but neither is he the one who actively exerts himself to optimise growth.
An engaged employee wants to (continue to) grow. In addition, he enjoys the process involved, and even draws energy from it. He has clear goals and wants to achieve them within the organisation where he works. Achieved results make him proud and he encourages colleagues to adopt the same mindset. Keywords are: energetic, active, ambitious. An engaged employee is constantly working to optimise the growth of your organisation.
In addition, the role of the employer is at least as important. He should be an inspirational employer for all employees. For this reason, the themes mentioned always work both ways.
Commitment
By commitment we mean the degree to which the employee wants to be part of the organization, the degree of pride and whether there is belief in the organization and its values.
Commitment is therefore an important predictor of loyalty.
A committed employer values its employees and pays genuine attention to the employee as a person.
(Personal) growth
(Continuous) growth is crucial, which you do by having challenges in your work and by meeting those challenges.
Personal growth consists of two parts. First, the image you have of your growth potential and second, the way you are working on your own skills now and have worked on them in the past.
As an employee, you yourself have a big role in this by being proactive and taking ownership. As an employer, you facilitate the employee’s growth.
Inclusivity
Is everyone within your organization given the same opportunities and possibilities? Are equal cases treated equally, and unequal cases treated unequally? That is the basis of inclusivity.
Inclusivity is about dealing with leadership, power, privilege, conflict, differences and similarities. With the aim of working effectively with differences and empowering each other with an open mind. Where diversity is mainly about ‘the mix of differences‘, inclusivity is about how we deal with this mix. Diversity is about numbers and percentages. Inclusivity is about behaviour, values and rules of the game. If you only pay attention to increasing diversity in a team or organisation, and do nothing to improve inclusion, there is a risk of missing the mark.
Within the organisation, ‘inclusivity’ is about the safety that is present to let a different voice be heard, that safety can be both physical and mental. It is also about the level of acceptance, regardless of one’s background.
Mental Health
How confident are you going through (business) life? Everyone is sometimes insecure due to things like stress, busyness or lack of purpose. This is not a bad thing. By looking at your mental well-being, you will gain insight into your self-image. This can help you feel more confident and get the best out of yourself.
The central question in this theme is how do you assess your mental well-being within the organisation?
Working together
How do you and your colleagues make a concerted effort to achieve your goals? Within this theme, we look at how you look at the team you work in, for example, do you share the same goals? It is also important not to confuse cooperation with ‘sociability’. Of course it is nice when it is fun, but in a good cooperation you also dare to tell each other the truth and there is respect for everyone.
Vitality
Mental and physical fitness positively impacts behaviour and performance, at work and certainly outside. Vitality is wrongly confused with being (only) physically fit. We distinguish 3 components: first, the resilience to overcome any challenge; second, the physical energy to perform a task; and third, the motivation to achieve personal goals.
Job satisfaction (fun at work)
Happy employees perform better, are sick less often, stay with you longer and are the best ambassadors for any organisation. For this reason, job satisfaction (or fun at work) is high on the agenda of most employers. The employer, the manager and the employee all have an important role to play in promoting job satisfaction. We like to derive our definition of job satisfaction from author Alexander Kjerulf’s definition: “Job satisfaction is the pleasure you experience through your work”.