The Age of Employee Engagement

The modern day employee is in a unique position. While possessing--and utilizing on a daily basis--technologies that allow them to be more efficient, they also find more expected of them. For many employees the 9-to-5 jobs that started when they walked in the door and stopped for the night when they walked out, are a thing of the past.

The New Work-Life Balance

While employees see their personal lives blur with their professional lives, their bosses are presented with an equally unique situation: while more is expected of their employees because of the levels of efficiency that modern technology allows them, the bosses have to find ways to manage expectations so that employees do not become overburdened. The simple fact remains: if you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.

Modern Struggles for Today's CEOs

Employee engagement in 2015 isn’t what employee engagement was in 2005, or 1995, particularly for the employees. When their companies approach them with questionnaires and surveys asking them about their current work situation, the knee-jerk reaction for any employee is to say, “things are great!” Whether this is a response to the age-old boss versus employee dynamic that still exists in many office places, or a simple distrust for management, the fact remains that bosses face multiple challenges when trying to engage their employees.

The Rise of Effective Employee Engagement

How do bosses find common ground with their employees, where they can engage in useful fact-finding to better improve business operations? The key to better employee engagement is to minimize the time and effort required for information to be submitted. Bite-sized surveys that employees can finish in a few quick moments offer valuable insight to the company, ensure that the employee feels as if their opinion really does matter, and is minimally invasive, so they don’t feel as if they are being spied-upon. New and emerging tools are letting researchers create an efficient, automated process for managing these surveys, making for the most efficient manner of market research to become subliminal.

It has been known for some time that stress affects productivity negatively, but to what end is currently unknown; stress affects individuals differently, and is contingent on factors outside of workload or whether a particular brand of coffee is available in the office kitchen. Gathering information to better improve the professional lives of your employees is crucial, and effectiveness doesn’t have to be sacrificed to ensure honesty.

Tip of the Day:

Keeping surveys brief and painless can make a difference in the day-to-day lives of your employees, because they know that their company cares.