Employee Engagement: Myth vs. Truth

These two words are changing everything: “Employee Engagement”

Bombarded with ideas of what employee engagement means, struggle with how to implement this in our businesses. But many of these ideas are not authentic representations of what’s happening in our offices.

We’re debunking the myths employers often believe about Employee Engagement.

Myth: Higher compensation = higher satisfaction.

80% of workers don’t consider money a factor in engagement. While fancy compensation packages work for some, the majority of employees simply aren’t motivated by money.

Truth: Opportunity for growth is essential to employee engagement.

What does work, however, is when employees have a place to grow and learn. Many employees are disengaged because they lack challenging assignments or don’t see how their position plays into the overall mission and vision of the company. By providing a path to success, employers can motivate their employees through a sense of purpose when they walk through the door every day.

Myth: Employees love trendy workplace policies and perks.

We see perks like work from home policies popping up left and right, but is this really what employees want? Often these employees become victims of “out of sight, out of mind” by the very policy meant to incentivize them.

Truth: Employees want to be heard.

While offering remote working perks is great for some, the root of the issue is that employees want to be heard. With increasing diversity, it’s key that employers take the time to listen and understand the challenges of their workforce, and ensure that everyone feels like part of the team.

Myth: Every manager knows what it takes to engage employees.

The Association for Talent Development states that a “New survey finds that most managers enter the role without formal training.” It’s obvious that employee engagement, like other management skills, involves proper training and development which is simply not a focus in many of our business practices.

Truth: Every manager needs to learn how to engage employees.

There are so many things we think about employee engagement that simply aren’t true. As part of your onboarding practice, managers should learn the keys to employee engagement, starting with knowing the difference between employee engagement and employee happiness. New manager? Start here.

Myth: Non-cash rewards don’t work as well as cash.

Think a $50 bill is better than a pat on the back? Yes, there is a time and a place for putting your money where your mouth is; but, research shows that more and more employees are seeking recognition and rewards above monetary compensation.

Truth: Recognition and rewards improves business results.

Bersin & Associates, through extensive research, proved that employers who implement employee recognition practices produce 12 times more business results than their counterpart. This evidence is huge in not only showing the importance of recognition on employee engagement, but also its impact on the overall success of our business.

Don’t let what you think about employee engagement trump the realities of what your employees want.