What is Employee Engagement?
To answer the question “What is employee engagement?” let’s turn to the famous visit President John F Kennedy made to NASA in 1962. He noticed a janitor carrying a broom during his visit and promptly interrupted his tour to engage with the man
"Hi, I’m Jack Kennedy. What are you doing?"
The Jainitor replied:
"I'm helping put a man on the moon"
The answer to “What is employee engagement” is this janitor. They are an engaged employee who understands their role in the organisational goals.
Employee engagement flows from the top to the bottom of an organisation, goals are achieved if everyone involved is aware and invested in them.
Employee engagement goes beyond social activities and events. Engaged employees understand their role and how important they are to achieving a company’s goals. They want to come to work, they know what is expected of them and how vital their role is in the overall picture.
it is about your employees feeling pride and loyalty working for your organisation, being a great advocate of the organisation to its clients and going the extra mile to finish a piece of work.
The Facts & Figures
A staggering 70% of employees don’t feel highly engaged. This presents a significant challenge for the UK, which currently ranks ninth in employee engagement among the world’s top twelve economies.
Since 2011, the UK has been grappling with a productivity deficit. Our output per worker lags 20% behind other G7 nations. This gap is further widened by employee disengagement, which has a substantial impact on overall performance.
In essence, enhancing employee engagement is not just a matter of boosting morale – it’s a critical factor in closing the productivity gap and improving the UK’s standing on the global stage. It’s time to turn our attention to employee engagement and unlock the full potential of our workforce.
Ambassador
The target state! They are very enthusiastic about their work and their employer. They give their best and make significant efforts to improve the business. Often going above and beyond without seeking praise or reward
Passive
They are at the club, but hang around the edge blending in. They do contribute to the company, but in at a minimum level. More than happy to stay with the business without fuss.
Detractor
They are not at all invested in their work at all and are totally disengaged. Sometimes, they even actively work against their company. This set shows a much higher rate of absenteeism and very low work output.
Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS)
An Employee Net Promoter Score (or eNPS) is a metric that is used to measure employee engagement and loyalty towards an organisation. The eNPS is directly correlated to the short-medium term intentions of an employee. It is a score that is often measured as part of a wider study looking at employee satisfaction. It is a calculation that shows which of the categories above your employees fit in.
There is a direct link between performance of a company and the engagement of their workforce. Working towards a good eNPS can help reduce your staff turnover, meaning less money needs to be spent on recruitment and training.
NewZapp has built-in eNPS tools that allow you to gauge your employee engagement, turn passive employees into ambassadors and help guide detractors into a mindset that benefits company and employee.
Relevant resources
Supporting employees with stress in the workplace
As an internal communicator you have a lot of strings to your bow. One of those includes supporting employees with stress in the
The Collaboration Clutter Crisis: Why Slack and Microsoft Teams Are Failing Internal Communications
Internal communication has become lost in the noise of tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams, where important updates compete with chat, notifications and
Creativity Is the New Compliance: Why Internal Comms Needs to Reclaim the Human Edge in an AI Workplace
As AI transforms the modern workplace, internal communicators must champion the human edge—prioritising creativity, empathy, and storytelling as strategic compliance essentials.
