An Examination of Employee Engagement
Tom Hill
Abstract: Research by the Gallup organization shows that both employee engagement and employee satisfaction relate to meaningful outcomes. However, satisfaction is primarily attitudinal — like organizational loyalty or pride — with certain aspects that are irrelevant to performance. Engagement, on the other hand, predicts satisfaction and other concrete business outcomes (Blizzard, 2003). In the publication, Employee Engagement: Tools for Analysis, Practice, and Competitive Advantage, the authors claim a fundamental distinction between engagement and satisfaction is that engagement connotes energy and not satiation; while satisfaction connotes satiation and contentment but not energy. According to an HR Magazine cover story entitled, Getting Engaged, engagement has little to do with how much an employee is paid and little to do with employee satisfaction; some employees are highly satisfied to be under minimal pressure to produce. Conversely, engagement has a lot to do with how an employee feels about the work experience and how he or she is treated. It has a lot to do with emotions. This is not to say that job satisfaction is unimportant. In addition to being engaged, truly happy employees will be satisfied with their salaries, benefits, schedules, and other items that do not directly relate to engagement. Engagement is about how people think and, more importantly, how they feel. In fact, neuroscience and psychology coalesce to inform us that emotions triumph over reason. According to noted neuroscientist Antonio Damasio, emotions direct us to the sector of the decision-making space