Organizations need to start with employee satisfaction, but ultimately end with employee engagement
Employee engagement is a hot topic amongst today’s organizations with a goal of improving performance. That intense interest is now evolving into deeper thinking about company culture. Organizations across the globe are measuring employee satisfaction, and seriously assessing what kind of workplace culture they want and need in order to obtain and retain customers.
The problem is many organizational leaders mistake workforce satisfaction with employee engagement. It’s not enough to measure just satisfaction and happiness. That’s just the start. Employees need the proper mix of satisfaction and engagement.
Sure – companies that offer more perks like additional vacation time, foosball tournaments, an ice cream sundae bar, and free kayak rentals are cool, right? Those types of perks do create a more satisfactory work environment. Who doesn’t like a good ice cream sundae in the middle of a work day? But here’s the thing. Employees don’t want to be “satisfied” as much as they want to be engaged. Sure, they love the perks and it makes them happy to go to work each day, but that isn’t going to retain employees. Employees need the proper mix of satisfaction and engagement.
What employees really want is to work for an employer that offers not only good benefits and special perks, but more importantly, they want opportunities to grow and develop their strengths. Employees want meaningful and fulfilling work. They want a good job with leaders that present opportunities for consistent develop in an environment that encourages the use of individual strengths, everyday.
A successful workplace culture is one that fosters engagement and encourages individual contributions to the business. So what is the right culture for your organization? Please comment below.
