Short blogs | 5 MIN READ TIME

A useful employee engagement definition in plain English

by

a simple employee engagement definition

An employee engagement definition can get complicated. As complicated as someone wants it to be, really.

It’s the kind of concept that becomes nebulous and hard to pin down once someone dresses it up too much. Or tries to twist it to fit their own agenda.

We’ve got a simple, workable employee engagement definition. And a bit of detail on why a simple definition matters.

A simple employee engagement definition:

“Emotional and professional commitment from an employee to their employer’s goals.”

What’s in a name?

It’s easy to see how that definition could start to be slathered around so thin it loses meaning. It’s more than morale, but it’s connected to morale.

It’s more than motivation, or loyalty, but connected to both. It’s more than rewards and recognition, but they’re both part of it.

That confusion makes employee engagement an easy concept to run away with.

Just like the word “engagement” itself. A word so overused that it’s close to losing all real meaning.

You can rightfully call everything from a website click to a purchase engagement.

That’s why it matters that you get a clear definition sorted out. The importance of employee engagement is spreading through the wider HR consciousness.

If you want to take it seriously, you need a clear idea of what engagement actually means to your company.

Why we talk about employee engagement

We reflect our clear definition of engagement in our work. What we do helps businesses generate that sense of emotional investment.

We do that with recognition, rewards, benefits and incentives.

How those tools affect employee engagement:

  • RecognitionRecognition improves the relationships between staff, managers, and work. When employee hear their worth in the workplace, they believe it. And people invest themselves in places they feel they’re appreciated.
  • RewardsRewards amplify the feeling of satisfaction employees get from their achievements. Non-cash rewards become trophies that inspire and motivate employees in the future.
  • Benefits – Making your workplace an asset to your employees. That includes mental health outcomes like financial support, helplines and childcare vouchers. And it includes physical health benefits like cycle to work schemes and cash off medical care.
  • Incentives – Incentives drive employees to invest in their work. And big-ticket incentive rewards like group travel and VIP experiences create life-long memories for your biggest achievers.

Combined, you can see how these ideas hark back to the definition of employee engagement.

Be similarly strict about engagement when you’re discussion in your workplace. It’s a simple benchmark to measure your success against after your first few employee engagement surveys.