Employee engagement is a key statistic tracked by many organizations because it’s an extremely important factor for business success. Employee engagement has direct connections to employee morale, productivity, and turnover—not to mention employee-supported recruitment and marketing efforts. And, of course, engaged employees are also more likely to deliver a positive customer experience.
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Simply put, the more engaged your employees are, the more valuable they are to the organization for a variety of reasons.
Why Johns Hopkins Stands Out
On this front, there is good news for at least one employer. According to a recent article for HR Exchange, data from a recent Gallup poll conducted for Johns Hopkins University show that employee engagement is up noticeably for that employer, from an average score of 3.80 out of 5 in 2015 to 3.88 out of 5 in 2017.
HR Exchange explains that the Gallup survey was distributed to university and health system staff. Gallup used a combination of its “Q12” questions, which were also part of the 2012 and 2015 surveys, as well as questions provided by Johns Hopkins.
Gallup also added some open-ended questions on inclusivity and engagement. HR Exchange reports that 64% of staff across the university completed the survey, which is up 9% from the year before. Coincidentally, increases in survey responses are also a sign of improved employee engagement.
Other Organizations Have Room for Improvement
Unfortunately, other organizations may not fare as well. Gallup’s latest “State of the Global Workforce” report indicates that 18% of employees are “actively disengaged” but 67% are “not engaged.”
How dismal is the situation for these employers? HR Exchange says, “These individuals are not necessarily the worst performers at a company, but they are indifferent when it comes to their respective organizations. This translates to employees giving companies their time, but not the best version of their work.”
Still, employers don’t want the majority of their staff (85%, according to this survey) not to be engaged in their work.
Boosting employee engagement is an essential goal for any HR department. Johns Hopkins may provide a good benchmark for those who are struggling with boosting employee engagement.