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Employee engagement: What are the main barriers?

Employee engagement is a part of HR that is really close to my heart. From the start of my career, my engagement levels have followed the same sort of pattern as my body weight – shooting up and down like an elevator on steroids! There is research all over the web filled with tips on how to boost employee engagement but does the research say about what you should avoid? What are the main causes of employee disengagement?

TINYpulse conducted a survey of over 400 000 employees at 300 different organisations and found the following key facts about employee engagement.

1. Less than 50% of employees know their company's vision and mission

This statistic is absolutely shocking. From induction, employees should be informed of their organisation's vision and goals. This should also be reinforced throughout the employment cycle and employees must be encouraged to align their personal goals with those of their companies.

2. Just under 20% of employees believe that their managers have not clearly outlined their role and responsibilities

Setting out clear and thorough job descriptions for your employees is extremely important. You can't expect an employee to be highly engaged if he doesn't know where he fits into the company and what his duties are.

3. Employee happiness depends on co-workers and not on direct managers

According to IEDP, employee happiness is 23.3% more correlated to connections with co-workers than direct supervisors. There is a very strong correlation between employee happiness and their rating of co-workers.

4. Stop, collaborate and listen

According to the survey, the top qualities that employees appreciate from their co-workers are the ability to work in a team and collaboration. It may be worthwhile for companies recruiting new employees to screen candidates for these qualities.

5. Employees' feedback needs to be taken into account

Eighteen percent of the responses included a suggestion that organisations that don't promote employee suggestions are at innovation disadvantage, says IEDP. Giving your employees the chance to be a part of decision-making in your company – for instance, by setting up a suggestion box – will make them feel more appreciated and valuable in the scheme of things, which will ultimately lead to higher engagement levels.

6. Transparency at the top leads to high employee engagement from the bottom up

Transparency at senior management level is one of the determining factors for employee engagement. It's also a transformation that can be made at zero cost. All that is required is an open and regular dialogue between management and staff. More and more companies need to incorporate transparency into their corporate culture as it's a powerful tool to attract and retain talent.

Frew Murdoch is the assistant editor of HR Pulse. She has a BA degree in communications and English and a passion for HR technology. Christine Botha, co-author of 'Ethics in HR Management: A guide for HR professionals and line managers', had this to say: "I stumbled across your review of our Ethics Guide published 28 June 2012 and wish to thank you for the positive and complimentary comments made – this was a lovely surprise and most rewarding. I will certainly pass this on to all co-authors of the Guide."