How does EE differ from ESatisfaction?

[Loretta Donovan]

I find that managers who have experience with employee satisfaction surveys think that they measure employee engagement. My instinct is that engagement is more complex as it looks at many dimensions of the work experience. Satisfaction surveys seem to be more one-dimensional. How do you explain the difference?

[Fraser Marlow]

Hi Loretta,

This is a great topic. Many of the organizations we work with are making the transition of worrying about satisfaction and retention to being genuinely concerned about engagement. I think there is a growing understanding that these are different aspects of employee's relationship with their work and the organizations that employ them.

Definitions may differ, but the key point is that engagement is a sustainable state of focused energy. While we can be really satisfied with our situation, this does not mean that we are focused on the right things or for that matter working hard.
Our definition of engagement looks at two intersecting variables:satisfaction and contribution. I am probably not doing it much justice here, but my colleague Stephen Parker does a much better job in this 5 minute web presentation!
If you want to see details of the model in writing, check out the 2008 report.

I hope this adds value to the discussion! Fraser.

[Derek Irvine]

This is a very important question to understand, Loretta. There are very many resources on this network to help guide you, but one definition of engagement that I find particularly useful is engagement measures how invested an employee is delivering the outcomes the company needs to succeed and how much of their discretionary effort they are willing to give to that end. Satisfaction is merely "I like my job. I like the company. I'm happy to stay here for awhile."

I always advocate the Gallup Q12 survey as a good place to start (below). And I've also given some other good questions to include on an engagement (not just satisfaction) survey below the Q12. This is by no means a definitive list however. I'd throw it out to the group. What are some other good engagement survey questions?

Gallup Q12
1. Do you know what is expected of you at work?
2. Do you have the materials and equipment you need to do your work right?
3. At work, do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every day?
4. In the last seven days, have you received recognition or praise for doing good work?
5. Does your supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about you as a person?
6. Is there someone at work who encourages your development?
7. At work, do your opinions seem to count?
8. Does the mission/purpose of your company make you feel your job is important?
9. Are your associates (fellow employees) committed to doing quality work?
10. Do you have a best friend at work?
11. In the last six months, has someone at work talked to you about your progress?
12. In the last year, have you had opportunities at work to learn and grow?


Other questions (for a 1-5 or 1-10 type scale rating);
* I receive feedback on my efforts at least weekly.
* I know how my efforts at work make a difference to the company achieving its strategic objectives.
* I apply the company values in how I do my work every day.
* I choose to work until the job is done well, not when the clock hits 5:00.
* I notice the stellar efforts of my colleagues.
* I thank my colleagues for their above-and-beyond efforts, even if it doesn’t impact my work directly.
* I know my boss appreciates my efforts.
* I know my colleagues appreciate my efforts.
* I know I help make my team stronger/better in achieving our goals.
* I willingly give time to helping teammates perform better in their tasks.
* I’m committed to the success of (company) as an organization.
* I would whole-heartedly recommend (company) as a great place to work to my friends and family.
* I’m committed to building a career at (company).

[Vikrant Gusain]

Hi Irvine,
It is really good that you have provided additional stuff to the existing Q12 .It can help in giving a better picture of the engagaed employee.
I am amanagement student and undergoing a project on employee engagement in a automobile manufacturing company.I am using Gallup Q12 as an instrument fo my survey.But I am facing problem as to how to analyse it as I am not awre of the benchmark set up by Gallup.
Could you please help me out in this by suggesting some reference or books or websites

[David Zinger]

I appreciated the X model from Blessing White that Fraser provided a link to.

I think the Gallup Q12 plus other questions that Derek offered can give some great indicators of engagement.

I also agree with you Loretta that engagement is complex yet I tend to think of satisfaction as feeling good and engagement as feeling good and doing good. Engagement, to me, represents a hearty action component while satisfaction does not require this action.

[Loretta Donovan]

David,

As usual you hit the nail on the head. In saying "Engagement, to me, represents a hearty action component while satisfaction does not require this action", you capture what I have believed is overlooked . . . that satisfaction implies a one dimensional accountability for improvement on the part of the manager, while engagement assumes commitment from both the manager and the employee for two dimensional accountability for improved relationships and delivering better quality and quantity work.

[Bob Gately]

Hello Loretta:

From a business perspective employee engagement is a useful construct only if it can be used to help employees become more productive, longer tenured, less stressed, and more easily managed. In other words, an engaged employee is intrinsically motivated to be successful in his job. Of course an engaged employee needs to be competent as well as intrinsically motivated.

Employee engagement is not something employers or their employees do.

Employee engagement is something employers get in return for doing all things well.

Our experience suggests that 20% of the workforce is engaged in their jobs.

Employee surveys don’t measure employee engagement but they might measure employee satisfaction.

We cannot measure employee engagement with an employee satisfaction survey.

Employee engagement and employee satisfaction are two different things.

Employee engagement is what we get when an employee is motivated by the job and is successful in the job and is well managed by the supervisor and paid fairly by management.

Employee satisfaction is what we get when we give employees things they want whether or not they are engaged by their jobs.

If we work to satisfy our employees, we may well decrease employee engagement because we will be focusing on the wrong things.

Bob

[Kevin Sheridan]

Hi Loretta,

As the CEO of a Management Consulting Firm providing Employee Survey services to many clients I have made it a point to address this question. The attached article outlines the difference between Employee Opinion Surveys, Employee Satisfaction Surveys, Employee Engagement Surveys, and Culture Surveys. Their titles are similar, but the article explains the differences. I hope it is useful to you.

All the best,
Kevin

[Jon Ingham]

I've just posted on this. To me the key differences are their point in an HR value chain, and the level of value they contain:

http://strategic-hcm.blogspot.com/2009/03/engagement-and-satisfaction-activity.html
http://strategic-hcm.blogspot.com/2009/03/engagement-vs-satisfaction-increasing.html