Combining Employee Engagement and Performance

For a diverse country with a large workforce, it was surprising that India came out on top in global trends in the employee engagement scores at 79 %, in the recently conducted Qaltrix study. It was equally surprising that Japan was at the bottom of this trend at 35%, with the global average being in the 52-53 % range. Do these statistics imply that Indian companies are better performers than their counterparts in other parts of the world?

Employee engagement is generally understood as a measure of the attitude, levels of energy, emotional commitment and satisfaction towards work. Firms have been spending a lot of time and effort over the years in measuring the employee engagement levels using a set of questions which run over multiple pages. Typically, this survey is a stand-alone exercise and results are reported as an indication of the executive performance. It is debatable whether the company engagement scores are viewed seriously by the Board of Directors or are taken as one of the necessary “compliance” parameters that goes reported after quarterly meetings.

What is more evident is that there are rarely any linkages between the company’s performance appraisal system and the employee engagement survey.

If the employee engagement surveys are to become more meaningful as a tool, it will be essential to recognize that the two need to be linked. This can enable implementation of the types of programs that make a difference at an organizational level. If employees are connected with overall organizational goals through linkages to their roles in contributing to achieve these with their individual goals, we are likely to see higher engagement and performance.

Thus, rather than treating employee engagement surveys as a stand-alone exercise, it is well worth making it a part of the performance appraisal system, and providing every role in the organization with a measurable parameter contributing to overall objectives of the organization. Employees who understand the bigger picture are likely to be better engaged and be higher performers, as they see the impact of their contribution towards the success of an organization.