Why Engaged Employees Help the Workplace Culture

Plan for Quarterly Employee Driven Engagement Events

Purpose/Goal Statement

The purpose of employee-driven engagement events is to create opportunities for people to interact in non-work-related activities to build community and a sense of team. New employees will have opportunities to meet others, feel included, and build a positive workplace culture.

Background

We were tasked with reviewing the results of the All-Employee Survey (AES), identifying a need, researching obstacles, and developing a solution to address the area of need. The end state of this process is to provide the Regional Office Director and Veteran Service Center Management team with an executive-level briefing of our recommendations.

Methodology

This project sought to identify the relationship between engagement, job satisfaction, turnover, and workplace culture. The data was gathered through the All-Employee Survey (AES).The method involved reviewing AE scores and evaluating them categorically to determine the relationship between engagement, job satisfaction, turnover, and workplace culture. The AES is a standard measure of employee satisfaction that includes questions on engagement, job satisfaction, and turnover.

Barriers/Risk

Employee engagement has been shown to have a positive effect on organizational outcomes such as profitability, customer satisfaction, and productivity. Despite these benefits, employee engagement remains a challenge for many organizations. A number of factors can serve as barriers to employee engagement, including a lack of trust in management, a lack of clarity about organizational goals, and a lack of opportunity for employees to provide input on decisions that affect them. Additionally, engaging employees can be riskier than other types of engagement because it requires giving employees more autonomy and authority. When done properly, however, employee engagement can result in significant benefits for both employees and employers.

Findings

The 2022 AES scores showed that only 35 percent of respondents are engaged at work. The survey revealed 41 percent had mixed answers, and 19% are disengaged. Engagement scores overall showed no improvement and the number of disengaged employees increased by 2 percentage points from the 2021 survey. Additionally, the Regional Office has grown with hiring initiatives. For example, the Veteran Service Center has hired more than 130 Rating Veteran Service Representatives in Fiscal Year 2022. According to the AES Action Plan on the AES Dashboard, disengaged employees tend to see their jobs as burdensome, unsatisfying, or merely transactional. Engaged employees are key to organizational performance and success. With higher engagement, there is lower turnover, reduced absenteeism, increased productivity, strengthened inclusion and belonging, and supports a positive workplace culture. With low engagement and more hiring on the horizon, there is potential for engagement to further decrease without intervention.

Thus, the results showed that there is a strong relationship between engagement, job satisfaction, and workplace culture. employees who are more engaged are more likely to be satisfied with their jobs and have a positive view of their workplace cultures. In addition, employees who are more engaged are less likely to turnover. These results suggest that organizations should focus on increasing employee engagement in order to improve job satisfaction and reduce turnover.

Conclusion

A plan is needed to improve engagement. That plan should be based on employee-driven engagement. This type of plan starts with an understanding of what employees need and want from their jobs. From there, it identifies specific actions that can be taken to improve engagement levels. By basing the plan on the needs and preferences of employees, organizations can increase the likelihood that it will be successful in improving engagement.

Action Plan/Recommendation/Implementation Results

Our recommendation: Develop a plan for quarterly employee-driven engagement events. These events are opportunities to bring employees together in both planning, execution, and participation in the competition. Utilize required in-office days to bring together employees on various work units in the competition. Events should be widely and regularly advertised with eye-catching graphics and management support. MS Form signup sheets will be used and will have measurable results of participation.

The following items are recommended for implementation:

1. Chili Cookoff- Teams will use the various break rooms in the office to set up. Employees will vote for their favorite and winners will potentially receive a gift card or other prizes.

2. Employee Retreat- This version of an employee retreat is based on managing stress, and how to cope with stressful events at the job. The coach and team member or members decides collectively when to schedule a retreat for relaxation and attendance to a few scheduled courses that involve coping with stress at the job. In our version teams of no more than 3 employees will be allowed to be away from the workplace at any given time. No one will be allowed to miss any courses that are scheduled during the retreat. The purpose is strictly for rebuilding the ability to handle mental stress at work and in their everyday life. Members that participate in the retreats must have the required number of annual leave days at no cost to the employer.