This morning, I visited a well-known fast-food restaurant in hopes of grabbing a “highly nutritious” breakfast on my way to a meeting. As I pulled up to the drive through speaker, I heard “What can I get for you today?” I placed my order and received a short “$5.85”. And then silence. Driving further to the window it was easy to tell that the employee wanted to be anywhere but there. He had a long day ahead. In the end, I received the breakfast, and the order was correct but the experience was lacking. 

Perhaps I’m expecting too much but the level of engagement that I experienced when interacting with this restaurant’s brand was really low. The next time I want breakfast, I will think twice about whether I want to visit that restaurant.

Now contrast that visit with one that you’ve likely experienced where an employee is highly engaged, happy to help you and believes in the product that they are selling. It’s a completely different experience and, more than likely, will result in your wanting to not only come back to the business but ask for that particular employee. Long term, you know that this business is more likely to thrive and grow than the former. 

What’s behind engagement and why does it really matter as long as the work is getting done? In short, employee engagement is the demonstrated behavior of employees who are interested in performing their best work not only for a paycheck but because they believe in the business and what it stands for. 

It’s the demonstration of a conscious commitment to spread the brand message and leads to employees exhibiting discretionary effort… the “more-than-minimum” effort that often makes the difference between a poor and incredible customer experience. It yields something greater than passive agreement and compliance. It’s also one of the reasons that businesses with highly engaged employees tend to outperform their competition by just over 200%.

The neuroscience behind employee engagement is interesting. When someone is highly engaged in their activities, the brain chemical dopamine is released and it activates the “reward” and self-regulation circuitry. The “threat” circuitry is also activated but to a much lesser degree. The result is an individual who wants to keep themselves in that reward state. Because the dopamine is released into the pre-frontal cortex (the “thinking” part of the brain) and other related regions, there’s a positive effect on several cognitive and emotional functions. 

Over the last two years, it’s become increasingly important to focus on employee engagement, especially when it comes to managing the effects of the changes we’ve experienced in work environment, location and process. Middle managers in particular have had to develop an even better understanding about the importance of engagement and how it can be driven even in a hybrid environment. 

How is your organizational health when it comes to employee engagement levels?

• Can your employees visualize what happens when they are successful in their roles?
• Do you notice that your employees are staying connected and interested in the nature of their responsibilities and your company overall?
• Do you observe them putting discretionary effort into their activities to ensure successful outcomes?
• Does your customer experience feedback suggest that employees are doing as much as they can to build your brand?
• Is there regular and proactive communication occurring throughout your team about how to further improve and innovate?
• Do you get the sense that employees trust and care for one another, building a sense of belonging and motivation?

It’s about far more than simply making sure that your employees are “happy”. Happy is fleeting. Focus on driving engagement. 

• Talk with them about the purpose and impact of the business.
• Help them clearly understand the vision of what’s to come.
• Learn how or whether they connect personally with its mission.
• Make sure that the values of the organization are consistent with how business actually gets done.
• Work with your middle managers and front-line leaders to ensure that they are driving a sense of connection between your employees and the organization.
• Find opportunities to be a living example of how to drive engagement in others.
• Remember that the biggest contributor to employee engagement is their relationship with leadership. 

Engagement plays a major role in driving retention and results. Make it a part of your operating playbook.