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The Super Seven Factors for Employee Engagement

By Melanie Joy Douglas, Monster.ca

A new report identifies seven clear indicators of employee engagement and points to how Canadian employers should be addressing employee satisfaction and retention.

The independent study, conducted by WarrenShepell and Canadian HR Reporter, surveyed more than 300 organizational leaders across Canada. “The report’s data shows links between the presence of seven top job and workplace factors and positive employee mental health, a lower rate of turnover, and satisfaction,” explains Rod Phillips, president and CEO of WarrenShepell in a recent press statement.

The top seven workplace factors are as follows:

  1. Trust senior management.
  2. Asked for their ideas and opinions on important matters.
  3. Clearly understand the organization’s vision and strategic direction.
  4. Trust their supervisors.
  5. Receive recognition and praise for good work.
  6. Have a clear say in decisions that affect their work.
  7. Perceive their supervisors as caring and considerate of their well-being.

When asked to evaluate how much of a presence these top workplace characteristics had, Canadian business leaders responded as follows:

  1. Trust senior management: 37%
  2. Asked for their ideas and opinions on important matters: less than 50%
  3. Clearly understand the organization’s vision and strategic direction: 33%
  4. Trust their supervisors: 42%
  5. Receive recognition and praise for good work: less than 50%
  6. Have a clear say in decisions that affect their work: 34%
  7. Perceive their supervisors as caring and considerate of their well-being: 45%

“While business leaders may recognize the importance of the top seven factors,” says Phillips, “there is still a large gap between what employees need and what is being provided in Canadian workplaces.”

Note that money, compensation, and perks are not even in the top seven. Rather, intrinsic factors like psychological and emotional well-being are the drivers for employee contentment. Employees are concerned with an atmosphere of trust, input, and two-way communication with all levels of management.

John Hobel, acting publisher and editor of Canadian HR Reporter agrees that these survey results provide “a concise checklist for organizations to utilize when reviewing their own success in dealing with satisfaction, retention, and workplace mental health issues.”

WarrenShepell is a leading provider of Employee Assistance Programs. Canadian HR Reporter is Canada’s national journal of Human Resource management.