Top 5 myths about employee engagement

Hester Gras

Every now and then they pop up again; stories on how to drive employee engagement and the do’s and don’ts. People often refer to how they are used to working but, the tides have changed. Although there are no set rules on how to deal with employee engagement, some stories are just not true. So, let’s kill some myths for once and for all.

Myth 1. Social media is not important

Are we still in the 00’s? Back then it was perfectly fine to think that social media has nothing to do with the workplace. There were rules about using social media during worktime. Nowadays social media is fully integrated in our daily lives and thus at the workplace so, of course it has something to do with employee engagement. Social media is key when it comes to collaboration among teams and interaction between colleagues. There are plenty of social platforms which focus on the workplace such as Yammer and Slack. Read more about them on our blog about social enterprise platforms.

Myth 2. High performers don’t need extra motivation

Recent research of Michael C. Fina shows that low performers are actually more engaged than middle or high performers. One of the main reasons is because they have more contact with their manager. So, don’t forget about the employees that are already good performers and motivating themselves. They too need attention on a personal level from their manager.

Myth 3. You can’t measure employee engagement

Indeed, it is hard to measure employee engagement. We believe that in order to do so, you will need well set KPI’s and the right tools. Measuring employee engagement is all about knowing what’s going on, understanding employees and see things through their perspective. You might want to consider both qualitative as quantitative research. So, on the one hand you can use surveys and interviews and on the other hand you can use data. Data such as the amount of visits, time spent, time of usage, number of visits per user and return period on your internal communications platform.

Myth 4. Money is key driver for employee engagement

Actually this is one of the most stubborn myths when we talk about employee engagement. It’s important to pay your employees enough so, they can actually think about work and not about money. But, science has proven that when it comes to conceptual creative thinking money rewards won’t work. Key drivers which are stronger than money are autonomy, mastery and purpose. Keen on finding out more about this topic? Read our blog “the surprising truth about what motivates employees”.

Myth 5. Sending a mail to all your employees is all you need to do to inform them

We wish it was this easy actually. Maybe in the mediums early years it worked but, nowadays we deal with an information overload. So, you might want to consider a more personalized approach to inform employees.

Are you interested in gaining more insight on improving employee engagement? Or how to personalize internal communication? Don’t hesitate to give us a call! We’d be happy to brainstorm with you.

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