Employee engagement is more than just a buzzword— it’s the driving force behind a thriving workplace. As a manager, your influence directly impacts the engagement levels of your employees, shaping their experience and sense of purpose within the organization. This article will guide you through understanding engagement from a managerial perspective, exploring strategies for fostering an engaged team, and utilizing 15Five’s tools to effectively measure and improve engagement outcomes. By creating a culture where employees feel valued and invested in, you’ll not only enhance your team’s productivity but also contribute to the long-term success of your organization.
In this article, you will learn...
- What is employee engagement? 🌟
- Why should I care? 💡
- What should I expect? 📝
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) ❓
- Additional resources 📝
What is employee engagement? 🌟
Here at 15Five, we define employee engagement as "the emotional commitment and passion that an employee has towards their work and employer, demonstrated by their willingness to expend discretionary effort to help the organization succeed."
To go a level deeper, we believe that employee engagement is impacted by a person's belief in their organization's goals and values. It is characterized by enthusiasm, dedication, and a willingness to invest effort in work activities.
Engaged employees are...
- Motivated to contribute to the organization’s success 📈
- Feel a sense of purpose and satisfaction in their work 🌟
- Often go above and beyond in their roles 🚀
Did you catch the part of the definition about “helping the organization succeed”? The more an employee is driven by passion and purpose, the more meaning they'll find at work and the more profound the bottom-line impacts will be for the business at large. High levels of engagement typically result in increased productivity, better performance, and lower turnover rates.
Furthermore, engagement is not equal to job satisfaction. Anyone can be satisfied with a job that meets their basic needs and still lack the inspiration and motivation needed to excel— and that’s a big deal. When employees are engaged, a subsequent path to value ensues. That’s a far cry from employees who are merely happy with their employers and satisfied with the work they do.
Why should I care? 💡
Good question! You just got an email asking you to log into 15Five, and you’re probably thinking, “Another tool?” With everything you’re juggling as a manager—meeting KPIs, balancing budgets, coaching, and handling team dynamics—the last thing you need is more on your plate. Can you relate?
Here’s why this matters: your ability to deliver results ultimately depends on the engagement and strength of your people. You can’t afford to just guess how your team feels or throw quick fixes at them and hope it works.
15Five’s Engagement tool is here to help. It’s been designed with one goal in mind: to make it easier for you to know how your team is truly feeling about their work, their impact, and, yes— even your management. This isn’t about adding to your workload or putting you on the spot.
Here’s what’s in it for you:
- Reduced drama and smoother team dynamics
- Higher retention of your top talent
- A clear list of your team’s needs, prioritized
- Team members who take ownership of their work
- Growth in your own skills, management path, and impact
- A team that makes you and the company look great
The rest of this article provides you with resources you can use to view, analyze, and act on your team's results. If you have outstanding questions, don’t hesitate to ask your HR Team for assistance or contact our Support Team.
Let's dive in.
What should I expect? 📝
Before the survey
When your organization sends out an engagement survey, you will receive an email from surveys@15five.com and/or a text message inviting you to participate by clicking on the survey URL. You will also see an action item on your homepage with a link to complete your survey.
During the survey
Access your engagement survey using the link included in your invite and fill out the survey statements.
After you finish answering survey statements, you'll be asked to share optional feedback about an area that you scored higher or lower than other areas on the survey, giving you the opportunity to expand on why certain topics resonated more with you, or where you feel there’s room for improvement.
As a manager, you play a huge role in driving your team's participation in engagement surveys. We recommend taking the following actions to reach a 100% response rate for your team:
-
Lead by Example: Submit your survey early. This shows your commitment to the process and lets you experience the survey firsthand, so you're ready to answer any questions your team may have.
-
Announce in Team Meetings: Remind your team about the survey in meetings and on team channels throughout the course of the survey.
- Share the 'Why': Explain the value of their input, such as how survey insights will shape upcoming projects, policies, or team initiatives. Reference our "Engagement for employees" article to learn more about benefits for employees.
- Emphasize Confidentiality: Reassure your team that their responses are confidential and provide clarity on how feedback will be used to drive positive change. Read about 15Five's confidentiality policy for engagement surveys.
-
Add to 1-on-1 Agendas: Include the survey as a talking point in your 1-on-1s. This creates an open space for direct reports to ask questions about confidentiality, content, or purpose, helping to alleviate any concerns they may have.
- Celebrate Milestones: Research indicates that celebrating progress— even small wins— can significantly boost motivation across your workforce. As your team reaches participation milestones (e.g., 50%, 75%), acknowledge their effort and keep up the momentum by sharing how close they are to 100% completion. You can ask admins in your organization to provide you with your team's current completion rate at any point.
After the survey
As a manager, it's likely that an admin has granted you limited access to engagement results for your team. Once the survey is complete, your Leadership Team will likely share your team's engagement results with you. You can view results using the steps in our "View engagement results as a Limited Access Leader" article.
Note
You can only view results for your team if at least 3-5 people responded to the survey, based on your organization's selected confidentiality threshold.
Following survey completion, you'll have the opportunity to create Action Plans based on your team's results to improve the elements detracting from engagement. DO THIS! Gallup warns that failing to act on engagement survey results can lead to lower engagement, higher turnover, and declining response rates in future surveys. By taking specific, targeted action, you demonstrate your commitment to employee feedback, leading to improved morale and sustained engagement.
If the Manager Effectiveness survey was included in the engagement campaign, your direct reports will respond to statements about how you live out 15Five's Manager Effectiveness Competencies (and you'll do the same for your manager!). These statements help pinpoint key areas for celebration and actionable areas for improvement in the way you lead your team.
When your leadership shares these results with you, take them to heart! Try not to be discouraged if some feedback highlights areas for growth. Instead, view it as an opportunity to strengthen your skills and enhance your impact as a leader. Remember, every piece of feedback is a chance to learn, adapt, and ultimately support your team more effectively. Focus on actionable insights, celebrate your strengths, and embrace development areas with a growth mindset.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) ❓
On the surface, “job satisfaction” and “employee engagement” seem interchangeable. But a happy employee doesn’t always mean a healthy, engaged one.
In the past, this misunderstanding has led organizations to try and improve satisfaction by simply throwing money at the problem of disengaged workers with increased pay and perks. But when employee engagement is built on motivation and commitment, those things won’t do much to make people stay.
Think of it this way:
- Job satisfaction: You’re leaning back in your chair. Not unhappy, but not all that excited about your work either.
- Employee engagement: You’re leaning forward in your chair. You’re excited and motivated to do great work and move the business forward.
The graphic below illustrates key differences between job satisfaction and employee engagement. While satisfaction focuses on surface-level perks and short-term fixes, engagement digs deeper, addressing meaningful aspects that drive long-term motivation and performance.
In summary, job satisfaction can be driven by perks and comfort but may not lead to productivity or retention, whereas employee engagement taps into a sense of purpose, driving higher levels of commitment, performance, and organizational loyalty. For organizations, understanding this distinction is key to creating a thriving work environment where employees feel both satisfied and engaged, leading to better outcomes for everyone.
Employee engagement is a key driver of overall business success. According to Gallup, companies with highly engaged employees have 21% higher profitability. And disengagement can be extremely costly. In studies by the Queens School of Business and Gallup, disengaged workers had 37% higher absenteeism, 49% more accidents, and 60% more errors and defects.
Learn more in our "Use 15Five to increase employee engagement" article.
15Five's core platform is made up of continuous performance management features that are strategically designed to help managers be more effective. It includes features like High Fives, Weekly 1-on-1s, Check-ins, and Best-Self Kickoff. Learn more about how these features impact engagement.
Through conversations with HR leaders, 15Five has developed eight Manager Effectiveness competencies and behaviors that are top-of-mind in determining how effective managers are. Leaders can assess how their managers are living out these competencies by holding a manager effectiveness engagement survey or manager effectiveness review cycle. Understanding how you're living out these competencies allows you to focus on areas of celebration and improvement so you can better support your team and grow your career. They are:
- Managing Oneself
- Demonstrating Business Acumen
- Setting Goals
- Enabling Productivity
- Giving and Receiving Feedback
- Influence Others
- Supporting Career Growth
- Building Strong Teams
Additional resources 📝
- Academy course 🎓: Engagement Surveys for Managers
- Help Center article 💡: View engagement results as a Limited Access Leader
- Help Center article 💡: Confidentiality for engagement surveys
- Help Center article 💡: Engagement for employees
- Help Center article 💡: Engagement: Feature Overview
- Help Center article 💡: Contact 15Five