Staff engagement linked to customer experiences

There is a strong link between levels of employee engagement and the effort and commitment of employees to their company, and a consequent link with positive customer experiences, according to a research report by Temkin Group.

The report, entitled 'Employee Engagement Benchmark Study', examined the attitudes and behaviors of 2,435 US employees at for-profit organisations, and found that companies that are classed as 'customer experience leaders' have 2.5 times as many highly-engaged employees as do 'customer experience laggards'.

"Employee engagement is one of the key foundations to long-term success," said Bruce Temkin, author of the report and managing partner for Temkin Group.

As part of the research, Temkin Group used its Temkin Employee Engagement Index (TEEI) to gauge the level of employee engagement based on employees' agreement with the following three statements:

• I understand the overall mission of my company;
 
• My company asks for my feedback and acts upon my input;
 
• My company provides me with the training and tools I need to be successful.
The study found that 31% of employees are highly engaged while 23% are disengaged, and that highly engaged employees are extremely valuable to companies. Compared with disengaged employees, highly engaged employees are:

• 480% more committed to helping their company succeed.
 
• 250% more likely to do something good for the company that's unexpected of them.
 
• 250% more likely to make a recommendation about an improvement.
 
• 370% more likely to recommend that a friend or relative apply for a job.
 
• 30% less likely to take a sick day.

"Employee engagement has been one of the core competencies that we've stressed with companies for a long time and now we have quantitative evidence to make the case that it's critically important," concluded Temkin.

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