How Engaged Are Your Employees? The 12 Questions Gallup Researchers Ask

For years I have referenced data from the Gallup organization for insights on various topics. What I like about Gallup  Polls is that they stake a claim on getting the most diverse viewpoints from the broadest field of data. They have the resources to do this because they do it well and have become trusted for it, unlike many news polls that pretend to do so. 

When companies measure ROI, they are measuring results after the fact. When they measure enployee engagement, they will impact future ROI because, as 20 years of Gallup research has shown, engaged employees are more efficient and more productive than their disengaged peers.

When employees are engaged there is less turnover, less absenteeism, more profitability. This not only aligns with common sense, it has all been extensively documented. This Gallup report was assembled by analyzing data from 100,000 teams. Sort of blows your mind when you consider the scope of this project.

Wherever your company is at, employee engagement can be improved by knowing what the real needs of employees are. According to Gallup, there are just three kinds of needs and 12 questions to ask. First there are personal, individual needs. Then there are teamwork needs, and finally growth needs. Here are the 12 questions. Yes or no.

Q01.  I know what is expected of me at work.
Q02.  I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right.
Q03.  At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.
Q04.  In the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work.
Q05.  My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person.
Q06.  There is someone at work who encourages my development.
Q07.  At work, my opinions seem to count.
Q08.  The mission or purpose of my organization makes me feel my job is important.
Q09.  My associates or fellow employees are committed to doing quality work.
Q10.  I have a best friend at work.
Q11.  In the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about my progress.
Q12.  This last year, I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow.

Note the character of the questions. There are work environments where managers believe people do not need encouragement. There are work environments where you have to practically fight to get the tools and materials to do your job. I once worked in a culture where you had to go through a gatekeeper in order to get a pen to write with. 

The one about a best friend is interesting. Are we linked in with the company beyond the paycheck? Do your workers feel themselves part of a bigger family?

HERE IS A LINK TO WHERE YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE REPORT.

This is exceedingly useful information. Work cultures can be measured, and they can be improved. This report can guide managers and leaders on what areas to focus on, what really matters for your employees.

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Photo by Marvin Meyer on Unsplash

State of the Workforce Gallup Study: Medicine to Make America Great Again

This past week I've been reading another great book on leadership. It's called Eleven Rings, by Phil Jackson. Subtitled The Soul of Success, Jackson has earned the right to speak about what it takes to produce successful teams. His first Championship Ring was as a player. The next ten were earned by applying an underlying philosophy that incorporated insights from experience as well as an eclectic mix of spiritual disciplines including Buddhism, Christianity, Chinese philosophy and Lakota Sioux. 

In chapter one he references a book that I was introduced to in late 2016, Tribal Leadership, by Dave Logan, John King and Halee Fischer-Wright. Jackson succinctly lays out the five stages of organizations, including sports organizations and other kinds of businesses.

Stage 1 is characterized by despair, hostility and a collective belief that "life sucks." It's pretty much the nature of street gangs, Jackson explains.

Stage 2 is characterized by apathy, people who see themselves as victims. They are a little better than stage one because they aren't saying "life sucks" but rather, "My life sucks." Meaning, this toxic situation I am in at this moment in time is not good.

Stage 3 is comprised of people who believe themselves great. "If only everyone else on the team were as motivated and talented as me." Winning is everything, except its a personal notch in the gun, and not a team thing.

Stage 4 is dedicated to tribal pride and the overriding conviction that "we're great and they're not," meaning the competition. This works if the foe is big enough and our tribe can see themselves as heroes in this battle against a Goliath.

Stage 5 though is the rare kind of company you dream of being part of, characterized by innocent wonder and the pervasive sense that life is great. Jackson points to the 1995-1998 Bulls as a premiere example of this kind of tribe.

Before you say, "Yes, but he had Michael Jordan," you need to see how he changed Jordan from being a "me" player to a team player.

All this to say that too many companies in America are mired in Stage 2 cultures, hence the widespread popularity of comics like Dilbert and TV shows like The Office. If we really want to make America great again, we won't find the answer on a November ballot. According to the Gallup organization's latest State of the Workplace report, it has to start in the workplace.

The first stat that hits you in the face – because it's on page one --is that only 33% of American workers are engaged in what they are doing. This compares to 70% engaged in the world's best organizations.

Equally disconcerting is the stat that 51% of all workers, according to Gallup, are actively looking for other work.

Considering these realities, it’s clear why people in the U.S. continue to drop out of the labor force in alarming numbers. In some cases, they can’t find a job or the right job, and in other cases, they can’t find a job that pays enough to justify incurring other costs that sometimes go along with working, such as child care, transportation or therapy due to mental duress.

The Gallup report estimates that actively disengaged employees cost the U.S. $483 billion to $605 billion each year in lost productivity.

A majority of employees (60%) say they want to work at a job that utilizes the skills they do best. What's missing for many if not most workers is a sense of purpose beyond the paycheck. This is especially important for millennials who want their lives, including their work, to have meaning.

Times have changed and the workforce has changed, but many workplaces have not been adapting to these changes, according to Gallup findings. (p. 7) " The key to an organization’s growth has been and always will be its workforce."

The most unsettling pattern in this study of 195,000+ workers was that employees are not confident about their company's leadership, as these stats reveal.

• 22% of employees strongly agree the leadership of their organization has a clear direction for the organization.
• 15% of employees strongly agree the leadership of their organization makes them enthusiastic about the future.
• 13% of employees strongly agree the leadership of their organization communicates effectively with the rest of the organization.

The report, which you can download here, is near 200 pages.

What Phil Jackson's book explains is that we don't win by being an organization made up solely of Michael Jordans-level talent. Jordan was a rare individual well outside the talent pool bell curve. The power of the team comes together when each member of the team is engaged, while recognizing the value of the other members on the team.

The biggest lesson Michael Jordan and other superstars must learn is how to trust the others on the team so they can work together for maximum effectiveness. Jackson helped Michael "see the light" on how his self-reliance hindered realization of the team's highest capabilities.

All this to say both Eleven Rings and Gallup's State of the Workforce report are good reads.