Are your Employees Engaged?

Five years ago, The Gallup Organization began creating a feedback system for employers that would identify and measure elements of worker engagement most tied to the bottom line--things such as sales growth, productivity and customer loyalty.

After hundreds of focus groups and thousands of interviews with employees in a variety of industries, Gallup came up with the Q12, a 12-question survey that identifies strong feelings of employee engagement. Results from the survey show a strong correlation between high scores and superior job performance. Here are those 12 questions:

1. Do you know what is expected of you at work?
2. Do you have the materials and equipment you need to do your work right?
3. At work, do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every day?
4. In the last seven days, have you received recognition or praise for doing good work?
5. Does your supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about you as a person?
6. Is there someone at work who encourages your development?
7. At work, do your opinions seem to count?
8. Does the mission/purpose of your company make you feel your job is important?
9. Are your associates (fellow employees) committed to doing quality work?
10. Do you have a best friend at work?
11. In the last six months, has someone at work talked to you about your progress?
12. In the last year, have you had opportunities at work to learn and grow?

Reprinted with permission. Copyright 1992-1999 The Gallup Organization, Princeton, NJ. All rights reserved. Gallup and Q12 are registered trademarks of The Gallup Organization.

As a small business owner or manager, you may be asking yourself how to find the time to keep your employees engaged. It is not as difficult as you might think and may be the most important step to improving your bottom-line.

Here are some easy steps to take.
1. Develop job descriptions for each job. Be sure to work with your employees in development.
2. Use these job descriptions as the basis of a performance evaluation system. By scheduling these every six months you will be sure that your employees continue to focus on their top priorities.
3. Hold weekly staff meetings. They do not need to be long, but this is a great way to ensure that everyone stays up-beat and gets regular praise and direction.

Remember, People Wise is here to help. Check out our site at www.pwhrm.com.