Employee engagement is a term that has become both a hot topic and a buzz term at times. There has also been some confusion about the definition for employee engagement. Some business professionals view it as job satisfaction while others view it as an employee’s emotional commitment to an organization.

To help clear up the confusion, the Conference Board developed a definition.  They defined employee engagement as “a heightened emotional connection that an employee feels for his or her organization, that influences him or her to exert greater discretionary effort to his or her work.”

This is a useful explanation. Employees are engaged when they have a positive emotional connection with their organization. This positive emotional connection will then influence them to give greater work efforts and be more committed to the organization.

A global study by the consulting and research firm BlessingWhite of 10,914  human resources and line manager professionals looked at this issue. As explained in the study, full employee engagement occurs when an employee’s maximum job satisfaction and maximum job contribution are aligned.  Five interesting findings from the BlessingWhite study are the following:

• Fewer than 1 in 3 employees are engaged worldwide.
• More employees are looking for opportunities outside their organization.
• Older employees, long term employees, and people in positions that have power or authority are the most likely to be engaged.
• Employees are more likely to trust their immediate supervisors than higher level executives.
• Executives are largely viewed as not creating an environment that supports high performance.

What can employers do to improve employee engagement?  As explained in the study, organizational leadership can measure less while acting more, pay attention to culture, leverage managers, and align individual and organizational objectives.