According to a Dale Carnegie survey of more than 1,500 employees, fully 71% are not engaged.  So while engaged employees aren’t exactly as rare as a black rhino or a mountain gorilla, catching a glimpse of one might take a bit of effort.  

Before you begin hiding under desks and poking your head over cubicles in search of the elusive creature, it makes sense to start with a definition of employee engagement. Fortunately, Merriam-Webster makes this easy. The word “engagement” has several definitions, but the relevant one is, “emotional involvement or commitment.” Engaged employees are emotionally involved and committed to your organization. Engaged employees come in all shapes and sizes and they don’t wear signs, but you can easily spot them by their behavior and results.

Engaged Employees Are:

Confident – Engaged employees have a clear understanding about what the organization values and how to operate effectively within its culture. This gives them the confidence to make role appropriate decisions and provide useful insight.

Receptive – When presented with a new task or assignment, engaged employees welcome the opportunity to rise to the occasion and succeed.

Owners - Engaged employees don’t wait for someone else to solve problems.  They recognize opportunities for improvement and take ownership of driving positive change.

Energized – The body language and attitude of an engaged employee conveys a sense of urgency and excitement. Engaged employees seek and create forward momentum.

Successful – Because an engaged employee understands the context of the business, they make good decisions and achieve objectives. They tend to be more productive, efficient, and focused than their disengaged counterparts.

Brand Advocates – Employees who share company content and news on their social networks and refer friends for open positions are engaged.

Inspiring – Engagement can be contagious. Your engaged employees lead by example and serve as role models for others.

The truth is, you probably already know exactly who your engaged employees are. By definition, they are your go-to players and superstars. If you want more of your employees to share these traits, it makes sense to invest in employee engagement programs and the tools necessary to support them.  

After all, you don’t want engagement to go the way of the dodo bird.

Free upcoming webinar: 

How to Drive Improvement Behaviors to Increase Performance Gains

March 17 at 1p EDT

In this webinar, you'll learn:

• How the improvement behaviors of your staff directly determine your results
• Why most leaders fail to get the behaviors they need from employees
• How to design an actionable strategy for deliberate behavior change - on any budget

This webinar is hosted by Mark Graban. The primary presenter will be Jamie Flinchbaugh.