Don’t Believe These 5 Myths On Employee Engagement

Employee engagement refers to how committed an employee is in a company physically and emotionally. According to Indeed, employee engagement is important in today’s companies because:

• It improves productivity.
• It helps companies satisfy customers.
• It increases employee retention.
• It enhances company culture, and so on…

So, to fully embrace employee engagement, all companies must avoid the many myths that might be holding them back from having a positive workplace culture. While there are many myths out there, here are just 5 common myths to avoid today.

1. If An Employee Is Disengaged, Then They’re A “Bad Employee”

“First, think about the entire workforce,” says Libby Johnson, a HR writer at 1 Day 2 write and Write my X. “While there are such things as ‘good’ and ‘bad’ employees in a company, it’s never good to look at employees at face value. In fact, there may be reasons why certain employees aren’t always engaged at work.”

With that said, here are some things to think about when figuring out how engaged employees are:

• Are they in the right roles?
• Are they taking on the right responsibilities?
• Are they comfortable doing their work?
• How can you better motivate employees?
• What’s missing in the workplace culture?
• Do employees understand the company mission and vision?

Ask yourself these questions when evaluating your employees’ engagement, and then fix what needs to be fixed. In this way, all employees can be engaged. Remember: You can’t judge an employee by their level of engagement, because chances are, they might be needing something for their time.

2. High Performers Are More Likely To Engage

The truth is, no matter how well employees perform, or how poorly they do, that does not affect their level of engagement. In other words, while an employee might perform well on the job, they might not be their best when engaging with others. 

As mentioned earlier, one cannot judge an employee at face value. Instead, look into how your employees are performing, AND how they’re engaging with others. In this way, you and management can find a balance in both employee performance and engagement. 

3. Engaged Employees Make Loyal Employees

As for employee “loyalty,” it’s not always the same as employee engagement. In other words, while some employees might be loyal to the company, they might not be able to engage well with it. Worse-case scenario: Your “loyal” employee might quickly turn into a resignation.

That’s why management needs to take advantage of loyalty in employees. Make sure that employees have reasons to be loyal to the company. Consider asking yourself these questions:

• What kind(s) of goals need to be made to ensure a better workplace culture?
• How can you better engage employees with things like projects, presentations, etc.?
• What kind(s) of issues need to be addressed in the workplace?

Asking these questions, and doing something about them, ensure that your employees can be both loyal and engaged in the company.

4. Good Work Culture Creates Good Employee Engagement

“While it’s important to have a good workplace culture, that doesn’t mean that all employees will enjoy that good work culture,” says Christine Wales, a business writer at Brit Student and Next Coursework. “In order for good work culture to work for good employee engagement, there has to be discipline from both the workforce and leadership.”

According to a 2020 study done by TEST Engineering & Management, successful employee engagement comes from the following factors:

• Motivation and pride
• Dedication and positivity
• Trust and integrity
• Coworker-manager relationships
• Performance and commitment, AND
• Career growth and the employee developmental part of engagement

As one can tell, it takes both leadership and the workforce to work together to create both a positive work environment and positive employee engagement.

5. Leaders Know How To Build Engagement

Finally, let’s talk about leadership. 

Sometimes, leaders need help when it comes to employee engagement. In fact, not all leaders are perfect, since running a business comes with its own caveats. 

Therefore, it’s important to know your strengths and weaknesses as a leader. Think about what you need to improve on, when motivating and engaging with employees. Think about how you can better serve your employees, and the types of feedback that they might have.

In this way, both leaders and employees can ensure better engagement, thus creating a better ecosystem in the company. 

Conclusion

Ultimately, employee engagement relies heavily on not just the employees, but also on management. In order for a company to succeed in engagement, it’s important to learn the truth about the myths that might be holding your company back from being the best in your industry.

Now that you know the truth about the 5 myths mentioned in this article, you can now lead your company with positivity, sensitivity, and kindness by seeking better solutions to make employee engagement more… well, engaging. By knowing these truths, your company will have a happier and stronger employee engagement, which will make a positive and productive workplace culture.

Michael Dehoyos is a writer and editor at PhD Kingdom and Write my case study. He is also a contributing writer for Origin Writings. As a content marketer, he helps companies improve their marketing strategies and concepts. As a content writer, he writes articles about jobs, business trends, and tech trends.