July 19, 2024
At surface level, employee engagement and job satisfaction sound almost exactly the same. They both revolve around happy, productive employees, right?
Not exactly.
While it’s true you want employees to be both satisfied and engaged, each concept is defined and measured in unique ways. HR leaders also need to take a different approach to influence employee engagement vs. employee satisfaction.
Understanding the differences between employee engagement and satisfaction is crucial for developing an effective business strategy. Let’s review three key differences between each and the steps you can take to boost employee engagement in your organization.
Difference #1: Meaning & scope
In middle school geometry, you learned that every rectangle is a square but every rectangle isn’t a square. It’s the same sort of classification with employee engagement and satisfaction– a satisfied employee may not always be engaged, but engaged employees are almost always satisfied.
Employee satisfaction
Employee satisfaction refers to the contentment and happiness of employees with their job and work environment. Factors that influence job satisfaction include fair compensation and good benefits, strong job security, and ideal working conditions like a comfortable working environment and good work-life balance.
Most satisfied workers feel like their workplace is a quality employer. High levels of employee satisfaction can lead to improved employee retention and reduced turnover.
Employee engagement
Employee engagement is the emotional connection and enthusiasm that employees have toward their work and employer. Highly engaged workers aren’t just satisfied, they also have a sense of purpose, motivation, and passion for their work.
They’re willing to go above and beyond in their roles to ultimately support positive business outcomes, such as increased productivity and revenue.
Difference #2: Measurement & indicators
Employee satisfaction and employee engagement are typically assessed using similar formats, but the factors you look at differ for each concept.
Employee satisfaction
Employee satisfaction can be measured using surveys and other feedback avenues that assess aspects like pay, benefits, work conditions, and job security. Indicators of satisfied employees include low turnover, lower absenteeism, fewer complaints, and generally positive feedback.
Employee engagement
Measuring employee engagement usually involves surveys that assess their emotional and psychological connection to their work. Indicators of engagement include high levels of discretionary effort, strong advocacy for your organization, and active participation in company initiatives.
Difference #3: Impact on performance
The difference between employee engagement and job satisfaction can most clearly be seen in the impact that each one has on an individual's job performance.
Employee satisfaction
People can be satisfied with their role and employer yet not be motivated to be highly productive. Job satisfaction has to do with the impact on the individual worker. People are satisfied in their job when it pays enough, it's somewhere they like going each day, and their colleagues are people they generally get along with.
This means that employee satisfaction doesn't necessarily correlate with productivity. Someone can like their job but not be motivated to do more than the bare minimum. They may be content with doing enough to meet their goals and calling it a day.
Employee engagement
Employee engagement, on the other hand, often goes hand in hand with job performance. Engaged individuals are more likely to be proactive, innovative, and dedicated to their work. They're not just looking at the impact their job has on them, they're also considering what kind of impact they can have on their organization and its long-term mission.
These are the people who regularly contribute new ideas during your meetings and go the extra mile to make sure your clients are pleased with your work. They may participate in voluntary company events or look for ways to improve the employee experience for new hires.
A disconnect between employee engagement and job satisfaction
For the best business outcomes, you want high employee engagement and high job satisfaction. When one is high and the other is low, this misalignment can lead to low productivity, high turnover, and poor business performance.
Here are a few common scenarios where the two concepts don't line up.
High satisfaction, low engagement: A company may offer a competitive salary and comfortable work environment, but the work itself is monotonous and doesn't challenge employees. As a result, they are happy with the perks of the job but not passionate about their tasks.
This misalignment can also happen in companies where the focus is on extrinsic motivation rather than intrinsic motivation. For example, a tech startup may offer attractive perks such as catered meals and unlimited vacation days, which employees enjoy, but rarely allow workers the opportunity to showcase their ability with meaningful and challenging work.
High engagement, low satisfaction: An engaged employee feels passionately about their work, driven by a strong belief in the company values and mission. However, there is no opportunity for career development, so they know they will have to leave the organization if they want to grow professionally or advance in their career.
High engagement/low satisfaction can also happen when someone loves their job but it doesn't pay a livable wage. This can happen in many organizations with a nonprofit focus: the work is meaningful but the salary creates financial concerns for their family.
Temporary satisfaction, long-term engagement issues: An organization implements short-term measures to improve employee satisfaction, such as giving everyone a bonus or scheduling social events between departments. However, they do not implement any long-term engagement strategies such as offering career development opportunities or creating a supportive work culture. As a result, employees are temporarily satisfied but remain disengaged.
Engaged but overworked: Employee engagement is high and workers are committed to the mission of the organization. However, they often end up working long days and during the weekend. As a direct result, much of the workforce is experiencing stress and burnout and in the process of looking for other jobs.
5 tips for more satisfied and engaged employees
By now it’s clear that you want satisfied and engaged employees. But, these employees don’t just grow on trees. They are nurtured by a workplace that values its employees and their unique skills.
Sure, it takes effort, planning, and maybe even an investment of money to consistently drive engagement, but the result is positive business outcomes, such as increased productivity and revenue, which help you develop your ideal company culture, attract top talent, and experience increased business success.
1. Provide opportunities for growth
An engaged workforce isn't stagnant; they're constantly seeking ways to improve their skills and learn new things.
Companies with high employee engagement offer regular training sessions, workshops, and career development programs to help employees enhance their skills and advance in their careers. Moreover, they make it easy for employees to participate in these offerings, so that they don't have to choose between learning something new and delivering quality work.
2. Encourage work-life balance
For some workers, engagement comes at a cost. In a study completed by Yale and the Harvard Business Review, researchers found that one out of five employees is highly engaged but also highly exhausted. Prioritizing engagement over everything else can put some people at risk of burning out, and those people may very well be your best employees.
So, how can companies optimize the employee experience so that workers are engaged in their work but understand when and how to step away from the work they love?
- Offer flexible work arrangements such as remote work options, flextime, or compressed workweeks to give employees more control over their schedule and better accommodate their personal lives.
- Don't just encourage breaks and paid time off-- mandate it. Require employees to take lunch breaks and periodic breaks throughout the day to mentally and physically recharge. Set a minimum number of PTO days that employees should take each year, and suggest they take at least one each quarter.
- Provide supportive resources and policies as you're able, including childcare support and parental leave.
- Recruit managers to model work-life balance by taking breaks, using vacation days, and only sending emails during work hours.
- Create a company culture that prioritizes boundaries, never scheduling meetings after hours or asking employees to install work email on their personal devices.
3. Involve employees in decision-making
Employees will care more about your company's future when they're involved in decisions that have an impact. Seek feedback from employees through survey tools, suggestion boxes, and meetings, then act on their input to make improvements in the workplace. Otherwise your 'initiatives' are nothing more than hot air.
Structure meetings so they involve more than listening to managers speak, but allow workers to give input on decisions that affect their work. Consider open-door policies where employees feel comfortable approaching leaders with new ideas and concerns.
4. Provide meaningful work
Remember that sense of resentment you used to feel when your teacher assigned 25 questions of busy-work homework? Your employees can end up feeling the same way if they are completing the same monotonous daily tasks day after day.
Ensure that employees understand how their roles contribute to the organization’s mission and goals. During performance reviews, highlight how individual contributions connect to your organization's overall success. For example, you might point out how members of the finance team helped secure funding to expand your community outreach programs.
It's also helpful for organizations to assign tasks that align with employees’ strengths and interests, making their work more fulfilling and motivating. Hiring someone to fill a specific role doesn't mean they're married to that title for the duration of their tenure with your company. Consider implementing role rotation or job enrichment programs that allow employees to experience different aspects of the organization and find areas where they can excel.
5. Recognize and reward contributions
Employee recognition should be frequent, meaningful, and personalized. Celebrate both individual and team accomplishments and encourage peer-to-peer recognition.
Implement a recognition program that celebrates everyone's hard work and achievements. Rewards such as bonuses, incentives, and public recognition from managers and peers ensure that employees feel seen and appreciated.
Terryberry's employee recognition platform offers tailorable recognition and reward solutions all in one place. Use it to provide peer-to-peer, social, and manager-led recognition that's tied to employee incentives people actually want.
