Picasso once said that “good artists copy, great artists steal” – and so I must confess to two thefts, before we talk about employee engagement.

Firstly – the title of this blog is a take on Raymond Carver’s 1981 collection of short stories ‘What We Talk About When We Talk About Love” – which I highly recommend. 

Secondly – I recently got to see Ian MacArthur speak at the Institute of Internal Communication’s Conference in Manchester, where he detailed the great work that the Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter (GMGEC) is doing. I include this in the confessional part of this blog – because I felt that the structure of the GMGEC gives a great answer to the following question:

What is the business context for employee engagement?

The GMGEC sets out seven key characteristics of good employment (and I paraphrase):

  • Secure Work – Job security, contract and shift stability
  • Flexible Work – The opportunity to work flexibly and support a diverse workforce
  • Pay – Paying the Real Living Wage (or better), according to the Living Wage Foundation
  • Engagement & Voice – Giving colleagues access to, and a part to play in, employee engagement activity
  • Recruitment – Taking full advantage of diversity, through transparent and fair recruitment practices
  • People Management – Investing in the training and development of managers and staff
  • Health & Wellbeing – Making reasonable adjustments for different physical and mental abilities to foster inclusivity and provide high-levels of health & safety.

Interestingly, I wonder if you’d agree that (as communicators) some of these topics cross our desks more regularly than others. How often in employee engagement do we communicate about pay, or fair recruitment practices? And yet these are two of the first things a colleague would experience when thinking of becoming a part of an organisation.

While this blog is about employee engagement – I felt Ian and the GMGEC set out a great structure for its context – and it’s one that has stuck with me.

So how do we define employee engagement?

Engage for Success defines it as: “[…] a workplace approach resulting in the right conditions for all members of an organisation to give their best each day, committed to their organisation’s goals and values, motivated to contribute to organisational success, with an enhanced sense of their own well-being.”

Gallup defines it as: “[…] the involvement and enthusiasm of employees in their work and workplace.”

And Forbes describe it as: “[…] the emotional commitment the employee has to the organization and its goals.”

The truth is – there’s no single definition of employee engagement. In 2009, Nita Clarke and David MacLeod explain that they came across more than 50 definitions when they undertook their employee engagement review, and that was 15 years ago.

So, what do we talk about when we’re talking about employee engagement?

In my nature, I’m a pragmatist, and (to steal again, this time from Hemingway) I’ve always liked the line: “The shortest answer is doing the thing”. So one response to what we’re talking about when we’re talking about employee engagement, is what we can be doing about employee engagement.

Here are three things we have been doing to improve employee engagement within our client organisations:

1 Set an employee engagement strategy

Use insight and data to create strategic alignment, and then set out sustainable delivery.

2 Improve the employee experience

Audit your current experience, align the findings with your strategy, and deliver the changes that are needed.

3 Fulfil the employee brand

Set a foundation for your vision and values, put that at the heart of all you do, and apply it practically across the business.

How to get started

If any of the topics here are something you’d like to discuss more – as employee engagement experts, at 44 are here to help.

Drop me a line directly at alan.coates@44communications.co.uk to find out how we’ve helped other businesses audit, measure, and improve their employee engagement.