The 2008 Workplace Survey - Gensler

the value of
employee engagement
The Conference Board defines employee engagement as
“a heightened emotional connection employees feel for the
company that influences the expenditure of discretionary
effort.” 16
Employee engagement has become increasingly important
to business success in the knowledge economy; connecting
people to an organization’s values and brand creates a sense
of meaning and value that complements cash and benefits
compensation. Research by The Gallup Organization points
to higher performance, profitability and tenure from more
engaged employees, and several factors in Gallup’s Q-12
system, a research-based diagnostic for employee engagement,
relate to workplace resources, company brand, and
support of work modes. 17
Gensler studied factors associated with employee engagement
and human capital to understand the impact that effective
workplaces could have on this aspect of organizational capability,
including recruiting and retention, hiring top talent,
work-life balance, and valuing people.
Additional human capital measures show the same alignment;
companies with the highest WPI scores have close to perfect
scores on valuing people, attracting/retaining talent and
work/life balance. Scores for valuing people are two to three
times higher when WPI scores are 80 or more versus the
0-40 group.
As organizations compete, increased levels of engagement
are critical for realizing innovation, speed to market, and
better-leveraged intellectual capital. The financial implications
of this emotional commitment are clear through our research
findings and others; a landmark UK study shows that increasing
job satisfaction and organizational commitment accounts for
10% greater profitability and 23% greater productivity. 18
Employee Engagement Indicators
Human Capital Indicators
10
Workplace Satisfaction
Organizational Commitment
10
“My company values people.”
“My company attracts and retains the best talent.”
8
9.7
9.7
8
9.7
9.6
6
4
3x
higher
4.7
2x
higher
6
4
4.6
2
2.9
2
2.8
(WPI Score)
(WPI Score)
(WPI Score)
(WPI Score)
0-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81-90 91-100
0-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81-90 91-100
0-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81-90 91-100
0-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81-90 91-100
Higher workplace scores directly aligned
with higher scores on indicators of employee
engagement. In high-WPI companies,
job satisfaction rankings are three times
higher and organizational commitment
is twice as high.
10
8
6
4
Job Satisfaction
3x
higher
9.7
10
8
6
4
“My company provides work/life balance.”
4.4
9.5
2
2.4
2
(WPI Score)
(WPI Score)
0-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81-90 91-100
0-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81-90 91-100
28 Gensler 2008 Workplace Survey / United States / Workplace Performance Index SM Gensler 2008 Workplace Survey / United States / Workplace Performance Index SM 29