Getting employees engaged

Engaged employees are productive, profitable, customer-focused, safer, and more likely to stay with you. The Gallup Organization measures employee engagement levels by asking employees the following 12 questions:

1. Do you know what is expected of you at work?

2. Do you have the materials and equipment you need to do your work right?

3. At work, do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every day?

4. In the last seven days, have you received recognition or praise for doing good work?

5. Does your supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about you as a person?

6. At work, do your opinions seem to count?

7. Is there someone at work who encourages your development?

8. Does the mission/purpose of your company make you feel your job is important?

9. Are your associates (fellow employees) committed to doing quality work?

10. Do you have a best friend at work?

11. In the last six months, has someone at work talked to you about your progress?

12. In the last year, have you had opportunities at work to learn and grow?

Employees respond on a one-to-five scale. The higher the score, the more satisfied the worker. In its testing, Gallup has found that employees at smaller companies tend to be more engaged because they feel more connected to and accountable for the company's success.

One caveat: The engagement of workers in groups of fewer than 10 spikes or plummets depending on the manager's competence. That's because the people in these groups are more tightly connected to and reliant on each other and are more influenced by their manager's ability to communicate and motivate.