Employee Engagement at Company X

Abstract

The aim of the thesis was to measure the level of employee engagement at Company X, in three of its operating countries: Finland, Norway and Denmark. The focus of the research was to get an understanding on the level of engagement at the company as well as to point out possible differences in the engagement levels between the countries researched.

The theoretical part of the thesis covers employee engagement as a concept. It differentiates the concept of employee engagement from other closely related terms employee satisfaction and employee experience and goes into detail about the definition of the term. The theoretical part also discusses the importance of employee engagement for organizations today and explains the reason behind engaged employees performing better than their dis-engaged colleagues, and the factors that enable engagement in organizations. Lastly, the theory focuses on measuring employee engagement and introduces the process of creating an employee engagement survey for Company X.

Employee engagement at Company X was measured through an anonymous employee survey created with Webropol 3.0. The employee survey was segmented into different are-as of engagement, based on the key themes for employee engagement surveys by The Society for Human Resource Management Foundation in the United States and the dimensions of Great Place to Work. The survey measures employee views on job satisfaction, feedback and opportunities for growth, their own engagement, employer credibility, fairness and camaraderie and pride and commitment at Company X, to create a comprehensive look at the engagement of the employees. The employees were also asked to reflect on reasons based on which they might choose to leave the company, what they think makes a company a good employer, and lastly, what they think Company X could do better as an employer. The data collected was analysed using quantitative and qualitative methods.

The results of the survey showed that employee engagement at Company X is good, but some areas of it need further work. Based on the results there are slight differences in the engagement levels of employees in different countries and employees in Denmark are the most engaged ones. The results especially show that countries have different views on employer credibility and that opportunities for growth and development at the company are not seen as best. On the other hand, employees of Company X enjoy their work and have strong feelings of camaraderie and pride. Measuring employee engagement regularly should be implemented as part of the company’s human resource processes to keep track of the development of the engagement level and to include the rest of the company's operating countries in the research as well.

As employee engagement is one of the key people issues in organizations today, the thesis offers a comprehensive look at why all organizations should be interested in measuring employee engagement and introduces an example of how to do it.