Employee Satisfaction vs. Employee Engagement: What’s the Difference?

The may seem like one and the same, but there are some very important distinctions

Your employees seem happy with their pay and your annual turnover rate remains low. But why don’t managers seem willing to take on additional responsibility? And how can you encourage newer employees to want to advance their careers within your organization? Chances are, most of your employees may be satisfied with their day-to-day roles, but they might not be engaged.

Employee satisfaction and employee engagement are two terms that are often used interchangeably, but they have distinct meanings. Employee satisfaction refers to the contentment and fulfillment experienced by employees in their workplace, while employee engagement refers to the level of dedication and passion an employee brings to their job. 

Unlike employee satisfaction, employee engagement is the emotional commitment the employee has to the organization and its goals, according to a Forbes column. More than a buzzword, it’s vital to your franchise’s success. Organizations that are successful at building or maintaining employee engagement put a significant effort into building a culture that was supported by C-level executives, cascading down through their management teams.

How Does Employee Engagement Differ From Happiness and Job Satisfaction?

1. Employee engagement does not equal employee happiness. Your employee might enjoy her coworkers, office perks, and employee benefits, but that doesn’t mean she’s willing to stretch beyond her comfort zone to help you achieve your organizational goals.

2. Employee engagement also isn’t the same as employee satisfaction. Although the two may sound interchangeable, there are some distinctions. A satisfied employee might regularly complete work and be content with his salary, but again, it doesn’t mean he’s bought into the mission of your franchise. It might not be enough to keep him loyal to your company in the long-term. 

3. In other words, engaged employees don’t only perform well in exchange for a paycheck, they put forth effort because they are  invested in your organization’s future. They stay late to finish a task before they leave, without being asked. They may spend extra time with a demanding customer to ensure his needs were met, or they may volunteer to help with corporate charitable efforts. Work is more than a paycheck for them—they also work because they care about the company and want to help achieve its goals.

What Are Some Ways Franchises Can Spark Employee Engagement?

In order to keep employees engaged, many franchises are taking proactive steps to ensure their teams are inspired—and aligned with the company mission.

Mary Connor, Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) at Youth Enrichment Brands, said they encourage company leadership to foster an environment where employees are appreciated, feel valued, and can share their input. 

“Our leaders and employees are often so aligned and passionate about our mission that it’s palpable when you speak to them. However, we also acknowledge that there is a lot going on most of the time and we sometimes need to stop and dedicate time to showing our appreciation and to share critical information that employees want and need to feel engaged.”

How to Show Employee Recognition

In today’s digital age, interpersonal communication can suffer, thanks to our increasing reliance on texts, instant messages, and social media updates. However, there are several low-cost ways you can meaningfully connect and move the engagement needle.

1. Supply the right tools. Without the right combination of software to do their jobs, employees can become bogged down, and ultimately, frustrated.

2. Give employees individual attention. Greater work autonomy and flexibility motivate employees to take pride in their work.

3. Invest in continuous development. When companies show they value their employees through training and coaching efforts, employees tend to feel appreciated and are more apt to stick around.

4. Foster connection in the workplace. Personal relationships between employees, employees and franchisees, and managers and associates are just as important as your relationships with customers. Whether you encourage informal social events or get your team together to serve others, building strong relationships among your employees pays large dividends. 

5. Understand where gaps might exist. Do you have an accurate sense of how well you are currently engaging your employees and where you fall short—according to them? Are recent efforts actually working? It’s important to document and measure employee engagement so that you can set benchmarks and make comparisons year over year.

How Do You Measure Employee Engagement?

Administering the right workplace survey can be a great way to measure employee engagement across the organization and better understand the different perceptions and experiences of employees at various levels. The results of these surveys can identify where you need to focus more attention and which engagement initiatives are achieving desired goals.

Each year, Franchise Business Review conducts the Franchising at WORK Employee Engagement Study. We ask participants 32 core benchmark questions related to job satisfaction, engagement, management, brand leadership, and culture, as well as detailed personal questions about their position, compensation, benefits, and demographics.

Some key findings from the most recent research:

• 84% of corporate franchise employees find their jobs and the work they do rewarding and satisfying, and 4 out of 5 employees would recommend their company to a friend.

• An employee’s direct manager has the strongest impact on satisfaction and engagement. Employees who agreed or strongly agreed that their manager cares about their success were three times more likely to refer job candidates and four times more likely to stay long-term.

• Of the core benchmark questions asked of employees, one of the five lowest scoring questions was “I receive meaningful recognition for a job well-done.” Scores in this area have declined year over year; however, managers and leadership can easily improve employee recognition without a significant investment of time or resources.

• Wages have increased 7% year over year for corporate franchise roles (and even more at the unit level), yet compensation is the lowest scoring area of the survey. 57% percent of employees surveyed feel they are under-compensated for their position, 16 percent more than last year.

Money is overwhelmingly the number one reason people will leave an organization, but creating a flexible, transparent, meaningful culture may be your greatest asset to help your best people stay.

Rob Flanagan, CEO at Hounds Town USA, partners with Franchise Business Review to administer employee engagement surveys and uses the results as a KPI for the organization. 

“Our focus goes beyond a mission and values to systemizing the ways we grow and evolve our culture. We see culture like a car—it is a vehicle to provide engaged team members and assist in driving Hounds Town’s mission. We measure culture the same way we measure other Key Performance Indicators. Further, we actively engage all team members in understanding how our culture is and how it can evolve through the FBR engagement survey.”

How Will You Measure Employee Engagement and Satisfaction?

High employee satisfaction and engagement go hand-in-hand. Boosting both will result in positive results for your franchise. The evidence is clear—engaged employees will lead to engaged franchisees, and ultimately to more loyal, satisfied customers. While the costs associated with improving satisfaction, engagement, and culture are minimal, only the very best organizations dedicate the time and consistency that is required to make gains in these areas.

Franchise Business Review’s employee engagement surveys help franchise companies measure employee engagement in order to help them understand the risks and opportunities within their organizations and, because it’s the only employee engagement survey specific to franchising, it enables you to benchmark your employee engagement against other franchises.

The survey results provide insights that enable you to:

• Integrate employee engagement metrics into an organization-wide strategy for improvement
• Measure corporate culture
• Align your engagement priorities with your corporate priorities
• Implement effective employee recruitment and retention initiatives

FBR’s analytics platform gives you full access to:

• Custom reporting with full company data and industry benchmarks
• Department/location scorecards
• Employee insights report with full verbatim text
• Online data
• Review of your results with the FBR management team

Get Recognized For Employee Engagement and Satisfaction

Franchises that score highest also qualify for the Franchising at Work Awards, which recognize the franchise companies with the best company cultures.

Find out how your organization stacks up! All you have to do is fill out a simple registration form to participate in the benchmark research and awards. You send us your employee contact list and FBR does the rest! Download a free Franchising at WORK Awards Entry Kit for full details on how to qualify.

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Franchising at WORK Official Awards Entry Kit

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