According to Kevin Kruse (author, Forbes article from 2012, What Is Employee Engagement1]) "Employee engagement is the employee's emotional commitment to the organization and its goals."

Or you can say, employee engagement is the extent of compassion of the employees towards their company and its well being.

Understanding and increasing employee engagement are valuable for any business. But it's a complicated and fluid concept, mainly because of the employee's "emotional engagement".  you know it is tough to accurately measure emotions, doesn't it?

To help me understand how it works, I like to draw a parallel between the workplace and the classroom. In thinking back to our school days, we had all these courses we hated. Maybe it was a bad teacher, or maybe we just could not know how and when we would apply the knowledge we were learning. We did worse in these classes, or at least we had to make more effort to succeed. That means we were not engaged to the class. But there were also classes we liked. Maybe it was Phys. Ed., Or English, or Math. We wanted to be there because we wanted to learn. And, most likely, we picked up the equipment quickly and easily. We raised our hands, did our homework on time, and were rarely late.

It's the commitment. And when we feel it at work, we get better results, we work harder and we make smarter decisions.

Who is responsible for employee engagement?

Everyone. The CEO, People & Culture Director, Team Leader and all team members are all responsible. Leadership can create an environment conducive to learning and participation by ensuring that employees are well-paid, comfortable and have the tools they need. Besides, providing proper training, emphasizing the company culture and valuing employees as the most critical asset of the company are essential to creating a committed group.

But then it's up to the employees to work hard and strive to learn and to provide constructive feedback when things are not optimal. Culture is not built in a vacuum. Whether you think it starts at the top or the bottom, we can all agree that it's a team effort.

Tips to achieve engagement:

1. Help your team succeed by defining S.M.A.R.T. objectives, providing regular feedback and giving them the tools they need.

2. Trust your team. Give them decision making power. Autonomy is surprisingly motivating.

3. Share the story of your business. Show the team members that they are contributing to something meaningful.
4. Get to know your teammates. There are no two identical people, so try to understand individual persons need. Learn their strengths and what motivates them.
3. Ask for comments. Check regularly with your team to see how they feel. Allow the possibility of anonymous comments if necessary. Understand that your responsibility as an employer is to make sure they feel satisfied and engaged.

4. Understand the difference between happiness and commitment. While your team may have life in its own way, the commitment is about what it contributes to your organization.

5. Use technology. Utilize social media as a tool of appreciation. There are many groundbreaking employee engagement solutions in the market. Using those solutions would make your work easier. 

There are many more indicators and contributors to engagement. In the end, the key is to talk to your team. Ask them if they feel engaged. Watch for times when they are more or less productive and discuss with them.