The Meaning of Employee Engagement

How to measure happiness & engagement?

Measuring job happiness and engagement requires more than asking direct questions about job happiness or engagement. Such questions seem simple, but lack scientific precision and often lead to socially desirable answers. Professional researchers therefore use validated measurement instruments based on proven psychological constructs.

• For example, the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES-9) measures engagement through dimensions such as vitality, commitment and absorption, with concrete behavioral statements such as “At work, I am brimming with energy.” This indirect, scientifically validated approach provides more reliable insights into how employees experience their work.
• And happiness, for example, is a specific emotion that everyone experiences differently. What contributes to one person feeling happy may be less relevant to someone else. So when an employee satisfaction survey simply asks how happy someone feels, you get an answer that can cover a variety of aspects. The Positive Affect Negative Affect Scale (PANAS) is an example of a validated scale that can be used for this purpose.

So it is important to use a good measurement scale that measures what you want to measure. Yet many organizations still use questionnaires in their MTOs that are not scientifically validated, but compiled by research firms themselves. This misses opportunities to make reliable comparisons and analyses. After all, behavioral science already has a rich arsenal of validated measurement scales for themes such as psychological safety, job satisfaction, willingness to change and leadership.

Using these scientific questionnaires significantly increases the quality and reliability of research. The Better Company uses more than 150 such measurement scales and helps organizations design their employee research in a scientifically based manner.

Drivers of employee happiness & enagement

Much scientific research has been done on the “drivers” behind happiness and engagement. By analyzing these drivers in relation to current work happiness and engagement, you can determine what factors your organization needs to work on to increase employee work happiness and engagement.

People within your organization may need to work on different drivers on different levels. Some teams may need to work on “psychological safety,” while in another business unit “meaning-based leadership” or “empowerment” may need attention. The Happiness & Engagement Scan shows you exactly where you need to work within the organization and with which driver.