Here is an excerpt from another excellent article written by Frank Kalman for Talent Management magazine. He explains how and why companies lean heavily on recognition, work-life balance, and wellness to promote engagement, yet undervalue such factors when it comes to measurement. To read the complete article, check out all the resources, and sign up for a free subscription to the TM and/or Chief Learning Officer magazines published by MedfiaTec, please click here.

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Organizations continue to develop strategies related to employee engagement, which is the all-important qualifier of discretionary effort widely thought of as the linchpin of organizational success.

Though recognition and work-life balance programs are among the leading methods to promote engagement, both techniques were among the least-valued factors by HR managers when measuring engagement, according to a 2014 Employee Engagement survey by Human Capital Media Advisory Group, the research arm of Talent Management.

The survey, released earlier this year, included 134 human resources practitioners from companies of varying sizes and industries.

Recognition, work-life balance and wellness programs are the top three methods used to promote engagement — formally defined as the extent to which employees are motivated to contribute through discretionary effort. Nearly 61 percent of respondents in this year’s survey said they use recognition as a primary employee engagement tool (Figure 1), followed by work-life balance (54.6 percent) and wellness (50 percent). HR practitioners also reported using stretch assignments and incentive programs to drive engagement, though to a lesser extent.

“Our wellness program has been extremely successful,” wrote one respondent in the comments section of this year’s survey. “Currently, we are sponsoring a weight-loss challenge for our employees.”

Another respondent said: “We use open book management. Employees are educated on how a company makes money, overhead costs and are exposed to the costs of doing business. They get a share of the gains and there are little mini-games to help solve problems that prevent efficient running of the company (extra hours on a job or shop time that is not needed).”

But when it came to the values and behaviors companies say they evaluate in measuring engagement, overall job satisfaction (64.1 percent), excitement about one’s work (60.9 percent) and opportunity to grow and improve skills (60.9 percent) top the list, according to the survey, roughly in line with last year’s results.

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Here’s a direct link to the complete article.

Frank Kalman is Senior Editor at MediaTec Publishing.