Page 30 - How America's Best Places to Work Inspire Extra Effort in Extraordinary Times

Employee Engagement C17

Figure 1.1

Indeed, we believe this model reflects exactly what is happening
with greater frequency at Best-Places-to-Work winners. These elite
employers simply seem to have a higher percentage of employees
who come to work more excited about doing their jobs and are doing
those jobs at a level of enthusiasm not commonly seen at most other
employers.
This model suggests that increased employee engagement is a ma-
jor contributing factor to the success of an organization. Some might
look at a successful business and argue that it works the other way
around—that the business’s success contributes to high employee
engagement. This is undeniably true as well, as much of the business-
linkage research shows. It’s really one of those “which-came-first, the-
chicken-or-egg” kind of arguments. Whether employee engagement
begins with business success or business success begins with employee
engagement matters little since success and engagement are mutually
reinforcing. The point is to begin the process wherever the opportu-
nity presents itself.
Academic and popular literature is filled with studies that explore
and provide evidence of this relationship. We trust that most of you