According to a recent trend report from the Academy to Innovate HR (AIHR,) some of the top HR trends for 2023 involve a focus on total well-being, creating a purpose-driven organization, and redefining remote and hybrid work strategies. All these trends impact the war of talents and how to become an attractive employer. Due to the Covid 19 pandemic, the psychological relationship between employers and employees has dramatically changed and offering flexibility and the possibility to work remotely is becoming more of a hygiene factor. Today’s talents are also looking for a healthy work-life balance and the opportunity to work for a company that not only delivers a service or a product but also has a higher (and preferably sustainable) purpose. Therefore, it is becoming increasingly important to understand why people choose to work for your company. What’s your Why? A higher purpose? Your company’s compensation and benefit structure or the fact that you have an outstanding company culture?

Many companies measure employee satisfaction but don’t spend much time finding out how engaged their employees are. Employee satisfaction relates to tangible elements such as compensation and benefits, communication, career opportunities and employee engagement relates to elements that are harder to define, which could mean motivation, interest, or involvement. Whereas engaged employees are committed to do whatever it takes to achieve company objectives, satisfied employees aren’t necessarily engaged and therefore won’t break a sweat to reach deadlines or strategic priorities. The major difference between satisfaction and engagement is that the engaged employees will go the extra mile to reach objectives and will always try to develop and improve how things are being done, which will ultimately help improve the company and its business. Defining the people engagement drivers of your company can therefore become a competitive advantage and help reduce staff turnover and possibly also increase profit.

“Engagement drivers are the strong emotions employees have about their employer, and if they are well-defined and well-established, they can be turned into positive energy, higher employee engagement, and a strong employer brand”

As a good example, McDonalds in Denmark has shown what a huge difference a well-defined Why can contribute to. By defining their engagement drivers as Friends, Freedom, and Future, they have earned well-deserved recognitions as the most attractive employer in Denmark, some years ago. While McDonald´s is making it a lot easier for them to attract, retain and develop talents, companies like Tesla and Goldman Sachs are fighting a losing battle with their anti-remote policy. Engagement drivers are the strong emotions employees have about their employer, and if they are well-defined and well-established, they can be turned into positive energy, higher employee engagement, and a strong employer brand. Whether you define them by using an engagement survey, a people success platform, or by doing internal workshops with your staff, it will be a fun and rewarding process, well worth the time and money spent.