Your Voice, Your Viewpoint
Photo via Getty Images
TIMESLEDGER | QNS.COM | OCT. 30-NOV. 5, 2020 35
An open call for
students to speak out
BY TERRI CASEY
ENERGAGE
What’s the difference between a satisfied employee
and an engaged employee? Is it good enough for employees
to be satisfied?
Satisfied employees are content employees; they’re
happy with the status quo. And it seems having a high
level of employee satisfaction would be a good thing. After
all, satisfied employees don’t quit and go to work for
someone else. They don’t demand 10 percent pay raises
or a better dental plan. And they get along well enough
with their coworkers. But when has satisfaction ever
propelled you to do great things? When has contentment
caused you to take action? For instance, do they:
• Go the extra mile for your organization?
• Perform at the highest levels?
• Wow your customers?
In other words, do satisfied employees behave and
act like engaged employees? The answers are “maybe”
and “sometimes.”
Engaged employees’ actions can be described in
three words: Rave, Remain and Reach.
• Rave refers to spreading good news about their employer.
• Remain refers to the willingness to stick with their
employer even when times are tough.
• Reach refers to routinely going above and beyond
– not only solving problems but routinely anticipating
and preventing problems.
Why is this important? Because employee engagement
is the simplest way to limit turnover, improve
productivity and boost employee referrals.
Take a look at Jake, a perfectly satisfied employee.
When Jake is asked to describe what it’s like to work at
his company, he says:
“My boss is a nice guy and he pretty much leaves me
alone. I live close to the office, so that’s a major perk. I
don’t have to work long hours, and there’s an endless supply
of free snacks, coffee and juice in the employee break
room. And this year, they even started matching our
401(k). What’s not to like?”
Jake is satisfied. Jake is content. But is Jake engaged?
Notice Jake doesn’t talk about his actual work.
He doesn’t express excitement – or interest – in the projects
he’s working on. Jake doesn’t say he’s proud to work
for his company. Jake also doesn’t focus on intangibles
like learning new things, being challenged or solving
complex problems.
• Jake didn’t Rave.
• He didn’t speak about Reaching and when times
are tough.
• It’s very likely Jake will not Remain.
Jake is not an engaged employee.
In conclusion, Jake is a perfect example of a satisfied
employee. However, he’s not engaged. Engaged
employees routinely make contributions that satisfied
employees can’t.
Terri Casey is a consultant for Energage, a Philadelphia
based research and consulting firm that surveyed
more than 2 million employees at more than 7,000 organizations
in 2019. Nominate your company as a Top Workplace
at amny.com/nominate.
BY QNS STAFF
Three middle school students and three high
school students will each be awarded a prize of $500
by a panel of Queensborough Community College students
through Your Voice, Your Viewpoint.
Submissions will be accepted through Friday, Oct.
30, and winners of the prize will be announced on Nov.
6.
Submission can be emailed YourVoiceYourViewpoint@
schnepsmedia.com
Our latest submission is from Jordan Lindsey of
Virginia Commonwealth University, age 18:
I first experienced racism when I went over my
neighbor’s house. I was about 7 or 8 years old. They
were Asian, and I think one of their family members
was over. My brother was already over there, and he
asked me why I had come. I came because I just wanted
to come and hang out with them too. He said their
family member (maybe aunt) is racist; she doesn’t like
black people. She looked disgusted when I had come in,
and that saddened me because I was so young and was
thinking, “Did I do something?” I ended up leaving and
was confused as to why.
Another instance of racism happened in fifth grade.
The teacher asked us all to state an opinion and then
to form a line. I remember saying something along the
lines about how I thought country music was not good.
Later, sometime in the library, one of my classmates who
was white walks up to me and says, “Rap music isn’t
good.” Mind you in fifth grade, I didn’t listen to rap and
I still don’t really care for it. He was basically thinking,
well, because she’s black, she likes rap music. I was very
confused after he said that because it didn’t even apply
to me. I never realized that he was racially stereotyping
me until years later.
Satisfied or engaged? At
work, the difference is huge
/QNS.COM
link
link
/nominate
/schnepsmedia.com
