Silk Road, the social HR vendor, has released results of a new survey that demonstrates that a/ employee engagement is a critical issue, and b/ companies aren’t doing much about it.

Top Findings:

• The Millennial generation is viewed by employers as the least engaged: On a five point scale, Millennial employees received the lowest average engagement score at a 3.23. Baby Boomers and Generation X scored 3.62 and 3.72, respectively.  Still, only 10 percent of employers reported differentiating their engagement programs by generation.

• Remote workforces are viewed as new “hurdle” of employee engagement: Employers cited varying employee access to communications and information as a barrier to engagement. Other barriers include diverse workforces, work overload, and budget constraints.

• Formal employee engagement programs are the exception, not the rule: A majority (54 percent) of companies do not have formal employee engagement programs in place, as compared to 38 percent that do.  However, 73 percent reported participating in engagement programs on some level.

• Capable leadership and career opportunities trump salary and benefits as engagement drivers: According to HR professionals, trust in management (56 percent) and opportunities for career development (52 percent) drive engagement, while diversified compensation options and good pension and retirement plans (4 percent) do not.
• Measurement is a weakness of employee engagement programs: A majority of employers (59 percent) only measure employee engagement once per year.  Few companies employ mid-year “pulse” surveys (17 percent) and use social media (16 percent) to measure workforce engagement on an ongoing basis.

I recently wrote about the 15five approach to keeping up to speed by weekly updates. I bet that anything that has a longer feedback cycle than that won’t work. I will plan to get a demo of Silk Road’s approach to a more engaged workforce.