When it comes to innovation, business leaders aren't necessarily
looking to traditional sources, like research and development
departments, to contribute big new ideas. Rather, they're counting
on ideas from their employees, customers, and partners to help
drive the organization forward. And engaged employees are most
likely to contribute those innovations, according to a recent
Gallup Management Journal (GMJ) survey of U.S.
workers.
GMJ surveyed U.S. employees to discover what effect
employee engagement may have on team-level innovation and customer
service delivery. Gallup researchers studied employee responses to
several items about innovation in the workplace to see which
factors differed most strongly among engaged employees (29% of
respondents) and those who were not engaged (56%) or actively
disengaged (15%). (See graphic "The Three Types of Employees.")
Gallup research has shown that engaged employees are more
productive, profitable, safer, create stronger customer
relationships, and stay longer with their company than less engaged
employees. This latest research indicates that workplace engagement
is also a powerful factor in catalyzing "outside-the-box" thinking
to improve management and business processes as well as customer
service.
When GMJ researchers surveyed U.S. workers, 59% of
engaged employees strongly agreed with the statement that their
current job "brings out [their] most creative ideas." On the flip
side, only 3% of actively disengaged employees strongly agreed that
their current job brings out their most creative ideas. (See
graphic "Creativity on the Job.")
The study also showed that engaged workers were much more likely
to react positively to creative ideas offered by fellow team
members. When asked to rate their level of agreement with the
statement "I feed off the creativity of my colleagues," roughly 6
in 10 engaged employees (61%) strongly agreed, while only about 1
in 10 actively disengaged employees (9%) gave the same answer. This
suggests that higher levels of employee engagement not only
increase the likelihood that individual employees will generate new
ideas, it also suggests that idea generation among engaged
employees can be amplified when it occurs in a team setting.
GMJ researchers also explored the role that workplace
friendships play in promoting innovation. About three-fourths of
engaged employees (76%) strongly agreed with the statement "I have
a friend at work who I share new ideas with." On the other hand,
only 2 in 10 actively disengaged employees (21%) strongly agreed
that they have a friend at work with whom they share new ideas.
Clearly, friendships do play a significant role among engaged
employees when it comes to setting the stage for idea creation and
refinement.
The results also suggest that there are significant differences
in how engaged and actively disengaged employees view their
company's encouragement and acceptance of innovative ideas. Only 4%
of actively disengaged employees strongly agreed with the statement
"My company encourages new ideas that defy conventional wisdom,"
while more than half of engaged employees (55%) strongly agreed
that their company encouraged such ideas.
Innovation and customer service
GMJ researchers also investigated the effect of
employee engagement on customer service innovation. Nearly 9 in 10
engaged employees (89%) strongly agreed that "At work, I know where
to go with an idea to improve customer service," contrasted with
only 16% of actively disengaged employees.
Engaged employees also involved customers in the innovation and
improvement process. When asked to rate their level of agreement
with the statement "At work, we give our customers new ideas," 74%
of engaged employees strongly agreed that they shared new ideas
with customers, contrasted with just 13% of actively disengaged
employees. (See graphic "Sharing Ideas With Customers.")
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Gallup's employee engagement research has consistently shown a
connection between employee engagement and customer engagement. One
factor that can influence customer engagement is an employee's
willingness to change -- or to "learn and grow" -- to meet the
customers' changing needs. When Gallup asked workers to rate the
statement "I have grown in my ability to positively affect our
customers," the results were telling. Almost 9 in 10 engaged
employees (85%) strongly agreed that they have grown in their
ability to positively affect their company's customers, while only
2 in 10 actively disengaged employees (19%) strongly agreed.
Finally, more than half of all engaged employees (51%) strongly
agreed with the statement "At work, my coworkers always do what is
right for our customers." This was in stark contrast to the
actively disengaged employees: Only 1 in 10 strongly agreed that
their coworkers always do what is right for their customers.
Gallup's research into the relationship between employee
engagement and innovation strongly indicates that engaged employees
are far more likely to suggest or develop creative ways to improve
management or business processes. They're also far more likely to
find creative ways to solve customer problems or to involve their
customers in creating service innovations. Company leaders who want
to drive growth through innovation should first create an
environment that welcomes new ideas -- and should make engaging
employees a key component of that strategy.
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Results of these surveys are based on nationally
representative samples of about 1,000 employed adults aged 18 and
older. Interviews were conducted by The Gallup Organization by
telephone quarterly from October 2000-October 2002, then
semi-annually thereafter. For results based on samples of this
size, one can say with 95% confidence that the error attributable
to sampling and other random effects could be plus or minus three
percentage points. For findings based on subgroups, the sampling
error would be greater.