INSIGHT 3:
LINK EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT DATA
TO CUSTOMER SATISFACTION DATA
Many HR leaders are using engagement survey data as a primary
source to define what their priorities are each year. That process
is a positive development and one that should be encouraged.
However, how does HR set priorities among the many issues
identified in the employee engagement survey? Too often, the pri-orities
are set based upon the top engagement gaps. However,
addressing the greatest engagement gaps may not be the real orga-nizational
priority. An alternative approach is to examine the
employee engagement data through the lens of the customer satis-faction
data (most often collected by marketing). Table One shows
the link between customer satisfaction and employee engagement
survey results.
To clarify the approach, divide it into the above four quadrants.
Suggest that HR place its priorities from their employee engage-ment
survey results on the following quadrants:
■■ High-level priority. Customer satisfaction is low and employee
engagement is low. In these situations there is a reasonable
proposition that the two results are connected. HR should
diagnose the low engagement results with a line of sight to how
it impacts customer satisfaction.
■■ Mid-level priority. Customer satisfaction is high and employee
engagement is low. No organization wants employees to be
disengaged; that negativity over the long run can often be
counterproductive. However, in this situation, when employee
engagement is low it might also mean that the positive customer
satisfaction is at risk. This early warning sign should heighten
the organization’s concern so that they repair the negative
employee engagement before it impacts the way customers are
experiencing the organization.
■■ Mid-level priority. Customer satisfaction is low and employee
engagement is high. In this situation one might wonder why
employee engagement is high if the customers are dissatisfied?
It is possible that this group of employees might have limited
hr practice
impact on the customer experience, so the findings are unrelated
to each other. However, if employees do have an impact on
the customer experience, then HR should investigate if the
high employee engagement reflects complacency or if they are
working towards low standards. Perhaps, for this particular
group, new standards and changes need to be implemented to
raise customer satisfaction.
■■ Lower-level priority. Customer satisfaction is high and
employee engagement is high. In these situations where both
customer satisfaction and employee engagement are high, HR
should find ways to celebrate these outcomes, showcase them
to the rest of the organization and use them as a way to further
reinforce the kind of culture where strong customer satisfaction
and employee engagement occur.
Table One Low Customer
Satisfaction
Results
High Customer
Satisfaction
Results
High Employee
Engagement
Results
Why is the
engagement
high if customer
satisfaction
is low?
How can high
engagement
be reinforced
to continue to
contribute to
high customer
satisfaction?
Low Employee
Engagement
Results
How does low
engagement
contribute to
low customer
satisfaction?
Is the low
engagement an
early warning
sign that the
high customer
satisfaction is
at risk? WHEN HR TAKES AN OUTSIDE-IN
PERSPECTIVE, HR DEFINES PRIORITIES
BASED ON WORK THAT EVENTUALLY
DELIVERS GREATER VALUE TO
THE EXTERNAL CUSTOMER.
ivanmateev / 123RF
HRPROFESSIONALNOW.CA ❚ CONFERENCE ISSUE 2019 ❚ 29
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