Abstract

In an increasingly hypercompetitive and interconnected globalized world and with much of the business world trying to pinpoint reasons for strategic corporate success, the topic of employee engagement is frequently discussed and debated. Employee engagement has repeatedly been shown to directly impact a variety of individual, organizational, and societal outcomes, including employee motivation, satisfaction, and overall performance levels. With the results of a 2013 Gallup Poll on worldwide workforce engagement showing that only 13% of the world’s workforce is actively engaged in their work and while the idea of employee disengagement is widespread across industries and companies, there are companies that are taking proactive measures to boost employee engagement. This research uses a case vignette methodology and utilizes the Gallup Q12 (survey questions that identify key drivers of worker engagement) as a framework for understanding comparative workplace engagement, examining Google, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Bain & Co., and Boston Consulting Group (six of the companies that are repeatedly listed as the best places to work according to “Forbes,” “Fortune,” “Wall Street Journal,” and “Glassdoor”). The work seeks to find recurring employee engagement trends among these companies (including elements of institutionalized organizational culture, policy, and practice). Conclusions and practical recommendations are provided to help organizational leaders further engage their employees and drive higher levels of individual and organizational performance.