Orienteers must run fast, but if they don’t find the checkpoints, it doesn’t matter how fast they run – they still won’t win. The same idea can be applied to an organisation. It’s important to view energy levels in relation to whether employees know what’s expected of them. When employees have clear information about their responsibilities, they can focus their energy where it’s needed most.
Questions
Energy
- Are you motivated in your work?
- Are you willing to make extra effort to make the organisation more successful?
- Do you know what you are expected to achieve in your daily work?
- Is it clear to you how your team contributes to reach the organisation's overall goals?
Reporting
Based on the results of the engagement questions, teams are placed into one of five categories in the engagement matrix:
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Engaged – Love their job and do it well
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Satisfied– Know what to do and get it done
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Unfocused – Love doing things, but don’t know what they’re supposed to do
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Passengers – Know exactly what to do, but don’t care enough to do it
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Bored– Neither know what to do nor care about doing it
Ranges and Thresholds
The matrix is divided into defined ranges with set thresholds. Depending on the results in each dimension (energy and clarity), the same overall index score can result in different placements within the matrix.
For example: high clarity combined with low energy vs. low clarity combined with high energy.
Energy Questions: 100
Clarity Questions: 50
Engagement Index: (100 + 50) / 2 = 75Switched values:
Energy Questions: 50
Clarity Questions: 100
Engagement Index: (50 + 100) / 2 = 75
Background
Brilliant’s engagement index consists of two components. The first component is the energy level, which is a strong indicator for engagement. Second, there is clarity, which we consider to be a key determinant of engagement. Clarity refers to both organisational goals as well as more operational tasks. The reason behind adding the clarity dimension is that high energy levels do not necessarily lead to the company performing better, as high energy levels can also lead to employees losing focus when it comes to their operational tasks.
In the field of psychology, there is quite some consensus of the notion that the engagement concept contains three different dimensions: emotional, behavioural and cognitive engagement (Shuck et al., 2017; May et al., 2004). Shaufeli (2013) shows how these dimensions relate to the key elements in the definition of engagement: vigour, dedication and absorption. If we compare our questions on energy with the questions that belong to these factors, we see that our construct is a mix of vigour and dedication.
Our clarity concept is related to two aspects of role clarity: goal clarity (the extent to which the outcome
goals and objectives of the job are clearly stated and well defined) and process clarity (the extent to which
the individual is certain about how to perform his or her job) (Sawyer, 1992). Our construct is based on the definitions of these components.