Employee Satisfaction vs. Employee Engagement (What's the difference?)

The terms employee engagement and employee satisfaction might sound like the exact same thing to the untrained ear. But they're very different and measured by asking your employees different types of questions!

Employee Satisfaction: is a measure of how much the employees enjoy the job and its perks. These things are under the direct control of the company:

• employees are happy with the benefits offered

• employees have the equipment they need 

• employees feel proud of the brand (swag, transparent leadership, etc.) 

Employee Engagement: A measure of how willing employees are to go above and beyond. These things are typical under the control of the manager:

• employees feel like their work matters

• employees feel like they're trusted by their manager

• employees feel like their team is a safe place 

• ...etc. 

Remember: You can have an engaged employee who's not satisfied, and a satisfied employee who's not engaged.  Engaged employees who are also satisfied are the holy grail!