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From Employee Satisfaction to Employee Engagement
Employee satisfaction has long ceased to be a competitive advantage. New industries are taking shape at a "never seen before" rate, and the expanding operations of companies in the fast-changing global arena have provided numerous opportunities for employees. Competition between companies is no longer limited to the traditional frontiers of the marketplace, technology, and raw materials but has permeated into the domain of human capital as well.
Though companies vie to recruit the best available talent, the real competitiveness lies in retaining the best talent, which indeed is the most decisive factor for success today.
In such a competitive landscape, the industry has quickly realized that focusing on employee satisfaction alone is not a sufficient condition for creating an environment where the best talent continues to commit itself to the company goals.
Employee Satisfaction is Not Enough
An employee may be satisfied with the pay and perks, welfare measures, growth, and job, but this does not guarantee a state where the employee exhibits unwavering commitment towards their job to elevate the company's performance to distinctly higher levels of excellence. This is the scenario where an employee is satisfied with the company and the work they do but is simply not motivated to put forward their best performance. They are satisfied and yet may not be a willing team player. An offer of better pay, perks, working conditions, location, etc., may invariably lure the employee away from the current assignment.
The Next Summit - Share of Motivated Employees
This led companies to focus on building a higher percentage of motivated employees who have a greater concern for improving process performance and are less likely to be lured away by reasonably good offers from outside. They are more focused and energized than a merely satisfied employee. These employees may still have a narrow focus on their work rather than an overview of how their "good" performance contributes to the company. They may still not put personal effort into understanding the "big picture" and aligning their work in the best possible way, continuing to rely on the job description given to them. We are talking about a state of organization where employees are willing to continue with the company and also have their attention on process improvements. Motivating factors could well be "fulfillment of personal/intellectual/professional/social needs" as they go about their work, but the point of maximizing overall gains for the company is still nowhere in their thought horizon.
Employee Engagement - The Ultimate State
The focus quickly shifted to maximizing employee engagement. Employee engagement is classically defined as a state where employees are committed to the concerns and culture of the organization to such an extent that they use their discretion in the overall interest of the company while discharging responsibilities during their day-to-day work. Engaged employees perform at consistently high levels of productivity and dedication and are passionate about the organization and the work they are involved in. By this definition, it is clear that employee engagement is a definite antecedent of employee involvement, whose continuum stretches from employee participation to employee involvement to employee empowerment. Also, in this state of the organization, employees carry a high degree of organizational pride.
The two flavors emerging from the above discussion of engaged employees are commitment and a high degree of organizational pride.
Employee Commitment
Commitment is the state of organizational people, where people feel ownership for the job and area of work and hence have a higher degree of loyalty to the company. There is a tendency in people at this stage to understand customer needs and find ways of fulfilling them. Customers, teams, and long-term thinking get prominence rather than a narrow focus on "self," "tasks," and "short-term." There is an all-around understanding of the company's strategy, and employees feel connected to the strategy. There is a deeper sense of understanding of how their work contributes to the overall benefit of the company, and so they find meaning in the job they are doing.
Engaged Employees - Highest Level of Organizational Pride
At the highest level of employee engagement, employees are not only committed to the company's overall game plan in the current timeframe, but they also start believing in the company's philosophy and internalize the company's values. They also believe in the company's vision and can see how their behavior and performance will one day make the vision a reality. It is the stage where they are always willing to go the extra mile for the company's sake by using their discretion in the overall interest of the company. Here, the employee not only aligns their behavior and efforts with the needs of external stakeholders such as customers and society but also dons the role of a brand ambassador of the company. This is where employee performance and intentions are aligned perfectly with the company goals.
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