How can leaders help employees perform to their absolute full potential? How can organizations capture more of the very best ideas and thinking to fuel innovation? How can we create teams of inspired, passionate employees to serve our customers?

I recently had the opportunity to talk through engagement, performance and leadership trends with my good friend and frequent collaborator Don MacPherson. Don is president and co-founder of Modern Survey, where he’s been collecting data about employee engagement and performance for the past 15 years.

In our conversation, Don shares his perspectives on engagement, his latest research, and the implications on the future of work. I’ll be sharing our discussion in a series of videos and blog posts.

First up, a little foundation on engagement, including the most current Modern Survey research. Watch the video below for insights on questions like:

• What is employee engagement? What are the different levels of engagement?
• What are the five questions that Modern Survey asks to measure an employee’s psychological investment in their work?
• What does the latest research say about the state of engagement in the U.S.?
• Is employee engagement improving?
• How can leaders maximize employees’ performance potential?

Measuring Engagement – YouTube

Even though employee engagement is improving, some of the research blows me away. Only 13% of U.S. workers are fully engaged. And 40% of employees are doing the heavy lifting for everyone else.

Those numbers make it clear to me: Employee engagement should be a C-suite priority. Want to drive innovation, performance and growth? In our competitive, constantly changing world, companies will need to do a much better job capturing more contribution from their people. We’ll continue the conversation and talk through how to boost engagement over the next few posts.

Learn more about the role leaders play in employee engagement. Download my white paper, Winning with Culture: How Leadership Drives Engagement and Performance, to read more research from Modern Survey and learn from leaders at best-in-class companies.

Ryan Estis helps progressive companies embrace change, attack opportunity and achieve breakthrough performance. Delivering more than 75 live events annually, Ryan provides high-impact keynote presentations and professional development in partnership with the world’s best brands. Learn more about Ryan.