READING 2 Employee Engagement

Employees gather for a group cheer just before opening a store during a busy holiday shopping weekend.

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

Read the following article. Pay special attention to the words in bold. 10.3

Do you like to go to work? Or are you glad to leave at the end of the day? If you have a full-time job, you probably spend most of your waking hours at work. It would be nice to spend that time in a pleasant atmosphere, right?

According to a survey, 70 percent of Americans are not happy at work. They often feel job burnout: physical and mental stress. Some of them can’t wait to get home, but they often take their stress home with them to their families.

When workers are happy, they do a better job, and the company gains from this. What makes workers happy? The answer is “employee engagement.” Researchers have been studying what makes a worker feel engaged. Engaged employees are enthusiastic about their work. Researchers have found that it takes a combination of things to build an engaged workforce: 1. Employees need to feel that the boss appreciates their work. 2. Workers need to take breaks during the day.

When people work continuously, they feel worse

physically. More work is not necessarily better work. Some experts believe that workers need a break every 90 minutes. Some companies have fitness facilities and nap rooms for their employees. 3. Workers want to be able to focus on one thing at a time. Too often, managers want them to do several things at once. The result is workers get stressed out, and their work suffers. 4. Workers want to feel that they are doing something meaningful. They want to be excited about what they’re doing.

Employers need to choose a job candidate who fits the company’s mission1. A worker who doesn’t fit in is likely2 to quit. It takes time and costs money to train a new employee. So it’s important for a company to hire the right people and make the work atmosphere fun and meaningful.

1 mission: purpose 2 is likely: is probably going to