Would you rather your employees be satisfied, happy or engaged? If you think each word is just a different way to describe the same condition, you’re not alone. The terms are often thought to be synonymous, but the reality is satisfaction, happiness, and engagement have three completely different definitions and produce vastly different outcomes for organizations. Let’s break down what each looks like in an organizational setting.
Satisfaction: Kicking Back To Relax
Satisfaction is defined as “enjoying a state of comfort.” It’s what you feel after finishing a big, decadent meal. When you have a full stomach, reclining in a comfortable chair for a few hours sounds like an appealing post-meal activity. In the same way, satisfied employees “lean back” in their jobs. They do the bare minimum of what the job description requires. Satisfied employees are content to sit still and maintain the status quo. A satisfied employee’s commitment to the organization is skin-deep. They come to work to earn a paycheck and consume the offered benefits — and that’s it. Organizations attempting to create cultures of satisfaction tend to prioritize consumable perks like free snacks, kombucha on tab, nap pods or expensive gym memberships. But remove these modern office comforts, and satisfied employees will follow them right out the door.
Happiness: Compounding Positive Experiences
While satisfaction is a general state of being, happiness is an emotion. It’s what you feel when experiencing something positive, like accepting a promotion, adopting a pet or buying a new car. Like all human emotions, happiness is conditional and largely based on external circumstances. Happy employees are invested in the organization’s success as long as everything is going right. When they’re hitting their numbers and getting along well with co-workers, happy employees will be enthusiastic about their work. Organizations that prioritize employee happiness focus on manufacturing experiences that stimulate positive emotions. Their employees' calendars are filled with company happy hours, social outings and puppy play dates. But once a happy employee experiences opposition or negative feedback, the devolution from happy to disgruntled and irritable is swift and often unexpected.
Engagement: Commitment To Meaningful Work
In contrast to satisfaction and happiness, engagement is not characterized by comfort or mood. When you’re engaged in an activity, you are committed to seeing it through despite the challenges that arise along the way, because the pursuit is meaningful in and of itself. Rock climber Alex Honnold’s 2018 free-solo ascent of El Capitan is an example of engagement in the most extreme sense. Yet Honnold succinctly summed up the concept in the documentary Free Solo when he said, “Nobody achieves anything great by being happy and lazy.”
Employee engagement comes from an employee’s intellectual and emotional connection with their employer, demonstrated through a commitment to further the company vision and goals. Unlike their satisfied, “leaning back” counterparts, engaged employees lean into their work. They go above and beyond their job descriptions because they care deeply about the organization’s purpose and mission. In contrast to happy employees, their commitment to the organization runs deep and is not contingent on ephemeral positive experiences. Engaged employees find meaning in the work itself, and thrive on “moving the needle” and accomplishing the organization’s mission.
The hallmark of an organization that prioritizes engagement may be surprising because it flips “perks culture” on its head. Author and management consultant Peter Drucker is credited with saying, “You can’t improve what you don’t measure.” It turns out, this is especially true of employee engagement. Organizations that seek to improve employee engagement first measure it to enable data-driven people and culture decisions. They ask employees for feedback on proven engagement drivers like role clarity, trust, purpose and psychological safety. And, most importantly, they use this feedback to inform actions. They root out the main causes of disengagement, rather than throwing free snacks at people and hoping for the best.
What Cultures Of Satisfaction And Happiness Miss
Cultures of satisfaction and happiness miss a fundamental truth about the workforce: People generally want to do great work. They want to find meaning in their 40-plus hours at the office every week. They want to be part of something bigger than themselves. So, perhaps the question we should be asking ourselves instead is this: Would our employees rather be satisfied, happy or engaged at work?
