The 10 metrics of employee engagement that help guide fresh grads

Defining the future of work may feel like an impossible task for some educators.

With various future of work reports circling around, and job title predictions passing through, how do students know what roles to prepare for; or what skills they need to acquire in order to succeed?

Despite career centre handouts and a heads-up from your career advisor, it may be worth looking elsewhere for ways to prepare for upcoming job roles and tips to get your workplace expectations on the right track.

One key way of staying ahead is to see how employers maintain employee engagement and how they should be taking care of your working needs.

Therefore, when you arrive at your next job interview, you’ll have a better idea about what to ask employers and what to watch out for while touring their offices and online job descriptions.

Employee engagement metrics help students to prepare for future work. Source: Alex Kotliarskyi /Unsplash

From the recent release of The Global State Of Employee Engagement report by Office Vibes, there’s a useful collection of metrics to map out expectations and requirements.

1. Recognition

According to the Office Vibes report, 63 percent of employees feel like they don’t get enough praise.

A good way to avoid being a part of this statistic is to check job review sites to see what previous employees have written about the company.

Alternatively, you could ask current employees if they feel as though their work is valued; their response will indicate if it’s a company that will value your degree.

2. Feedback

Highlighting that 96 percent of employees said receiving feedback regularly is a good thing, the report advises you to request monthly one-on-ones, weekly planning sessions or daily check-in meetings so that you don’t feel lost.

Don’t be afraid to ask for feedback in your future role and try to maintain fluent communication with your manager.

3. Happiness

Perhaps one of the most important factors on the metric list, how can you make sure that you’re happy in your future job?

Unfortunately, time machines aren’t available to buy and only you will know which career field you’ll feel like pursuing after graduation.

But if you do find yourself in an unhappy working environment, keep searching until you find one that you enjoy; or take the entrepreneurial route and create your own!

4. Personal Growth

Noting that 56 percent of employees believe that they don’t have any career advancement opportunities, the report explains that, “Employees often feel like they don’t have enough autonomy, they’re not mastering their skills, and they don’t fully feel a sense of purpose.”

Personal growth is essential, even at university, so keep an eye on any upcoming career advancement opportunities.

5. Satisfaction

“Employees need to have clarity around what they do on their day-to-day. They need to clearly understand how you’re judging their success or not,” the report outlines.

Closely related to happiness, always question whether a job role will truly satisfy you or not.

Knowing your employees skill sets is great, but to really promote development you need to tap into their hidden potential. The modern workforce calls for dynamic and creative minds coming together to innovate and disrupt. What are your people capable of? https://t.co/e49PNwytV5

— Officevibe (@Officevibe) October 22, 2019

6. Wellness

Throughout their findings, Office Vibe found that employees are stressed, overworked, and don’t have a good work-life balance.

To prepare for future occurrences of stress, take up a relaxing hobby at university such as meditation or yoga.

By looking after your mind now, you may overcome future work obstacles such as an unequal work-life balance.

7. Ambassadorship

Looking at the willingness of employees to recommend their organisation and its products or services, the report found that 57 percent of employees wouldn’t recommend their organisation as a good place to work.

So, if you go for an interview at an organisation and you don’t see yourself wanting to advocate its services, question yourself if it’s the right role to work for.

8. Relationship With Managers

Relationships with managers are quite like your relationship with professors and lecturers at university.

A good relationship will harvest good work and motivation to perform the best standard you can. Wheres a negative relationship may end in a disengaged experience.

9. Relationship With Colleagues

According to the report, 34 percent of employees don’t think they have enough social interaction with their colleagues.

A way to overcome this is to plan social events and team building activities; similar to how you would do at university societies.

10. Company Alignment

The final metric for you to measure is company alignment.

“A perfect culture fit happens when an employee’s personal core values align well with the organisation’s core values,” Office Vibes advises.

So, when you’re considering your next job avenue or a pathway after graduation, ensure that you’ve thought about all these metrics before signing a job contract; just in case there’s no company alignment, no career progression and no motivational feedback.

Being a manager is a rewarding role, but sometimes people don’t understand the unique challenges managers face. We sit down with a seasoned manager to discuss what it’s really like keeping everyone aligned, setting clear goals, and leading through change. https://t.co/MopAvyZQnl

— Officevibe (@Officevibe) October 17, 2019

Liked this? Then you’ll love…

Which industry sponsors employee MBAs the most?

What students should know about Amazon’s massive employee retraining plan