Use cases / Construction group
Client case
Deepler Research · Leadership
Employee engagement survey makes the influence of managers visible
A construction group with more than 10,000 employees wanted to know how engaged its employees are and what drives that engagement. The employee engagement survey in Deepler Research gave an answer that went beyond numbers: two teams with the same workplaces judged them very differently. The difference was the manager.
Sector
Construction
Size
10,000+ employees
Solution
Deepler Research
Application
Employee engagement survey
In brief
The question
How engaged are employees, and what determines that?
The insight
The manager colours the verdict of the whole team.
The result
A fixed example in leadership development.
The question: how engaged are our employees really?
The construction group wanted to know more than an average satisfaction score. The question was how engaged employees are, where the energy is and where things get stuck. And above all: what course of action that offers the organisation and its managers.
The approach: measuring employee engagement with Deepler Research
The construction group ran an employee engagement survey in Deepler Research. Employees answered the questionnaire anonymously and in a few minutes. The results became visible per team, so HR and managers saw not only the organisation-wide picture, but also the differences between teams.
Anonymous responses
A short questionnaire, in a few minutes
Results per team
Not just an average for the whole organisation
Compare teams
Differences become visible immediately
The insight: two teams, the same workplaces, a very different verdict
One outcome stood out. Two teams worked in the same environment, with the same workplaces. Yet one team rated the workplaces negatively, while the other team was neutral to positive. The difference was not the workplace. The manager of the first team was negative about the workplaces themselves, and that view turned out to carry through into the experience of the whole team.
Same environment, different verdict: the manager makes the difference.
Illustrative representation, without exact scores.
“A great result of using Deepler for our employee engagement survey was the insight we gained into the influence of managers on how employees experience their work. It is an example we still use regularly to create awareness of the impact of leadership. Deepler has given us not only insights into engagement, but also valuable starting points for leadership development.”
HR advisor, construction group
The result: starting points for leadership development
The insight became more than an outcome in a report. The construction group still regularly uses the example to make managers aware of their impact. So the survey delivered not only knowledge about engagement, but also concrete starting points for leadership development.
- A recognisable example for conversations about leadership
- Awareness among managers of the impact of their attitude
- Leadership development based on own data, not on assumptions
Increasing employee engagement starts with the manager
This is not an exception. Research by Gallup (State of the American Manager) shows that managers account for at least 70% of the variance in engagement between teams. So anyone who wants to increase employee engagement looks not only at workplaces, pay or processes, but above all at leadership. Three lessons from this case:
1. Measure per team
An average across the whole organisation hides exactly the differences you learn from.
2. Look at leadership
A manager’s attitude and behaviour colour how a team experiences its work and environment.
3. Make it discussable
Use the outcomes as an example in leadership development and measure again after a while.
Do you then also want to know how a manager comes across? With 360-degree feedback managers receive personal feedback from their team, peers and their own manager.
Frequently asked questions
Frequently asked questions about employee engagement surveys
What is an employee engagement survey?
An employee engagement survey measures how connected employees feel to their work, their team and the organisation, and which factors strengthen or hold back that engagement. Where a classic employee satisfaction survey mainly asks how satisfied people are, an engagement survey is about energy, commitment and loyalty.
What is the difference between employee satisfaction and employee engagement?
Satisfied employees find their work and circumstances fine. Engaged employees also actively commit to their team and the organisation. Engagement therefore says more about performance and about retaining employees.
How do you measure a manager's influence on engagement?
By comparing results per team. If teams in similar circumstances score clearly differently, the manager is often an important factor. With 360-degree feedback you can then also map the behaviour of the manager themselves.
How often do you measure employee engagement?
Many organisations combine an extensive survey once a year with short pulse surveys in between. That way you see whether improvement actions have an effect, without over-surveying employees. In Deepler Research you can measure without limits, including pulse surveys.
Do employees' answers remain anonymous?
Yes. Employees complete the survey anonymously and the results are shown at group level, so answers cannot be traced back to individuals.