What is the difference between engagement and satisfaction?

TalentMap recommends that organizations focus on employee engagement, rather than satisfaction, as a method of measuring performance and employee attitudes. Specifically,

• Engagement is a more complete measurement tool than job satisfaction

• Engagement studies reveal factors other than satisfaction that improve employee performance

• Engagement studies reveal factors other than satisfaction that improve business results.

In addition to job satisfaction, engagement measures the extent to which employees commit to the organization, their level of discretionary effort, and how long they intend to stay with the organization as a result of this commitment . Unlike satisfaction surveys, engagement surveys identify the root cause of employee attitudes and behaviours, facilitating actions that improve business results.

At TalentMap, our definition is grounded in both academic work and years of our own primary research with employees and employers. We define employee engagement as: "The extent to which employees put forth discretionary effort as a result of a logical and emotional connection to the organization." We use the framework "Head - Heart - Hands" to encapsulate engagement.