Texas Ranks Among Top States with Highest Employee Engagement
A new Gallup study has found that engaged employees–that is, employees who are committed to and motivated by their job–have greater job satisfaction and productivity rates. Texas ranked among the states with the highest percentage of engaged employees for 2013 and 2014 at 34%. Montana took the lead at 39%.
Gallup compiled these numbers through Gallup Daily Tracking interviews conducted between January 2013 and December 2014. The nationwide average of engagement during this time was 31%. Conversely, the national average of active disengagement for 2013–2014 was 18%, and once, again Texas ranked among the states with the lowest active disengagement percentage.
One explanation for why some states have higher engagement levels is company size: smaller companies tend to have higher engagement and productivity due to a greater sense of autonomy. Another explanation is unemployment rate: engagement and employment rates are positively related. And finally, new hires tend to be more engaged than tenured employees.
Texas’s current boom in young workers, and steady drop in unemployment could be key factors in its impressive level of employee engagement. But Gallup suggests that ultimately it could be companies’ management practices that really impact employee engagement.