Peoplebox Engagement Framework
How do we define engagement?
Employee engagement is the extent to which employees feel passionate about their jobs, are committed to the
organization, and put effort into their work. Engaged employees experience a fulfilling & rewarding work life. We have
identified 11 psychological drivers which foster engagement and connection. These drivers cover individual, group &
organizational level behaviours that set a positive work environment & culture.
What is the Peoplebox Engagement Framework?
Our employee engagement survey is based on 11 psychological drivers that each have 3 sub-drivers under them. The sub
drivers are enablers of employee engagement, supported by several organizational behaviour & management theories. These
enablers help us understand specific behaviours that promote engagement. At the core of employee engagement we have
found factors like emotional commitment, connection, motivation are proven to impact the workplace positively.
How do we measure the scores?
eNPS scale
Our survey contains one question that measures engagement using an eNPS scale as data tracked from our users allows for
robust visualization- Detractors, Passives, and Promoters. In other words our tabulation gives us insights on both
individual and aggregate levels that can be used to understand change over time and specific trigger reactions. eNPS is
a scale that is used to measure in competitive landscapes and provide a basis of comparison to benchmark their scores in
relation to the competitors in their industry.
Five point scale
Our survey assesses 11 psychological drivers using a 5 point scale to quantitatively measure a respondentâs agreement,
satisfaction or behavioral frequency with a question. Our survey users must experience a seamless and we use the 5 point
scale for the following reasons:
1. They are well reciprocated by both the user & receiver.
2. A point scale allows us to collect granulated data that reflect beliefs & perceptions which enhance insights.
Cumulating scores provides attitudes and behaviours that can be primed with actionable feedback.
3. This holistic view allows us to cater to diverse mindsets & feelings, eventually leading to sharper analysis, areas
of improvement & a clarity on behaviours that are doing well.
We have adapted the Likert - Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Neutral, Agree, Strongly Agree into a 5 Point Scale - (Not at
all)1 2 3 4 5(Absolutely), asked by a chatbot.
However, unlike the eNPS, 5 point scales are effective in measuring sentiments, saves time and offers a large range of
analytical data. In our survey we use in moderation a good mix of both scales to offer valuable insights that lead to
actionable feedback.
Key Outcome (Engagement)
Our survey measures the extent of psychological connection experienced by an employee towards their organization using
psychological drivers followed by feedback designed to enhance engaged behaviours.
1. How likely are you to recommend your company to your friends & family?
2. How happy are you working at your company?
3. How likely are you to see yourself working at this company 12 months from now?
The 11 key drivers that drive this outcome are:
1. Collaboration
2. Connection
3. Inclusion
4. Goal Setting
5. Career Growth
6. Manager Support
7. Infrastructure & Resources
8. Recognition
9. Role Clarity
10. Personal Well-being
11. Leadership
Drivers and questions
1. Manager support
is the extent to which a manager enables ease of work & relationship with their subordinates peers. Level of trust,
communication extended between an employee and manager as well as active involvement is measured. Mintzberg (2009),
conducted a study where he found 3 of 9 most important managerial characteristics to be managing resources, handling
conflict & organizing information were dependent on manager trust, communication & involvement.
1. Overall Motivation: How motivated are you to work with your manager?
2. Manager participation: Do you believe your manager helps you to succeed at work?
3. Expertise: Do you feel that your manager provides the expertise to support you at your organization?
4. Open communication: Do you think your manager is open to receiving criticism?
Open Text Question: What could your manager do to make your work experience more meaningful for you?
2. Role Clarity
is the degree to which not only employees have a clear understanding of their tasks, responsibilities and processes at
work. These questions help understand mutual expectation, assess whether employees are receiving specific actionable
feedback & maintain manageable workloads. (JDR model, Hackman & Oldham).
1. Task allocation: Do you feel well-informed about your expectations at work?
2. Actionable feedback: Do you think you get actionable feedback on your work?
3. Managing job demands: Would you say that your workload and goals are manageable?
Open Text Question: What is the most meaningful part of your job?
3. Leadership
is the perception of a leader's style of working, actions taken and overall direction in the company. The questions
measure employeeâs beliefs about leader perception, involvement in work & company direction. (Nembhard & Edmonson, 2006)
found that employee belief about fairness & transparency; the extent to which a leader is involved & accountability
foster positive work environments.
1. Direction & Strategy: Do you think your leaders are taking the company in the right direction?
2. Listening: Do you think your leaders listen to feedback?
3. Leader accountability: Would you say that your leaders walk the talk?
Open Text Question: Name one thing you would do differently as a CEO?
4. Collaboration
Collaboration means people coming together to complete tasks or achieve goals through their work. We measure individual
involvement, ease of collaboration among teams and support extended by the organization. Biswas & Bhatnagar (2013) found
a link between collaboration & work engagement.
1. Intra-team collaboration: Do you and your peers collaborate well together?
2. Inter-team collaboration: Do you feel there is good cross team collaboration?
3. Culture of Collaboration: Do you feel that your organization has a culture of collaboration?
Open Text Question: How can we improve team collaboration?
5. Connection
measures bond between fellow peers, how much they care for eachother, casual camaraderie at work. Trust and care among
employees creates stronger bonds Brown & Leigh (1996). A friendly workplace is said to show high levels of employee
engagement.
1. Camaraderie: Do you think you have a connection with your co-workers beyond your work?
2. Community: Do you feel you share common interests with your peers at work?
3. Friendly environment: Do you feel your organization encourages building friendship?
Open Text Question: What makes you feel connected to our company?
6. Inclusion
is the freedom to express views and feel accepted & have those suggestions be appreciated or valued. Measure of how safe
employees feel to be themselves at work. (Frazier et al, 2017) in a study found inclusion & psychological safety to be
predictors of workplace engagement.
1. Emotional safety: Do you feel safe to voice your thoughts, regardless of the consequences?
2. Belonging: Do you feel like you can bring your true self to work?
3. Equality : Do you feel that everyone is treated equally at work?
Open Text Question: What could we do to improve diversity and inclusion in our organization?
7. Goal setting
is the ability to determine, set individually and familiarise others of the same. Goal setting measures clarity of
goals, inclusion in goal setting & realistic goals. Brown & Leigh, 1996 found that employees who were actively involved
& set realistic goals were engaged at work.
1. Clarity of goals: Do you believe that your goals are clearly defined?
2. Inclusion in goal setting: Do you believe that your opinions were considered in setting your current goals?
3. Individual-organizational goal alignment: Do you believe that your personal goals and organizational goals are
aligned?
Open Text Question: How can we set goals more realistically?
8. Infrastructure & resources
is the measure of material resources & involvement provided by the company to make (JDR, Hackman & Oldham) a physical
environment conducive for work. Here employeeâs belief about their infrastructure having a positive effect on their work
& wellbeing is assessed.
1. Organizational support: Do you think your organization has provided you with all the resources you need to
accomplish your tasks?
2. Resources allocated: Do you feel that your work resources are helping you learn?
3. **Request for resources:**Do you believe if you need any resources, your company acts quickly to provide for it?
Open Text Question: Is there anything in your work world thatâs causing frustration or delays?
9. Career growth
is the overall experience of being challenged & achieving goals to express your work style to learn along your career.
Measures the opportunity to showcase strengths, learning and future career path. ERG Theory by Alderfer says that
opportunities to display strengths, promote employee learning are linked to engagement.
1. Growth: Do you feel like your job enables you to grow and learn new skills?
2. Learning & development: Do you think that you are learning and growing through your opportunities?
3. Clarity of career trajectory: Can you see a clear career path for your future in this organization?
Open Text Question: What are some learning & development opportunities your organization can provide to help enhance
your career?
10. Recognition
is the extent to which employees feel appreciated and acknowledged for their contributions. Our scale measures
recognition across employee beliefs about the culture of recognition, acknowledging achievements & understands what is
celebrated.
1. Achievement: Do you feel your work is being recognised?
2. Manager recognition: Do you feel that your manager often recognises your contribution?
3. Culture of celebration: Do you believe that your company has a culture of recognition & celebration?
Open Text Question: How can your company celebrate your contribution better?
11. Personal well being
is the extent to which one feels happy, healthy and comfortable at work. Here we aim to understand work disconnection,
exhaustion & perception of company's efforts into employee well being (Maslach, MBI, 1986).
1. Work disconnection: Do you fully disconnect from work after your workday?
2. Physical wellbeing: Do you feel you are leading a healthy physical life?
3. Company's efforts : Do you feel your company is invested in employee wellbeing?
Open Text Question: Which company value would you like to embody more?
FAQs
How should I run this survey?
There are 3 ways to run the survey:
1. Recommended - Pulse survey - 4 questions - fortnight, recycled quarterly: You can ask 4 questions to your team every
fortnight through slack. This would ensure you donât over-burden your team at the same-time you get good
participation.
2. Baseline survey - 12 questions - once in quarter: Weâve designed in a way that the first question is a pivotal
question in all the drivers. So you can pick the first question in each driver along with the eNPS question at the
first - you will have a survey with 12 questions for your baseline data.
3. Exhaustive survey - 44 questions - once in 6 months: You can create a survey with all of the above questions in one
survey and send it every 6 months. This will be taxing for your employees and we do not recommend this.
How should I analyze the results?
With pulse surveys, it is important to disseminate the results earlier. Prefer sharing the responses with your
organization managers earlier.
What is a good participation rate?
Usually a good participation rate is 75%. If there is a participation rate of 100%, be aware if it is through coercion
which might change the quality of responses. A good analogy is to compare voting turnout in healthy democracies.
How do I ensure a good participation rate?
The simplest way to ensure good participation is to let the team know that they are being heard. Acknowledge the scores
in meetings - Townhalls, team-meetings and 1-on-1s. Embed them in your process, that would ensure your pulse surveys
have good participation.
References
Collaboration
1. Biswas, S., & Bhatnagar, J. (2013). Mediator analysis of employee engagement: role of perceived organizational
support, PO fit, organizational commitment and job satisfaction. Vikalpa, 38(1), 27-40.
2. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0256090920130103
Connection
1. Kiefer, S. M., Alley, K. M., & Ellerbrock, C. R. (2015). Teacher and peer support for young adolescentsâ motivation,
engagement, and school belonging. Rmle Online, 38(8), 1-18.Teacher and Peer Support for Young Adolescentsâ
Motivation, Engagement, and School Belonging
2. Psychological Climate Measure (PCM; Brown & Leigh, 1996). Shuck, B., Reio Jr, T. G., & Rocco, T. S. (2011). Employee
engagement: An examination of antecedent and outcome variables. Human resource development international,
14(4), 427-445 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13678868.2011.601587
Inclusion
1. Psychological Climate Measure (PCM; Brown & Leigh, 1996).
https://doras.dcu.ie/22239/1/Diversity_and_Engagement-_Final_Accepted_Submission.pdf
2. Frazier, M. L., Fainshmidt, S., Klinger, R. L., Pezeshkan, A., & Vracheva, V. (2017). Psychological safety: A
metaâanalytic review and extension. Personnel Psychology, 70(1), 113-165
https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1018&context=management_fac_pubs
Goal setting
1. Psychological Climate Measure (PCM; Brown & Leigh, 1996)
Career growth
1. Theory on motivation and engagement, including Two Factor Theory (Herzberg),
2. ERG Theory (Alderfer), and
3. Employee Engagement (Kahn).
Manager support
1. Mintzberg (2009) Mintzberg, H. (2009). Managing. Pearson Education.
Infrastructure & resources
1. Job Characteristics Model (Hackman & Oldham).
Recognition
1. Self Determination Theory (Ryan & Deci), and the Job Characteristics Model (Hackman & Oldham).
Role Clarity
1. Leiter, Schaufeli, and Maslach (2001) cite engagement as the positive antithesis of employee burnout.
2. JDR model
Personal well being
1. Leiter, Schaufeli, and Maslach (2001) cite engagement as the positive antithesis of employee burnout.
Leadership
1. Ghadi, M. Y., Fernando, M., & Caputi, P. (2013). Transformational leadership and work engagement: The mediating
effect of meaning in work. Leadership & Organization Development Journal.
2. Nembhard, I. M., & Edmondson, A. C. (2006). Making it safe: The effects of leader inclusiveness and professional
status on psychological safety and improvement efforts in health care teams. Journal of Organizational Behavior: The
International Journal of Industrial, Occupational and Organizational Psychology and Behavior, 27(7), 941-966.
Engagement
1. Employee Engagement (Kahn).