How to boost employee engagement: Bring Social Exchange Theory into the office
How reciprocation contributes to employee engagement
Reciprocation is more influential in employee engagement than you might think! Social exchange theory (SET) suggests that employees choose their commitment level at work based on their perceived support and community from their employer.
Work engagement can predict various measures of employee success, including customers’ perceived quality of service, profit, and productivity.1,2 Compared to their disengaged peers, engaged workers communicate effectively and energetically, and have an easier time coping with the demands of their job.3
The cost of disengagement: higher resentment and $7 trillion USD
When employees feel disconnected from their duties and employer, they will spread these negative sentiments among their peers, leading to greater resentment among the firm.4
Beyond contributing to a lack of morale, disengaged employees cost $7.8 trillion USD worldwide in lost productivity.5 And they’re no small population - a staggering 79% of the globe’s workforce is disengaged.5
When employees feel overwhelmed, fearful, or disconnected from their bosses, they’ll start to feel disengaged.6 Because of these cyclical factors, it can be difficult to boost engagement once it’s already low.
References
- Bakker, A. B., & Demerouti, E. (2007). The Job Demands Resources model: State of the art. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 22(3), 309–328. https://doi.org/10.1108/02683940710733115
- Salanova, M., Agut, S., & Peiró, J. M. (2005). Linking organizational resources and work engagement to employee performance and customer loyalty: The mediation of service climate. The Journal of Applied Psychology, 90(6), 1217–1227. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.90.6.1217
- Schaufeli, W., & Bakker, A. (2003). Utrecht work engagement scale: Preliminary manual. Utrecht: Occupational Health Psychology Unit, Utrecht University.
- Rasool, S. F., Wang, M., Tang, M., Saeed, A., & Iqbal, J. (2021). How Toxic Workplace Environment Effects the Employee Engagement: The Mediating Role of Organizational Support and Employee Wellbeing. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(5), 2294. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18052294
- Pendell, R. (2022, June 14). The World’s $7.8 Trillion Workplace Problem. Gallup.Com. https://www.gallup.com/workplace/393497/world-trillion-workplace-problem.aspx
- Lipman, V. (2014, May 19). 6 Clear Reasons Why Employees Are Disengaged. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mind-the-manager/201405/6-clear-reasons-why-employees-are-disengaged
- Kular, S., Gatenby, M., Rees, C., Soane, E., & Truss, K. (2008). Employee Engagement: A Literature Review. Undefined. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Employee-Engagement%3A-A-Literature-Review-Kular-Gatenby/5df9d365ce99fb4576a1dc26211096f6ddd9708d
- Bridgeland, J., Bruce, M., & Hariharan, A. (2013). The Missing Piece: A National Teacher Survey on How Social and Emotional Learning Can Empower Children and Transform Schools. A Report for CASEL. In Civic Enterprises. Civic Enterprises. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED558068
- Greenberg, M. T., Domitrovich, C. E., Weissberg, R. P., & Durlak, J. A. (2017). Social and Emotional Learning as a Public Health Approach to Education. Future of Children, 27(1), 13–32.
- Durlak, J., Domitrovich, C., Weissberg, R., & Gullotta, T. (2016). Handbook of Social and Emotional Learning: Research and Practice. https://www.guilford.com/books/Handbook-of-Social-and-Emotional-Learning/Durlak-Domitrovich-Weissberg-Gullotta/9781462527915/editors
- Ewing, M., Men, L. R., & O’Neil, J. (2019). Using Social Media to Engage Employees: Insights from Internal Communication Managers. International Journal of Strategic Communication, 13(2), 110–132. https://doi.org/10.1080/1553118X.2019.1575830
- Lemon, L. L., & Palenchar, M. J. (2018). Public relations and zones of engagement: Employees’ lived experiences and the fundamental nature of employee engagement. Public Relations Review. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.PUBREV.2018.01.002
- Welch, M. (2011). The evolution of the employee engagement concept: Communication implications. Corporate Communications: An International Journal, 16(4), 328–346. https://doi.org/10.1108/13563281111186968
- Ostroff, C., & Kozlowski, S. W. (1992). Organizational socialization as a learning process: The role of information acquisition. Personnel Psychology, 45(4), 849–874. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6570.1992.tb00971.x
- Weber, M. S., & Shi, W. (2016). Enterprise Social Media. In The International Encyclopedia of Organizational Communication (pp. 1–9). John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118955567.wbieoc072
- Gonzalez, E., Leidner, D., Riemenschneider, C., & Koch, H. (2013). The impact of internal social media usage on organizational socialization and commitment. International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS 2013): Reshaping Society Through Information Systems Design, 5, 3969–3986.
About the Authors
Lindsey Turk
Lindsey Turk is a Summer Content Associate at The Decision Lab. She holds a Master of Professional Studies in Applied Economics and Management from Cornell University and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Boston University. Over the last few years, she’s gained experience in customer service, consulting, research, and communications in various industries. Before The Decision Lab, Lindsey served as a consultant to the US Department of State, working with its international HIV initiative, PEPFAR. Through Cornell, she also worked with a health food company in Kenya to improve access to clean foods and cites this opportunity as what cemented her interest in using behavioral science for good.
Dr. Sekoul Krastev
Sekoul is a Co-Founder and Managing Director at The Decision Lab. He is a bestselling author of Intention - a book he wrote with Wiley on the mindful application of behavioral science in organizations. A decision scientist with a PhD in Decision Neuroscience from McGill University, Sekoul's work has been featured in peer-reviewed journals and has been presented at conferences around the world. Sekoul previously advised management on innovation and engagement strategy at The Boston Consulting Group as well as on online media strategy at Google. He has a deep interest in the applications of behavioral science to new technology and has published on these topics in places such as the Huffington Post and Strategy & Business.
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