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Measuring Employee Engagement During a Financial Downturn: Business Imperative or Nuisance?

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Abstract

In this article, we emphasize that measuring workforce attitudes is a business imperative—including during an economic downturn or crisis. After reviewing the concept of employee engagement we draw upon recent real-world examples and data across a variety of organizations and argue for the business value of an engaged workforce. We offer practical applications for HR managers, including providing guidance on the types of questions that should be asked in an employee survey and focusing on those that result in the most actionable feedback. We conclude the paper by laying out an agenda for future research aimed at helping bridge the academic-practitioner divide.

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Correspondence to David L. Van Rooy.

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Van Rooy, D.L., Whitman, D.S., Hart, D. et al. Measuring Employee Engagement During a Financial Downturn: Business Imperative or Nuisance?. J Bus Psychol 26, 147–152 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-011-9225-6

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