One of the great things that my work does is to measure employee engagement using a couple of different surveys. Both of them try to get to the same thing; Are you engaged and involved meaningfully at work?
This isn't the same as employee satisfaction or overall happiness. Although you could argue that it would be hard to be either of those thing if you weren't engaged. One set of questions that get to that issue are described in First Break All the Rules, by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman. Working for Gallup, they interviewed thousands of managers and employees to see what separated great managers from all the others. As a part of this process, they developed their Q12 questions. This 12 questions survey was able to demonstrate a solid link between engagement and superior performance.
I'm fortunate enough to be able to participate in a similar survey set twice a year. The feedback I get is instrumental in helping me to understand my team's needs, and in adjusting my style to better serve them in their jobs.
How do you measure your managerial impact?
