Second, we know that if you do happen to work on a team you are twice as likely to score high on the eight engagement items, and that this trend linking engagement to teams extends to multiple teams—in fact, the most engaged group of workers across the working world are those who work on five distinct teams.

Third, just like Lisa, those team members who said they trusted their team leader were twelve times more likely to be fully engaged at work.

Of those who strongly agreed that they trusted their team leader 45 percent were Fully Engaged. Of those who didn’t strongly agree only 6 percent were Fully Engaged. A worker is twelve times more likely to be Fully Engaged if she trusts her team leader.

Two questions in the survey showed the strongest relationship to a worker’s feeling of trust in his team leader:

• Do I know clearly what is expected of me at work?

• Do I have the chance to use my strengths every day?

This data suggests that these two conditions—knowing what is expected, and being able to play to one’s strengths—are the foundations of trust. When a team leader, despite the ambiguities and the fluid and fast pace of the world of work, can help team members feel clarity about expectations and a sense that their best is recognized and utilized frequently, then trust is built, and a Fully Engaged team becomes more likely.

This suggests that team members who check in with their leader frequently have an enhanced sense of being able to use their strengths every day, of being recognized for excellent work, and of having opportunities to grow. Although this study did not distinguish between correlation and causation (we could not tell whether the increased frequency of conversation led to increased engagement or vice versa), subsequent research, a portion of which is described in the final section of this appendix, indicated that it was in fact the increased attention, via frequent conversation, that led to the increased levels of engagement.

...we discovered that (at least at Cisco) there are two factors of engagement within the Engagement Pulse. The first factor comprises all four “me” items together with the two “we” items that ask about team environment, and so consisted of:

• At work, I clearly understand what is expected of me. (Me)

• I have the chance to use my strengths every day at work. (Me)

• I know I will be recognized for excellent work. (Me)

• In my work, I am always challenged to grow. (Me)

• In my team, I am surrounded by people who share my values. (We)

• My teammates have my back. (We)

We chose to call this factor team engagement. The other factor comprised the remaining two “we” items:

• I am really enthusiastic about the mission of my company. (We)

• I have great confidence in my company’s future. (We)

We chose to call this factor company engagement.