Abstract
In business, one of the ways of measuring customer satisfaction and loyalty is to measure the engagement level of a business’s customers. Research shows that customer engagement is directly related to the engagement level of the business’s employees. It is therefore equally important to measure employee engagement. Measuring engagement levels of employees and customers provides a business an opportunity to work toward increasing engagement levels of both. When the engagement levels of the employees and the engagement levels of the customers are above the median averages, Human Sigma is achieved. Human Sigma was developed as a way to measure and manage the human systems of business. Businesses that achieve Human Sigma have, on average, financial performance that is 3.4 times higher than businesses that rank in the bottom half on both measures (Fleming & Asplund, 2007).
There is a great deal of research about the importance and benefits of employee engagement and customer engagement, but no specific model for creating engagement. The researcher speculated that there were common activities occurring in businesses that had achieved Human Sigma. The researcher constructed the Human Sigma optimization theory and identified eight activities that appeared to optimize Human Sigma. A positivistic multiple case study was conducted. The results from the six case studies and a cross-case analysis supported the framework of the model. The Human Sigma optimization theory provides a model of activities for business owners and managers to utilize when building and maintaining engagement with employees and customers.