Using the Temkin Employee Engagement Index, we analyzed employee engagement across more than 2,400 U.S. employees. Employee engagement has increased over last year. Companies that outperform their peers in financial performance and customer experience have considerably more engaged workforces. Why does that matter? Because highly engaged employees try harder, recommend the company, help others, and take less sick time. It turns out that services industries have the most engaged employees while the retail sector has the fewest. We also found that highly engaged employees tend to be: front-line employees, high-income earners, male, African-American, and happy. Since engaged employees are such a valuable asset, we recommend that companies focus on this area using our Five I’s of Employee Engagement: Inform, Inspire, Instruct, Involve, and Incent.