Connection Index
Connection drives engagement.
Engagement fuels results.
Find out how your organization stacks up against the competition.
What is the Connection Index?
The Connection Index is a fresh take on traditional employee engagement surveys. Pulling data from a range of external sources, it reveals how your people really connect – with their work, their teams, and your organization.
Instead of surface-level scores and careful responses, you get candid insight into whether people feel seen, valued and part of something that matters. And because it reflects your organization’s online footprint, you get a true outsider’s view, with a benchmark of how you compare against the competition.
- Stronger comparisons
See how your organization stacks up, with connection measured across psychologist validated factors, and industry-benchmarked with reliable data.
- Unfiltered insights
From job boards to social platforms, we draw on 50,000+ external sources to capture the honest views employees won’t share directly.
- Fast and cost-effective
No chasing responses or tech headaches. Get a standalone report in just 7 days, at around 5% of the price of traditional surveys.
How does it work?
Step 1
Request your Connection Index Summary Report for a free top-level report on connection at your organization, including industry benchmarking.
Step 2
Want to know more? Purchase your tailored report and get the most detailed connection and engagement report on the market.
Step 3
Authenticate your email and within 7 days you will receive your results in our reporting dashboard. Our helpful team will then talk you through your connection and engagement scores.
Unlock the value of connection
The Connection Index shows how strongly people bond with their work, teams, and organization - insight that drives sustained engagement. Your Tailored Report delivers deep, data-backed results in just seven days - a fraction of the cost of traditional surveys, and a fraction of the time investment.
Claim your free Summary Report today
- Get your connection score and benchmark it against reliable industry and country data.
- See what best-in-class connection looks like, and break down potential areas of concern or future focus.
- Understand the full scope of the Connection Index Tailored Report and how it can help you improve connection in your organization.
Connection Index frequently asked questions
What does the Connection Index measure?
Our sources:
The Connection Index is fuelled by millions of real-world data points across thousands of organizations and sectors. We search over 50,000 sites, including Indeed, Glassdoor, and LinkedIn along with review sites and even Reddit. We aim to be as comprehensive as possible, so you know exactly what is being said.
Want us to include a specific source? Chances are, it’s already on our radar. But we’re always happy to add new sites on request.
Our science:
Using Thomas’ psychologist-validated Connection Model, we also analyse connection signals at the individual, team, and organizational level, without needing to ask a single survey question.
Rigorously tested by our research team, the Connection Model measures six key dimensions which have been found to correlate closely with improved connection, engagement and trust.
- Cohesion – Strong, trusting relationships within the team
- Belonging – A sense of inclusion and shared identity with colleagues
- Appreciation – Feeling valued and recognized at work
- Contribution – Confidence in one’s ability to add value to the team
- Trust – Psychological safety in interactions with colleagues and leadership
- Well-being – A sense of balance, resilience, and support at work.
We then crunch the data to give you clear connection scores across each facet of the Connection Measure, so you have an instant understanding of where disconnection may be undermining performance. and where it can be scaled to drive growth, engagement, and trust.
What timeframe does the Connection Index cover?
Any timeframe you choose. We can even look back to cover previous periods, making it a useful way to fill in gaps in your existing data, or double check results that never felt quite right.
Why are my Connection Index scores different from my internal survey scores?
Our scores can be as much as ±5% different from your internal survey data. This reflects two primary factors:
1. Unlike internal surveys, we also include feedback from review sites, which can include recent leavers who may have had a more negative experience at your company.
2. A recurring theme of employee engagement surveys is a distrust in confidentiality, and you may find that employees are inclined to inflate their views in internal surveys to avoid potential negative consequences.
We believe that the depth and range of data we cover offers a fuller and more accurate picture of real sentiment. Where we find that any negative sentiment is skewing results, we always ensure that it is highlighted within your dashboard to help you get the full picture.
I’ve seen and understood my report. What action can I take to improve connection in my organization?
When you’re ready to take strategic next steps, Thomas can help. We can provide deeper insight into any issues highlighted in your report and offer practical solutions to create lasting change.
Our world-class connection platform, Thomas Connect, uses the Connection Measure to give you a real-time, bottom-up view of your organization. It provides insights that help you understand the impact of your decisions and supports you in addressing your primary challenges.
With Thomas Connect, you can also integrate psychological guidance directly into the flow of work, creating safer, more dynamic workplaces that are highly connected, highly engaged and high performing.
Alternatively, if you’re looking for an approach that fits with existing solutions, you can draw on our assessment portfolio to strengthen engagement - from Emotional Intelligence to Behavioral Insights – supporting self-awareness in leadership and management.
We already run an engagement survey. Can I continue to run this and compare my results?
Absolutely. If you already have an established employee engagement programme, you can keep running it and use the Connection Index Tailored Report alongside it. Doing so gives you:
- A clear checkpoint to ensure that your current results are accurate and aligned.
- Insight into external sentiment – the view your customers, shareholders and potential recruits are seeing every day.
- A rounded, neutral picture of employee engagement, without internal bias.
The result is that you can keep the benefits of your existing survey, while gaining a sharper, external perspective – all at a fraction of the time and cost.
Thinking about switching reports?
Good for you. When you’re making your business case, it’s worth remembering that the Connection Index Tailored Report is:
- 95% more time-efficient than standard survey techniques.
- Just 5% of the cost of a typical survey.
- 85% aligned with standard survey results.
- Enhanced with competitor insights to inform your strategy.
- Quick to set up – just authenticate your email to access your private reporting dashboard.
- Free from IT security or privacy headaches, enabling faster implementation.
- And requires zero time investment from employees.
