When Employee Engagement Advice Doesn't Sound Like Tony Robbins...

I've been a little bit skeptical of Employee Engagement literature in the past, and with good reason.  Most of the stuff out there puts the burden on the employer to figure it all out.  Generally speaking, little accountability is placed on the employee to meet the employer halfway to become what is known as "fully engaged" - the holy grail of Gallup engagement research.

So, I've been skeptical, but I've been trying, and gradually have become much more interested in the limited science that exists on the topic of engagement.

With that in mind, it's refreshing to see the engagement folks talk about the responsibilities of the employee to become engaged, and also to ask employers in general if engagement isn't just a buzzword for things that many believe to be common sense (as well as necessary and true).

Judy McLeish of the Employee Factor gets that.  See her recent posts here and here.

Judy - thanks for reminding of the common sense elements to engagement.  I'm canceling my Tony Robbins tapes for the team...

Comments

[Wally Bock]

Nice post, Kris. I agree that most of the engagement voodoo misses the idea that the employee's choice plays a role. And I agree that it's unfair to put the burden on the employer to figure the whole thing out. But when we get to a "responsibility" of the employee to engage, I must raise my hand and politely differ.

Engagement is a choice by the employee. He or she will make it or not. Sometimes the choice will be based on an action by the employer. But sometimes "engagement" just doesn't fit the life the worker wants to live.

He or she will come to work and contribute and earn the salary, but it's a transaction, pure and simple. Work in this person's life is what you do to earn the resources to live the life you want. You'll get a full day's work for a full day's pay, but it's a market transaction, not a social one.

And then there are people who simply can't engage. Divorce can do that. So can worries about money or a child with a dependency problem. It doesn't matter what the employer does.

The literature that speaks as if everyone should be engaged at work and if they aren't it's the company's fault are simply unrealistic.