My Avatar is Just More Engaged than Your Avatar...

There's lots of buzz out there about employee engagement; everyone has an engagement model and most have a whitepaper (shudder) on the topic.  While I understand that there are ways to maximize engagement of the troops you have, I also understand that the actively disengaged - the employees who aren't simply neutral, they're negative - may be chronically challenged with the "work sucks" bug.

With that in mind, I've noted in the past that one of the best ways to maximize the engagement of your  workforce is to avoid hiring clock-watchers.  You want to hire people who naturally look for challenge and aren't simply there to punch in and punch out.  The problem with that?  It's easy to see the folks who have been actively engaged or disengaged in past positions, but very difficult to determine whether the fence-sitters (deemed "neither engaged nor disengaged" in their past employment stops) will bring an A-game to your shop. 

Further complicating the issue is the fact that Gallup claims the fence sitters make up 54% of the average workforce.  That seems to indicate that we should probably spend some time figuring it out.

The problem is that the usual tools aren't super effective.  Behavioral interviewing is great, but what if you emerge from an interview with an engagement fence-sitter with no clue how engaged they'll be in the environment you have to offer?  You need some objective help, which is why I was interested to see this from a Fast Company article on Kenexa:

"According to Kenexa, turnover among managers who feel pride in their company is 21% lower than among those who don't. Adds the Kenyan-born, Canadian-educated, Kenexa CEO Karsan: "When you're in a job that you enjoy and you're good at, you're not just a better worker. You're a better spouse, a better parent, a better citizen."

But this isn't just about group hugs. Kenexa's scientists do interviews and surveys to learn what inspires employees. (Managers: Apparently, employees love sessions where you just listen to them.) Its industry-leading software runs the data through sophisticated algorithms, identifying correlations and possible causations. Then Kenexa devises strategies to improve work environments and recruit, evaluate, and keep talent. For example, after studying several service industries, Kenexa recently developed a program in which potential hires use avatars to act out scenarios -- from remembering the proper arrangement of items in a hotel room to making judgment calls about inebriated drinkers at a bar -- to measure how naturally engaged an applicant would be on the job."

Playing with drunk avatars for an objective view of projected engagement?  Where do I sign up?  I'll try to find out more from Kenexa and do a follow up post. 

Cost of a background check - $110.  Cost of turnover - $5,000 per exiting employee.  Playing with obnoxious, drunk avatars to measure your projected engagement on the job....Priceless...

Comments

[Chris - Manager's Sandbox]

I wonder if there's any actually connection between the results of the test and true engagement, and subsequently turnover and productivity.

[Jennifer]

I'm curious...