Employee Engagement: Still a Goal

Training & Development, Aug 2006

/IN PRACTICE/

While many employees express positive feelings about their work, employers, and managers, that doesn't mean that they are enmeshed in their work.

The latest Employee Engagement Report by the global consulting firm BlessingWhite indicates that less than one-fifth are fully engaged in the office.

"Engaged employees are not just happy or proud. They are what we call 'enthused and in gear'-focusing their talents to make a difference in their employer's success," explains Christopher Rice, BlessingWhite's president and CEO. "We found that only 18 percent of our survey respondents had all the pieces of this engagement puzzle in place."

According to the report, lack of alignment is a primary reason for so few employees being fully engaged. Rice says that's mostly because strategy isn't getting very far outside of the boardroom.

The number of employees who believe their organization's strategy is communicated effectively increased by 8 percent. Only 19 percent indicated that they believe daily work priorities are linked to a clearly communicated strategy.

"Our findings suggest that a lot of well-meaning, hard-working employees are spinning their wheels on work that may not matter much to their employers," Rice says. "Sooner or later, their attitude will take a nose-dive or they'll burn out."

This year's report also found that more than two-thirds of employees do not see visible actions by their employers to increase employee engagement.

"We're not suggesting that organizations implement workforce initiatives emblazoned with 'engagement' in neon letters," says Rice. "There is evidence, however, that if leaders begin talking about engagement or conduct employee engagement surveys, they need to be vigilant in helping their workforce understand what's happening as a follow-up."

MORE/www.blessingwhite.com