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Engagement at Work Matters

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In 1995, businesses talked about and cared about employee. Twenty years later, businesses talk about and care about employee. Why? Because it matters. In the last twenty years, research has shown that it takes more than workers being happy at work to build a successful business. It takes workers to care about their work. It takes engagement. Who helps businesses raise engagement? Managers.

In fact, Gallup estimates that managers account for at least 70% of variance in employee engagement scores across business units.  The Gallup Business Journal reports that “this variation is in turn responsible for severely low worldwide employee engagement. Gallup reported in two large-scale studies in 2012 that only 30% of U.S. employees are engaged at work, and a staggeringly low 13% worldwide are engaged. Worse, over the past 12 years, these low numbers have barely budged, meaning that the vast majority of employees worldwide are failing to develop and contribute at work.”

When I talk to clients and college students about engagement, I use the following example to illustrate how engagement impacts organizations. An engaged worker sees trash on the floor at his workplace and picks it up. An unengaged worker sees trash on the floor and ignores it. An actively dis-engaged worker is responsible for the trash being thrown on the floor. Get it? If you own a business, who do you want working for you? The answer is obvious: the engaged worker.

Stay tuned: future posts will highlight how choosing the right manager will make engagement possible for you and your workplace.

For the full Gallup article to go: http://www.gallup.com/businessjournal/167975/why-great-managers-rare.aspx

 

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