Employee
Engagement can be a controversial topic mainly
because it is hard to define and even
harder to tie to business metrics and
a quantifiable return on investment.
We often hear only the positives about employee engagement,
and how it has become the Holy Grail within corporate America today. In
an article at ERE.net, John Sullivan PhD, an internationally known
HR thought-leader, explored several insights into the problems concerning employee
engagement programs. If you want a
better understanding of the pros and cons of this topic that seems to be on the
top of most surveys that cover the concerns of the HR world today, you can
download a copy of this paper here.
Dr. Sullivan writes:
… there is far too little focus on the
problems or issues related to engagement. … The process of gathering
engagement data and the interpretation of it both improve dramatically when
program managers and users are fully aware of all of its potential problems.”
Some of the employee engagement
issues Dr. Sullivan gets into include:
- That “engagement may be a byproduct, not a cause;
- Engagement is not productivity or an output;
- Outside factors influence engagement;
- Diverse employees and different generations are engaged by different things;
- Managers and employees don’t understand engagement;
- The goals and metrics of engagement programs are often limited.
- Engagement is not productivity or an output
- Engagement may be a byproduct not a cause;
- High levels of engagement may not prohibit turnover
- And many others
The
bottom line is; organizations are trying to manufacture engagement instead of
figuring out what each employee's mind and heart are naturally engaged by.
It seems the vast majority of
organizations are afraid to ask, because they fear that it's not related to the
business they're in.
For more information
on Ultimate Choice Inc.’s products or services or other white papers please
contact us at Ultimatechoiceinfo@cox.net
