It’s what is keeping you up at night, according to the statisticians. Employee engagement has consistently ranked as the number one concern of companies in 2010, and for good reason.  Unengaged employees can cost organizations $300 billion a year in lost productivity, according to Gallup research.  Varying reports show alarming results of 10 to 20 percent of employees being actively disengaged.  An equally dramatic 40 to 70 percent of employees were found to be neutral, which only leaves 10 to 50 percent being fully engaged and the primary drive behind success.  In terms of dollars, just think of the positive impact of 50 percent more engagement at a minimum.

Despite the great value of employee engagement, managers can seldom effectively define let alone implement it. Like ‘leadership,’ managers can generate a slew of ambiguous and inconsistent responses when asked to describe the process of employee engagement, and therefore seldom practice it successfully. One main misconception is that engaged employees are merely committed or passionate employees. Engagement stems from aligning personal employee values, goals and aspirations with those of the organization. Basically, employees who like what they do and feel like they are using their talents to their full potential are the employees who fulfill an organization’s mission and goals.

Ok, so enough of what employee engagement is and more of how to actually do it. The fundamental ingredients of how to create employee engagement includes the following:

• Opportunities for using talents and creating a sense of achievement
• Opportunities for growth and development of new talents and resources to enable achievement and growth
• Working and trusting relationships between managers and employees
• Understanding of employee talents and effective encouragement of the use of those talents
• Recognition and rewards for achievements

One of the first steps to positive change is making use of the familiar trickledown effect.  Successful managers are, first and foremost, leaders who lead by example. When the leaders of the company are facing in the same direction, they can provide unified direction to employees. They can explain why employees should be personally invested in the company’s goals and what the future will look like when these goals are reached.  Leaders not only communicate the reasons for certain goals, but they communicate them consistently. They define what employees need to do, how these actions coincide with what they can do and provide professional development that enables the employees to do their job well.

The bottom line, from a business standpoint, is that engaged employees are more productive, forge more meaningful relationships with customers and colleagues, stick around longer, and ultimately, help achieve the goals of the organization.  A quote from this quarter’s recommended reading by famed business leader and author Lawrence Bossidy sums it up quite concisely.

“We’re a freedom-loving people, an entrepreneurial, democratic people.  Americans don’t like to be managed, or treated like children. They want to be asked for their ideas.  They want to work in meritocracies where accountability is high and the best people get ahead. They want to be communicated with frequently about how the organization is performing.  They want to broaden their skill base.  They want to have a chance to own a stake in the companies for which they work.”

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