Employee engagement is like the war on terror. We’re not sure exactly what it means; we can’t exactly describe it; we don’t know what to do about it; we never really know if we are making any progress; and we will never know if we have won.
According to the Gallop Organization, only 29% of employees are engaged and 71% are disengaged. As defined by Gallop, employees are engaged when they “work with passion and feel connected to the company.”
These stats and this definition confound me. As a leader, I’m already feeling responsible for the success of people above me, below me, and beside me. Now I’m supposed to be responsible for their passion and connection to the company? In the words of the investors on the reality show Shark Tank, “I’m out.”
Every day, my focus is to lead better, execute effectively, innovate constantly, and make a difference. So I ignore “employee engagement” and I obsess over “employee involvement.” And engagement takes care of itself.
When employees are involved, they are included in decisions, they participate in improving processes, they undertake planning and strategy, and they are immersed in execution. As a result, they are committed, engrossed, and concerned.
As a leader of my own team, I don’t have a clue whether my people are engaged – and frankly I don’t give a damn.
What I do care about is that they are involved constantly. And as a result, I promise you my people are committed to the company’s success and the success of our clients; they are included in decisions; they participate in improving processes; they are engrossed in projects and program launches; and they are relentlessly concerned about responding to each other, to clients, and to program participants.
Here’s the difference:
- With engagement, people are passionate and connected to the company.
- With involvement, people are committed to, engrossed in, and concerned about the success of the company and its clients.
- With engagement, managers are responsible for an employee’s feelings of passion and connection. (This is distracting and can ultimately breed entitlement and disrespect.)
- With involvement, managers are responsible for involving employees. And employees are responsible for their own feelings.
Our job as leaders is to involve people. Their job is to stay involved. After that they can assess their own passion and connection.
What are you doing to intentionally involve people?