Workforce Development
Why We Need to Redefine Employee Engagement
By: Andrea Belk Olson, MSC - CEO of Pragmadik
I
f you Google "Employee Engagement" and look for images representing it, you'll find groups of people in business attire smiling, high-fiving, laughing, or conducting some other staged behavior. While it may look a bit comical, somewhere in the recesses of our minds, we want to replicate this feeling with our own staff. We associated happiness with engagement, and often try to fill the void with a series of initiatives and activities to 'engage' people, from free pizza and bagels, holding off-site meetings, and giving out swag, to public recognition of high performers. We've all done these things at one point or another. However, does this really build employee engagement? With the current pandemic, many of these old methods are not possible to implement, and many companies are struggling to figure out
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22 IMD MAY 2021
how to connect with employees working remotely. The problem is, we're defining 'engagement' in the wrong way, and hence, applying the wrong solutions. Organizations need to re-examine what engagement means and deliver a more valuable and relevant experience. This means making four mindset shifts:
Shift #1: Going from Creating Happiness to Creating Purpose Instead of focusing on trying to improve the superficial 'happiness' of employees, increase each employee's understanding and sense of purpose. Does each and every employee fully understand how they add value to the organization? Do they know how they can create positive change to impact a common goal? Is that goal
