Engagement and Motivation

[tasneem hameed]

What is the line seperating engagement from motivation or it is the old wine in the new bottle or a new buzz which will gradually fade out leaving behind the good old .motivation.

[Terrence Seamon]

Tasneem,
Good question. And one that has a lot of folks going round in circles, trying to define what engagement is exactly.

For me, I'd say that it is "old wine in a new bottle with a new buzz."

- Old Wine: What we have known for a very long time about what Managers need to do to bring out the best in people.

- New Bottle: Employee Engagement

- New Buzz: The engagement-results connection.

This new buzz is what's so exciting. It's what is getting the attention of Business leaders and HR leaders around the world.

Dr. Judy Bardwick has done a great job of pulling a lot of the research together into one book with the publication of One Foot Out the Door (AMACOM, 2007). You can hear her on this webcast.

Terry

[George Reavis]

For me the line separating engagement from motivation is where the feedback comes from which creates action (activity). If the action is stimulated by the activity and it provides feedback then engagement occurs for those involved (usually multiple persons). If the action is stimulated by others (ie. colleagues and supervisors) then it is motivated.

I could not agree more, especially on the front lines of operations, that "engagement" is old wine in a new bottle as all humans are and always have been 'born' engaged. Connections are made with others (social) through the framework of 'activities' which grows learning experiences.

The question caused me to compare the two terms using the dictionary definitions. What jumps out at me is: 
Engagement is when a person is moved to action by the activity itself providing the feedback usually connected through other persons associated with that activity. 
Motivation is when a person is moved to action (activity) by feedback from another person. 
 
en·gage (ĕn-gāj')

v., -gaged, -gag·ing, -gag·es.v.tr.
To obtain or contract for the services of; employ: engage a carpenter.
To arrange for the use of; reserve: engage a room. See synonyms at book.
To pledge or promise, especially to marry.
To attract and hold the attention of; engross: a hobby that engaged her for hours at a time.
To win over or attract: His smile engages everyone he meets.
To draw into; involve: engage a shy person in conversation.
To require the use of; occupy: Studying engages most of my time.
To enter or bring into conflict with: We have engaged the enemy.
To interlock or cause to interlock; mesh: engage the automobile's clutch.
To give or take as security.
v.intr.
To involve oneself or become occupied; participate: engage in conversation.
To assume an obligation; agree.
To enter into conflict or battle: The armies engaged at dawn.
To become meshed or interlocked: The gears engaged.
[Middle English engagen, to pledge something as security for repayment of debt, from Old French engagier : en-, in; see en–1 + gage, pledge, of Germanic origin.]

mo·ti·vate (mō'tə-vāt')
tr.v., -vat·ed, -vat·ing, -vates.To provide with an incentive; move to action; impel.
motivator mo'ti·va'tor n.


Thanks for the link to the interview with Dr Judy Bardwick. I agree with her assessments of creating the proper organizational environment.  

My research the past few years has been 'working backwards', targeting team leaders and line managers. For them the engagement-results connection appears to be to have the activities themselves provide the feedback for everyone. Even though engaged employees do engage others and are then reengaged by them (a cycle of engagement) the framework of the activity itself providing feedback to all appears to be key.
I found that one thing which engaged employees all had in common is that they had learned to get inspiration from the activity itself providing feedback. Usually they did not even realize it because it is not taught in hardly any curriculum.

[Jon Ingham]

To me, engagement is a category rather than a single thing (whether this thing is state, intention, behaviour, outcome etc). The category is defined differently by just about each different firm and survey vendor, and although most of these definitions will include motivation, the other things will vary significantly (see for example, another current discussion on happiness),

I think organisations need to be clear about what 'things' they're trying to measure and develop, rather than take a rather lazier approach by just assuming they need "engagement".

The other alternative is to focus on the even bigger bucket: 'human capital'.

[Kevin Burns - Attitude Expert]

Tasneem,

There is no line separating engagement from motivation. They are one in the same. They both fall under accountability. When I give my word that I will do something, I give that word because I intend to do it. Therefore, because I made a promise, I will get it done. I will be engaged and I will be motivated because I made a promise. That comes from a strong 'values' set.

People with poor values who lie to hopefully not offend anyone, will find themselves overstretched and overextended making promises they can't or won't keep. Engagement is low. Motivation is low. They just don't want to do the job but were afraid to tell the truth.

The same applies to people who are to scared to ask for help or clarification for fear they might be embarrassed by looking stupid. They will not engage because, honestly, they don't know what they're doing. Motivation is low for fear of messing it up ... and .. looking stupid.

Raise people's values, accountability and self-esteem and engagement and motivation rise. Motivation and engagement certainly won't drop with increased self-accountability.

Oh, and motivation - as a term/buzzword - is passée. Without a weapon, no one can motivate me to do anything. However, I can be inspired from an outside source to motivate myself. But as far as being engaged, that is a choice I make myself. I can be inspired from outside to be engaged in all I do. But that comes from a strong 'values' set.