The Meaning of Engagement

[Richard Lewis]

I have come across a really interesting piece published in the Journal of Industrial and Organizational Psychology.
Written by William Macey and Benjamin Schneider it gives a really comprehensive literature review of the academic work on employee engagement and posits a three-stage model based on trait, state and behavioural engagement. It's really made me think about what engagement is and how we (a) measure and (b) action plan to improve it - anyone else familar with this paper?

[David Zinger]

Richard:

Yes, we have talked about this a bit on the network. I think it was a very well one paper and use it as a resource quite a bit. It was available free online. Click here for the link to this article.

[Bob Gately]

Hello Richard:

Our clients build an engaged workforce by first hiring for talent. Most hiring managers don't measure talent so they hire for competence and then complain that some new hires are less successful than they had expected.

If employees have a good or better talent for their jobs, then supervisors, managers, and executives must then do all the other things right to create an engaged workforce. Doing all others things right is a huge undertaking if it doesn't come naturally.

The following is a list of what we measure to identify job talent which requires asking 318 questions.

1 - Thinking Styles- Learning Index ... an index of expected learning, reasoning and problem solving potential.
- Verbal Skill ... a measure of verbal skill through vocabulary.
- Verbal Reasoning ... using words as a basis in reasoning and problem solving.
- Numerical Ability ... a measure of numeric calculation ability.
- Numeric Reasoning ... using numbers as a basis in reasoning and problem solving.

2 - Behavioral Traits

- Energy Level ... tendency to display endurance and capacity for a fast pace.
- Assertiveness ... tendency to take charge of people and situations. Leads more than follows.
- Sociability ... tendency to be outgoing, people-oriented and participate with others.
- Manageability ... tendency to follow policies, accept controls & supervision, work within the rules.
- Attitude ... tendency to have a positive attitude regarding people and outcomes.
- Decisiveness ... uses available information to make decisions quickly.
- Accommodating ... tendency to be friendly, cooperative, agreeable. To be a team person.
- Independence ... tendency to be self-reliant, self-directed, independent action and make decisions.
- Objective Judgment ... the ability to think clearly and be objective in decision-making.

3 - Occupational Interests

- Enterprising ... occupations where they use persuasiveness and enjoy presenting plans
- Financial/Administrative ... work with financial data, business systems, admin. procedures, etc.
- People Service ... occupations that help people and they are concerned with the welfare of others.
- Technical ... occupations that center on scientific/technical activities, research & intellectual skills.
- Mechanical ... in occupations that work with tools, equipment and machinery.
- Creative ... occupations where they are imaginative, original and aesthetic.

A benefit of hiring for talent is that successful, long-term employees are hired even if they are not engaged. Few employers have the people, processes or ability to do all other things well. An engaged workforce is what we have when we hire for talent and we do all the other things well.

Bob