Who’s Responsible for Your Engagement?

[Derek Irvine]

Who is responsible for employee engagement? Knee-jerk reaction – HR. But what happens when the HR person responsible for engagement is no longer engaged? In this sad post, Venting HR Guy says:

"I'm mentally done. I'm burned out. I'm crispy. Stick a monster-sized fork in me and call it a day. What do you do to cure burn out? And who's failing who here? But whose job is it to engage the guy who's in charge of engagement. … I don't care anymore, because I feel like no one cares about me. The Boss doesn't make speeches or explain what the company is doing (even an email); it's just loose talk where the problem is hinted at, no solutions, no plan, no leadership (though it is desperately needed). … So who's failing who? Am I not failing the company because I've put a massive postage stamp on Summer 2009, and mailed it in? Is the company not failing me because they've done nothing to inspire engagement or interest or even... hope?"

I also like how Bret Simmons expresses this:

"Here is my concern: if we send our employees the message that their engagement is our responsibility, we create the conditions for dependent relationship. Employees assume the posture of waiting to be engaged because our rhetoric and systems teach them this is what we expect. I think we should send the message that self-engagement is everyone’s responsibility. Employees and managers share the responsibility to partner with each other to continuously improve processes and conditions necessary for peak performance to flourish."

This is an important question to understand if you intend to influence employee engagement in your company at any level. I believe the company (management, leadership, HR, everyone) is responsible for creating an environment in which employees want to engage – one in which employees know what is expected of them, understand how those expectations help the company succeed, and are encouraged to recognize and appreciate achievement of their peers and subordinates in delivering those expectations.

That’s certainly an environment in which I’m engaged to give of my best. How about you?

[Ashley Paustian]

Currently writing my thesis about leadership style and employee engagement (theory: transformational leadership breeds higher employee engagement) - any articles you could throw my way regarding this thread topic or otherwise? Thanks!! :)

[Jason Scott]

Great post. Here is a "Venting HR Guy update. He is still venting, but also now looking for a job which provides the following:

- I have to appreciate what the company does - this is different than liking it. I'm sure that if I worked as an HR rep at a bank, and the bank repo'd cars and foreclosed on homes, I'd feel badly about that. But I'd apprecaite that they give other people a chance at owning a home or business or car that they might not otherwise be able to afford. It's not loving the bank, but appreciating the bank. I could give a sh!t about the widgets at DeltaHouse.

- I have to have a mentor - I don't care if I just have one HR person that I report to, I need someone that can help me take my career to the next level.

- I have to have good problems to solve - Yes, I know that, "benefits suck," or "the guy next to me smells awful" is a part of the job. But the more complex problems, the tougher issues is what I'm looking for.

-Straight cash, homie! I mean c'mon, aren't we all?

[Steve Short]

Derek, I'm with you in that I too "believe the company (management, leadership, HR, everyone) is responsible for creating an environment in which employees want to engage". But not all companies accept their responsibility to do that, so are we saying that if the company has failed to create an engaging environment, that's too bad, you have to live with it? What a depressing philosophy that would be! (And I'm sure that's not what you're saying!).

More important than an employer creating an engaging environment, is helping individuals take personal responsibility for their own engagement, regardless of what the company is doing. Yes, people can be engaged even in 'unengaging' environments, but they need to understand how to do that and be supported (externally if there's no-one in the organisation to provide support).

My experience has been that when the individual takes charge of their own development, they begin to influence the environment around them positively. Too often, development is left to HR and thus feeds a culture that "development is done to me". My commitment is to work with people to enable them to develop effective strategies for increasing their engagement to change the way they contribute to their organisation. Research has shown that as their contribution increases, so does their value to the organisation.

Increasing my value to the organisation? Now that seems like an engaging strategy!