It is hard enough to find a universal definition of employee engagement. Now new research identifies that there are 4 types of employee engagement.
So where do you go from here?
Of course any research that throws new light onto the subject has to be welcome. The problem is that all this combines to make employee engagement so much more daunting. And goodness knows it can be daunting enough. You need to make the subject simpler, not more complex.
And as you are well aware you can do that by a focus on “employee” rather than “engagement.” It all boils down to the fact that employees are people. Focusing on the personal can go so very far to removing all the complexity. While people are all different, we all want basically the same thing – fulfilling work. We want work:
- We enjoy
- That enables us to better ourselves;
- Where we can make a difference; and
- In an organisation that can make a difference.
I think we all know and understand that. So for me this research does not add anything new. It simply puts these basic elements into "management speak." It possibly provides a new credibility and gravitas to the subject, but that is about all.
And yet…
I am still delighted it has been published. You see it simply reinforces what I have been saying all along. If you want your people to contribute more you have to address all 4 of these requirements. And to do that consistently you need to do only two things:-
- Empower them to do their work better; and
- Give them an ownership stake in the organisation.
And, as I have been saying all along, the best way possible for you to do that is to:-
- Recognise them as human assets – and thereby create a partnership with them to optimise their human asset value; and
- Introduce an employee ownership scheme that cements their contribution to the organisation.
It really is not rocket science.