At MRA, we define employee engagement as, “The extent to which employees are committed to their job, organization, manager, co-workers, and working both harder and smarter rather than merely showing up to do what they’re obliged to do. Engaged employees contribute discretionary effort in accomplishing their objectives.” We also identify the seven drivers that managers can impact. They are, Pride in the Organization, Job Fit, Nature of the Job, Trust-Integrity-Credibility, Supportive Culture, Emotional Connection, and Employee Development. So, why is this topic of engagement important?
In his book Management Challenges for the 21st Century, Peter Drucker said, “The most important, and indeed the truly unique, contribution of management in the 20th century was the fifty-fold increase in the productivity of the manual worker in manufacturing. The most important contribution management needs to make in the 21st century is similarly to increase the productivity of knowledge work and the knowledge worker.”
Drucker described that the means of production is no longer solely found in machines and the buying of people's backs and hands. Rather, today the means of production is more often found in people’s brains and hearts—and the concept of engagement speaks to people’s brains and hearts.
There are three players when it comes to employee engagement. The employee himself provides the starting point. Secondly, the organization can support or tear down engagement levels by the structures and policies it has in place. Finally, the employee’s manager has a significant role. What can managers do to impact employee engagement? Let’s look more deeply at each of the seven engagement drivers and how managers can take action and have a positive impact upon their employee’s engagement levels at your organization.
