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Fundamental Confusion: Employee Engagement As Means, Or As Ends
by Robert Bacal
One of the criticisms leveled at the employee engagement movement is that when companies forge ahead at attempting to improve engagement, they forget that employee engagement is not the important goal. It's only a means to an end, and not the end in and of itself.
In fact, if we spend money on trying to improve employee engagement and do not end up with better business results, we've done considerable damage by wasting resources.
Yet companies get so focused on employee engagement that they forget that it's really not about the value of employee engagement per se as an ends. The value rests only IF and WHEN employee engagement can be translated into business results, and there's no definitive evidence to support that.
Focus On Employee Engagement Scores Is Wrongheaded And Costly
A related point is that companies are mistaking the SCORES on survey measurements of employee engagement for the real thing. Scores on a survey are completely unimportant in and of themselves. You win nothing by increasing those scores except to feel one is accomplishing something important, when you are not.
That in itself is insidious, because companies are confusing activity with effectiveness, which results in misplaced resources (time, money) that they can not afford to misuse.
To mistake the superficial (employee engagement scores) for the substance (what's important - business results) is so common in companies, yet they continue to allocate resources to do the superficial, while ignoring direct investments in what counts.
Directory of Employee Engagement Articles
To make it easier for you to follow the logic of why employee engagement has failed, below is a list of all the articles to read:
Why Have So Many People Embraced Employee Engagement? Is It A Fad?
Stripping Away The Jargon From Employee Engagement
Engagement Doesn't Improve Business Results: Successful Companies Breed Engaged Employees:
The Bullshit Factor: Employee Engagement And Stock Prices
Most Determinants Of An Employee's Engagement (Level Of Effort) Beyond The Company's Control
To Improve Employee Engagement, Companies Need To Address Hundreds Of Things That Might Affect It.
Employee Motivation, Effort, Engagement and The Hygiene Factor
Diverting Scarce Resources To Measure Employee Engagement
Employee Engagement As Means, Or As End
NewsFlash: We know you may want to weigh in with your opinions and questions. You can now do so by participating in our interactive blog area on employee engagement. Click here to go there now.