Engaged employees are more productive. This is not surprising. If employees feel they have a significant part to play in the organisation they work for, they are much more likely to share the goals of the organisation and to contribute fully to those goals.
The culture of the organisation is a major determinant of the nature and level of engagement. Employees want to share the values of their organisation and want to work for an organisation that treats them well, communicates fully with them and respects their role and contribution.
They, themselves, will know if their role is meaningful one – if the work they perform genuinely ‘makes a difference’
They expect to receive the training they need to carry out their role to the full – and to understand the performance expectations the organisation has for them. Even those with mundane or simple jobs should feel their role is worthwhile.
There is a story that JFK (President Kennedy) was once on a tour of the Cape Canaveral Space Center when he saw a man pushing a broom. JFK asked the man what he was doing and expected a simple response such as “I’m keeping the place clean and safe. The response he received, however, surprised and pleased him. The broom pusher simple said “I’m helping put a man on the moon.”
This is an engaged employee, knowing that his simple role was a contributing factor in the overall mission of the organisation.
Such engagement is not fostered through rigid monitoring – of attendance, of throughput, of ability or ….
Truly engaged employees can be trusted to perform, to question, to improve. Engagement creates a virtuous circle of high performance, of job satisfaction, of challenge and offer suggestions for improvement.
So, instead of using simple performance monitoring processes in an attempt to gain improvement, you should take the longer view and consider how you might increase engagement. This may be a road less travelled but it is a more precise route to performance and productivity improvement.