Skip to content

What is Employee Engagement

engagement_series___what_is_engagement_1.png


Dictionary.com defines engagement as "to occupy the attention or efforts of a person." The word's origins can be found in the French word engager meaning "to pledge." If we combine the definition with the origin, we find that a person must pledge their attention and effort to the overarching cause in order to achieve a state of engagement.Stated another way: to be completely engaged, a person must be enriched at an emotional level by the task they are performing — truly, "their heart must be in it".

Have you ever watched a sports team in the dying minutes of a game that they will surely lose and found yourself saying, "their heart is just not in it"? It is true to say that it is exactly the same for a disengaged team member in an organisation. They have lost the connection between head and heart. They know what they are supposed to be doing, but have lost the emotional energy to do it at their best.

heart_not_in_it.png

Because we are all motivated by different things, engagement is a deeply personal experience. After all, we are giving our hearts and minds to the task. By tapping into our emotional energy we can release the unlimited potential of "discretionary effort."

If we explore the two parts of the term "discretionary effort" we see:

  • Discretionary effort is defined as for any use or purpose one chooses; not earmarked for a particular purpose.
  • Effort is defined as exertion of physical or mental power.

When combined, discretionary effort is the exertion of physical or mental power for a purpose of one's own choosing. Thus, discretionary effort is not something for an organisation to take, but something for an individual to give. Engagement is being so connected to a goal that we are willing to give more than we are compensated to do. It means we find our own intrinsic reward in performing the task, and are wiling to give more of ourselves to experience those personal rewards.

In the literary review we have conducted, we have found 6 factors that seem to appear time and again when describing engagement and how to encourage it. These factors are:

employee_engagement___6_factors.png

These are by no means the only factors that contribute to engagement, they are simply the ones that seem to appear most often. Having spent the time to do the research, our engagement series of blog posts will provide you with some of the highlights and "best of the web" based on our research.

Theo Winter

Theo Winter

Client Services Manager, Writer & Researcher. Theo is one of the youngest professionals in the world to earn an accreditation in TTI Success Insight's suite of psychometric assessments. For more than a decade, he worked with hundreds of HR, L&D and OD professionals and consultants to improve engagement, performance and emotional intelligence of leaders and their teams. He authored the book "40 Must-Know Business Models for People Leaders."

We Would Like to Hear From You (0 Comments)

Newsletter Sign-Up

Designed For You

Going out every 3 weeks, the Science of Self™ newsletter brings interesting, fresh and topical content to professionals in Talent Management, Human Resources, Learning & Development, People & Culture, Organisational Development, General Management and Consulting.

Welcome to Science of Self™

Our knowledge centre holds over 400 articles shared through the Science of Self™ newsletter. The topics are relevant to the fields of talent management, human resources, organisational development and business growth.

As the title suggests, we take an evidence-based approach to sharing content about people in the context of work. If you like what you see, consider signing up below!

Knowledge Centre Home

    The Future of Work

    Looking for a practical guide to help you rewire your business for the future of work?

    Read More