"Enthused and in gear" in short supply

Who are they training and what are they training? The relationship between managers and employees is the key to engagement, yet few employees are engaged.

CCH® HR MANAGEMENT —
9/20/06
Employee engagement still isn't a reality warns BlessingWhite

The latest Employee Engagement Report by global consulting firm BlessingWhite indicates that even though the majority of employees express positive feelings about their work, their employers and even their managers, less than one-fifth are fully engaged in their work. "Engaged employees are not just happy or proud. They are what we call 'enthused and in gear,' focusing their talents to make a difference in their employer's success," explains Christopher Rice, BlessingWhite's President and CEO. "We found that only 18 percent of our survey respondents had all the pieces of this engagement puzzle in place." There were 714 participants in the survey.

According to the report, lack of alignment is a primary reason for so few employees being fully engaged. Rice observes, "For the third year in a row, our survey results indicate that strategy isn’t getting very far out of the boardroom. Although more respondents this year indicate that their organization's strategy is well communicated (41 percent vs. 33 percent in 2005), only 19 percent indicate that they believe daily work priorities are linked to a clearly communicated strategy. Our findings suggest that a lot of well-meaning, hard-working employees are spinning their wheels on work that may not matter much to their employers. Sooner or later, their attitude will take a nose-dive or they’ll burn out."

Another key finding: Strong manager-employee partnerships lead to more engaged employees.