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Accessed 14/09/2012 12:55 PM from http://bit.ly/RVuH61
“Engagement: The Good, The Bad and the Ugly.
According to a recent study* in the UK, there two types of engagement in the workplace.
One is transactional, when employees are happily focused on a job or task they like. The other is emotional, when employees have a deep relationship with their boss, co-workers and company values.
One would think that either of these forms of employee engagement would be positive, and if combined, make for an extremely productive and happy employee.
However, what the study found was very high levels of transactional engagement can be potentially damaging for both individuals and the organisation. Why? According to the study…
“…Employees who are transactionally engaged report higher levels of stress and difficulties in achieving a work-life balance than those employees who are emotionally engaged. What’s more, transactionally engaged employees are more likely to indulge in behaviour which might actually damage the organisation than their emotionally engaged counterparts.”
Transactionally engaged employees tend to “respond positively to engagement surveys and display the outward behaviours associated with engagement, but are less likely to perform well and will quickly leave for a better offer,” according to the study.
So, while they may be hard working and focussed, they are not attached to the organisation or the people, but the prospect of being the best they can be within their field.
Angela Baron, research adviser at the CIPD explained,
“While we definitely encourage organizations to measure engagement, it’s not enough for organizations to focus on increasing their engagement scores without considering what type…of engagement is being measured. What people are engaged with, and the nature and driving force behind their engagement, also need taking into consideration.”
So, organisations need to be aiming to emotionally engage their people – or as RedBalloon Corporate Engagement Specialist James Wright explains “capture their hearts and minds.”
“Emotional engagement is born from the desire to go above and beyond for the organisation or the people within it, and from this the person receives a feel good factor.”
And are you looking accurately at your engagement scores?
* Published by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) and Kingston University Business School’s Centre for Research in Employment, Skills and Society (CRESS), www.cipd.co.uk/pressoffice/press-releases/Strong-engagement-scores-can-spell-trouble-for-organisations-230512.aspx”
Date: 20/08/2012
