Everyone has been a disengaged employee at some point, but people don’t want to talk about engagement in this economy. The general attitude seems to be, “Keep your mouth shut, your head down and do your job well so that you don’t get fired.” Some even say that the concept of engagement is too warm and fuzzy. It can’t be measured quantitatively, of course, so it’s not worth upper-level management’s attention. While it is important to be a good employee in order to keep one’s job, it is also important for leaders to make sure that their employees are willingly performing and gladly complying. Otherwise, a leader may find herself in an unmanageable situation since employee engagement impacts theft, absenteeism, conflict, and productivity.
This is Part 1 in our 3 part series about the importance of employee engagement.
Theft and Dishonesty
If an employee works every day to please his employer and never receives credit or notice, he will eventually become resentful.
This is a multi-million-dollar question that corporations try to answer: “Why do employees steal?” Some people are unethical at their core, and there are few ways to change them. But some employees steal, cheat and lie out of spite. Think about it. If an employee works every day to please his employer and never receives credit or notice, he will eventually become resentful. Once resentful, he won’t care whether he is fired or whether he disappoints his manager. As a result, he is doesn’t care about being ethical. Consider the contrasting situation in which an employee honors his boss and aspires to please him. That employee is less likely to be dishonest or steal because he does not want to disappoint the person he is trying to impress. It is human nature to foster the most favorable circumstances in order to survive. If the employee will survive and advance by being a trustworthy, respected employee, then he will be ethical.
Absenteeism
When one enjoys being at work, he is more likely to become engaged with the company itself.
Many people know what it is to hate their jobs. They don’t want to get up in the morning because they dread spending eight hours in an environment they despise. They use every sick hour, vacation day and personal day early in the year just to avoid going to work. They are not typically social or happy because they want to stay under the radar, get the work done and collect the paycheck…until they can find another job. When asked about where they work or what they do, they never answer with a prideful smile.
Most people would agree that enjoying going to work is an incredible feeling. Work enjoyment can be the result of many factors: strong relationships with coworkers, respect for the leadership or satisfaction from the nature of the work. When one enjoys being at work, he is more likely to become engaged with the company itself. This could be manifested in many forms. The employee is more likely to invest in developing relationships with coworkers, which automatically improves the office culture. The employee is more likely to avoid negative behaviors that would disappoint the leadership he so strongly respects. The employee is more likely to work more efficiently and passionately because he enjoys his work. This in turn will spark creativity and make for a better product or service.
Read Part 2 and Part 3 to find the solution.
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