6. Engaging employees with creative problem-solving, reasoning, decision-making, and evaluation, they begin to think and act differently about their work.
7. Appealing to the Masses Employees differ greatly in terms of their dedication and commitment to their job. Engagement programs should be designed to appeal to the masses. Leaders who understand their employees will have the best yield when changing work requirements.
10. Three Bricklayers Jim Haudan, author of The Art of Engagement (2008) often tells a story of three bricklayers. Each picks up a brick and sets it in place. The first bricklayer says, “I’m putting one brick on top of the other.” The second says, “I’m building the west wall of a church.” And the third bricklayer says, “I’m creating a cathedral. It will stand for centuries and inspire people to do great deeds.”
11. 6 Elements of Engagement Connecting through images and stories Creating pictures together Believing in leaders Owning the solution Playing the entire game Practicing before performing
13. Successful Strategies… Connect to the company’s objectives and goals. It is critical that the business goals and objectives are relevant to employees. If employees do not ‘get it’, the strategy will not be successful. Encourage employee ownership. Employees with understanding of the entire picture cannot avoid taking action. In essence, the employees will feel like they have been heard and ‘buy’ into the concept.
15. Case Studies Best Buy reported where employee engagement increased by one tenth of a point, sales increase more than $100,000 for the year (Attridge, 2009). MolsonCoors, reported that engaged employees were five times less likely to have a safety incident and seven times less likely to have a lost-time safety incident, saving $1.7 million in safety-related costs for that year (Attridge, 2009).
16. Conclusion There is no ‘one size fits all’ to an engaged workforce. All generations want balance and satisfaction (Ketter, 2008). Creating a work culture that values learning, career advancement, and employee engagement is not easy, but is crucial to the success of an organization (Ketter, 2008). In conclusion: when employees feel engaged, they are motivated and committed to their work and learning. They also have a sense of belonging and accomplishment. Engaged employees learn most effectively when the leadership makes meaningful connections to the curriculum and creates a safe learning environment that encourages learners to meet challenges while applying high rigor skills to real-world, unpredictable situations inside and outside of the classroom (Jones, 2009).
17. References Allerton, H. E. (2003). Blood, sweat, and cheers: full engagement. T+D, 57(8), 34. Attridge, M. (2009). Measuring and managing employee work engagement: A review of the research and business literature. Journal of Workplace Behavioral Health, 24(4), 383-398. Babcock-Roberson, M.E. & Stickland, O.J. (2010). The relationship between charismatic leadership, work engagement, and organizational citizenship behaviors. The Journal of Psychology, 144 (3), 313-336. Billett, S., Smith, R., & Barker, M. (2005). Understanding work, learning and the remaking of cultural practices. Studies in Continuing Education, 27(3), 219-237. Hauden, Jim. (2008). The art of engagement. New York, New York : McGraw Hill. Jones, R.D. (2009). Student engagement teacher handbook. Retrieved from http://www.leadered.com/pdf/Student%20Engage%20handbook%20excerpt.pdf from http://home.sprynet.com/~gkearsley/engage.htm Kearsley, G, & Shneiderman, B. (1999, April 5). Engagement theory.Retrieved Ketter, P. (2008). What's the big deal: About employee engagement. T+D, 62(1), 44-49.
