According to Gallup, Inc® research, only 13% of us worldwide are engaged in our work. Americans and Canadians have the highest levels of engagement with 29% of workers described as engaged. Workers from Australia and New Zealand have the next highest percentage of engaged workers at 24%. Compare this with China where only six per cent of workers are engaged.
So somewhere between 8 or 9 employees out of every 10 are not engaged at work. Does that surprise you? Shock you?
What is engagement?
Gallup, Inc® talk about engagement as employees being emotionally invested in and focused on creating value for their organizations every day. I like William Kahn’s (2010) description of engagement as putting our real selves into work. Engagement is when we deeply care about what we are doing and are committed to doing the best we can. When we are engaged, we express our real selves, rather than defend or withdraw them from view.
Gallup, Inc® measure engagement with twelve questions (the Q12) including “At work, my opinions seem to count”, “I know what is expected of me at work”, “At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day” and “In the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about my progress.” Do these seem like fairly reasonable expectations? It doesn’t seem like the benchmark is too high.
Why bother with engagement?
Research has shown that engaged employees make the difference between thriving and struggling companies. Companies with engaged employees have higher profit, better safety, less employee turnover, and less absenteeism (and that’s just the tip of the iceberg). People who are engaged feel that their contributions have meaning and that their perspectives matter.
On a personal level, engaged employees are more than three times as likely to be thriving in their overall lives. Engaged employees are less angry and less stressed than disengaged employees. Dr Simon Albrecht from Deakin University in Australia and Editor of the Handbook of Employee Engagement argues there is good evidence to support the much-touted benefits of employee engagement.
What if you’re not engaged?
If you’re reading this and thinking that you’re one of the majority of employees who are not engaged at work, what can you do? There are a number of pathways to engagement.
1. Understand why you are not engaged. It is important to understand why you are not engaged. Why are you feeling frustrated or disengaged? Because your opinion is not heard? Because of long hours? Travel? The inability to get things done. Feeling that you are not making a difference? Not enjoying interacting with customers all day? Not able to focus on your projects? Love your organisation but not your current manager? You’re not enjoying work as much now that you are a manager? Being clear about why you are not engaged is a crucial step in increasing your engagement.
2. Focus on your strengths. Focusing on your talents or strengths can help you understand why you are not engaged. A client of mine was not sure whether she should look for another job or whether she should stay in her current role. As we talked, she realized that she did enjoy her work but that building relationships was a strength of hers, and that she didn't have the strong relationships she'd enjoyed in previous roles. She set about making changes to build stronger relationships in her current role. Job crafting is changing your current role so you are doing more of what engages you. What aspects of your current role do you love? Could you do more of this?
3. Change your environment. Another client of mine is a great teacher. She was not sure whether she wanted to leave teaching as she was not engaged at work. As we talked, she realized that she loves teaching but that the current environment and culture was disengaging. We brainstormed options for how she could apply her passion for teaching in different settings.
4. Increase your activities outside of work. Work does not have to meet all of your needs. Increasing your activities outside of work could enable you to feel more engaged at work.
5. Change careers. Perhaps you’ve always secretly wanted to be a graphic designer? A nurse? Hiding your true self is a certain path to disengagement. What steps could you take towards your dream role?
These are just some of the many actions you could take to increase your engagement. Investing time in reflecting on your own engagement and taking action to increase your engagement is a worthwhile investment of your time. Make time to understand your strengths and think about how these are being utilised in your current role.
It is my mission for Australians to be the most engaged employees in the world. Will you join me? Check out my website at www.findmyniche.com.au.
Comments
May you be successful in your mission to see the Australians you connect with, as the most engaged people at work.