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Employee Engagement:

Is this the right fit for me?

Scott Constantine of Performance Link NZ shares a series of plain truth articles about creating a highly engaged workforce.

In this series of articles I've put a lot of emphasis on the environment that employers provide for their employees.  I've also put a lot of emphasis on employees being able to be their true-selves.  But I'm not suggesting that employers can necessarily cater for the needs of every employee.  

Employees may be offered a high level of involvement in determining what they do and how they go about it, but it's important to remember that employee engagement is relative to the pursuit of key organisational goals.  It's not just about self determination and self actualisation for the sake of it.  Inevitably there are times when the needs of some employees and those of the organisation do not match.  When this is the case I would argue that it is impossible for an employee to passionately immerse themselves in their work and to be totally true to themselves at the same time.  It would therefore be impossible to have high engagement in this scenario.  In trying to address employee engagement levels it is worthwhile to consider organisational, job and environmental fit.

A view of fit from an engagement perspective.  Fit in relation to engagement is not simply about whether the person can do, has done, is doing, or will do the job at hand.  In contrast, it is do with a degree of fit that exists at a deeper level and that is framed by the psychological drivers of engagement.  

A different way of determining fit.  Consider the following:  Does the individual find both the nature of their work, and the nature of the organisational goals / vision meaningful and worthwhile?  Are they passionate and inspired about either or both?  Do they have the opportunity to do what they do best and to deploy it in the pursuit of the organisation's goals / vision?  Is the organisation capable and willing to provide the level of recognition required by the individual?  Does the organisational environment provide the level of psychological safety required by the individual?  This includes the right amount of safety in interpersonal relationships, group and inter-group dynamics, management approach, and organisational norms and culture.  What is the fit between the levels of cognitive, emotional, and physical resource that the person has to offer and the level of these resources required by the job?

The Po!nt:  "Employees may have the right skills and competencies for their jobs, the right experience for their jobs, demonstrate that they are able to perform the job to acceptable levels, display high levels of commitment, and yet still not be highly engaged, nor authentic to themselves.  A different perspective on the fit between individuals and organisations is required if the impact of fit on employee engagement is to be understood."

  www.performancelink.co.nz  

           Vol. 2, No. 9    February 1, 2008

                 Copyright © 2008 S.R. Constantine All Rights Reserved.

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