Not unlike other career professionals, I have always held the firm belief that work is never just work. Work is a guiding theme in an individual’s life – and loving what you do is key. For much of my career I would have worked for peanuts, as long as I could have met my financial obligations. Feeling motivated by the content of your work is a great thing.
Employee engagement does matter
At one time, there was an opinion that job characteristics such as pay were the only motivators worth exploring. But over the years, changes in the way we look at work and the correlates of job satisfaction, have moved that needle. We now know that job attributes such as autonomy and opportunities for career growth, are also powerful motivators in the workplace. The explosion of interest in employee engagement and its relationship to organizational success is another example of this evolving view. We may have a long way to go to achieve high levels of engagement at work – but there is no arguing its importance.
Early theorists were on the right track
The idea of feeling engaged at work is a much older concept than many realize. The roots of the employee engagement concept can be traced back to some early theories concerning motivation and organizational membership. For the most part, early thought leaders were right on target with today’s trends.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (1954) is an excellent example. Maslow, a Humanistic Psychologist, believed that positive mental health was in part related to belief that you are making a meaningful contribution to the world. His description of the need for self-actualization, (which was viewed indulgent at the time), sounds much like the concept of employee engagement.
Theories concerning organizational system requirements have also discussed the notion of employee engagement. The classic text The Social Psychology of Organizations (Katz & Kahn,1966), outlined three behavioral requirements needed for organizational success, the last of which sounds much like engagement:
- An attraction to join the organization and the desire to remain in it.
- People must dependably perform the tasks for which they were hired.
- People must go beyond dependable role tasks and engage in some sort of creative, spontaneous and innovative behavior.
Research backs this up
The need to feel that work has meaning, has certainly emerged as a key topic in the research arena as well. A recent study by Blessing-White, an organization which studies workplace trends bore this out. When asked what factors would influence their plans to stay at an organization 30%, said it was their work and enjoying what they do. Another 17% stated their chance for career development or advancement. Interestingly, only 7% agreed that salary was the greatest influence in their decision to stay. As the researchers explained, “Employees will stay for the work but leave for career.”
Changing the mindset is half the battle
The economic recession has forced us take a closer look at the components organizational effectiveness in a more creative way. Overall, we are poised to realize that making decisions solely on the basis of spreadsheets is ill-advised. Managers are looking for strategies to meet the needs of their employees while achieving organizational goals. As such, this opens the doors for the power of the engagement to take center stage. I for one, am thrilled.
Dr. Marla Gottschalk is a Workplace Psychologist located in East Lansing, Michigan. Find her on Twitter and Linkedin.
