Val Willis, a long-time denizen of Tom Peters Company, sent me an email describing a recent experience with a client:
I was with a great group this week, and the subject was engagement. That seems to be a topic that is top of mind for many organizations who have taken the Gallup study on engagement to heart. I have had a fully engaged week, I have been doing work that matters, and I hope I made a difference. Where are you on the engagement meter this week? Are you engaged, not engaged, or actively disengaged? What can we do as leaders to have a highly engaged organization?
I’d highly recommend taking a look at the Gallup research Val’s referring to. The startling results peg these percentages:
- Engaged: 26%
- Not Engaged: 55%
- Actively Disengaged: 19%
If you want to explore more of the Gallup findings on engagement, go here. They’ve posted pieces of the study relating to different industries.
Implications for managers of the Gallup research are presented in detail by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman in First, Break All the Rules: What the World’s Greatest Managers Do Differently. If you have a must-read list for managers, that belongs on it. The nub: “In the end … from the employee’s perspective, managers trump companies.”
BTW: In December, Tom posted a blog entry about Buckingham’s next book, pre-publication. That book is available now, The One Thing You Need to Know.
So, what’s your assessment of engagement where you work? Yours or your employees’.