The previous post explored and explained what employee engagement means and is, from several POVs. To round out the circle, let me clarify what employee engagement is not.

We look for traits of really engaged behavior to recognize those individuals, use them as examples, and allow them to operate as champions for engagement within the culture. We should also be clear-eyed in noticing behaviors that signify the absence of engagement. It is easier to institute improvement when we know both what we want the improvement to be and what we want to improve.

The antitheses of engaged employee are unengaged (coasting in neutral) and actively disengaged (applying the brakes if not in full reverse) employees. Some of the traits cited by Coffman and Gonzalez-Molina in their book Follow This Path are:

Not Engaged

• Meets the basics.
• Confusion or ability to act with
  confidence.
• Low-risk responses and commitment.
• No real sense of achievement.
• Possible commitment to
  organization, but not always to role or work group.
• Will speak frankly about negative
  views.

Actively Disengaged

• Normal reaction starts with
  resistance.
• Low trust.
• "I’m OK, everyone else is
  not."
• Inability to move from the problem
  to the solution.
• Low commitment to company, work
  group, and role.
• Isolation
• Won’t speak frankly about negative
  views but will act out frustration, either overtly or covertly

The difference between the two types above is merely degree. The manager’s objective is to increase (and improve) employee engagement across the entire population. So attention is paid to both types, but the actively disengaged has a longer path to follow from his status quo to acceptable engagement. Hence, he garners more attention as one potentially to be released earliest.

Please be aware that scores of solutions are offered by dozens of sources, solutions that substitute for real employee engagement. These substitutes, though somewhat valuable, fall short of the behavior that continually generates results a business requires: profit, customer loyalty and referrals, employee retention, quality production, and more.

Whether observed, indicated in employee opinion surveys, voiced in town hall sessions, or simply assumed, these employee characteristics:

• Motivation: a drive to succeed, to achieve.
• Commitment: an alignment with a desired goal or objective and willingness to work towards same.
• High morale: a combination of energy and involvement that boosts productivity.
• Job appreciation: an enjoyment of and gratitude for the work one does.
• Busy-ness: a willingness to keep oneself fully occupied, rather than idle.
• Volunteerism: offering one’s services for assignments outside the job description.
• Quantity = quality: an opinion that producing more work is as valuable as producing good work (see busy-ness)

should not be confused with  engagement. Each item listed (except the last) is valuable in its own right. Each item (except the last) may contribute to or result from true employee engagement. But none of them alone stands for the individual’s investment of energy, skill, ability, and eagerness in the work performed.

As always, I hope you’ll offer comments and insights by posting a Comment below.

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Tags: commitment, customer loyalty, disengagement, employee, Employment, engagement, manager, motivation, referral, Retention, unengagement, volunteerism