Share what you know with millions of people
Focus is the best place to turn what you know into remarkable content
0
What's the difference between a happy employee and an engaged employee?
Is there a difference, or do the two go hand-in-hand?
Events
- Dos and Don'ts of Small Business Marketing May 29 @ 11 am PT
- Lead Nurturing 202: The Next Generation May 31 @ 11 am PT
- The Tricks to Paid Media June 6 @ 11 am PT
- Display Advertising for Brand Awareness June 20 @ 11 am PT
Related Activity
3 Answers
Happiness does not necessarily require or guarantee engagement -- many employees are actually happier the less engaged they are, because less engagement usually means less accountability. Nor does engagement require or guarantee happiness, as any employee who's been "engaged" in putting out fires or attempting to resolve interdepartmental political squabbles can readily attest.
What businesses need are policies for recruiting, retention and overall business operations that engage employees positively in the success and growth of the business. Any employee who is successfully so engaged and not happy will likely seek employment elsewhere without too much prompting. And any employee unwilling or unable to be so engaged should be coached into engagement or encouraged to find a better fit at another company.
Thanks for the great question, Chelsea -- I look forward to other responses!
I believe happiness and engagement go together. If your work is not based on your strengths it will seem like labor. To quote a Gallup study, "... people who do have the opportunity to focus on their strengths every day are six times as likely to be engaged in their jobs and more than three times as likely to report having an excellent quality of life in general." (StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath).
How do you get to engagement in your work? Buy the StrengthsFinder 2.0 book and take the online assessment. (I have no financial interest in this book.) The assessment will give you a report of your 5 main strengths. Find somewhere to take the Myers Briggs Type Indicator from someone who will go over what it means with you. The MBTI will tell you where your energy comes from, how you use your strengths, and how you tend to make decisions. Find work that is aligned with your strengths and how you use them.
The most effective way to work through this is to hire a coach. A coach from outside your employer will help ensure that the coaching focus is on you and your team. Start with http://www.coachfederation.org/ and trust your intuition on whether the coach is right for you.
I could not agree more with David. Tapping into the strengths of employees is the key to generating quantum leaps in productivity, innovation, and performance. People love doing what they are good at. An approach I have used in the past is to have employees read the book "Now, Discover Your Strengths" and then take the Gallup Strengths Finder. If you have characterized your positions in terms of required knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSA), it does not take much effort to also assign one or more of the 34 Strengths Finder themes to each job. That way, you have a good basis for assigning people who have not only the right KSA profile, but also exhibit natural tendencies and strengths in that type of work.
Answer This Question