On July 4, 1776, our forefathers declared unanimously that the citizens of the United States of America had certain rights that cannot be given or taken away, including “the pursuit of Happiness.” Fast forward a few centuries, and we find ourselves in a workaholic, technology-crazed nation where we are plugged into email and available to work 24/7/365 — and we are still pursuing our happiness.
For many years, work and life have been labeled as two separate events that compete for equal balance and attention. As more and more of our personal lives overlap with work, it is natural that we should pursue our happiness at work, too. With this equation, it would be wise for employers to institutionalize practices at work that support employee well-being and help to create a positive work environment. In turn, organizations will benefit by having more engaged employees who will be more committed, more productive and more willing to go the extra mile — employees who say “how can I help” rather than “this isn’t in my job description.”
*Need link to report* Employee engagement has measured surprisingly low in the U.S. for many years, most notably by the Gallup organization, which reports only 30 percent of American workers as engaged. This leaves 70 percent of the workforce just going through the motions, or worse, actively seeking ways to disrupt other employees’ productivity or damage the organization in some way.
With this dismal outlook, employers can move the dial in their own organizations and increase their employee engagement by following these steps:
The first step is to pay attention to the people.
People naturally want to be recognized both as professionals and as human beings. When you start to acknowledge the people in your organization, they will notice, and their work will respond to your well-deserved attention. This can be as simple as stopping by someone’s office and saying hello and thank…