Your Own Definition of Engagement

You know how it is. You’re trying to emphasise your point; you’re trying to add a bit more oomph than the section justifies. Maybe you’re trying to gloss over a little gap in your understanding. So out comes a throwaway phrase. It sounds good, you sound dead clever, but what does it really mean? I’m sure a lot of people reading this will have tossed out a phrase, seen it seized upon by an inquisitive client … and wish they’d never set fingers to keyboard.

Happily, no-one picked me up on a throwaway comment in a recent blog: “…I believe you can build a really good picture of engagement in your company. You can create your own definition …” If you’d asked me at the time, I don’t think I’d’ve known what I meant. But I intrigued myself and kept thinking about it.

Let’s start with an axiom. That real employee engagement kicks in when your personal Satisfaction overlaps with the Contribution your employer wants you to make. 

So, every different kind of organisation will expect a different kind of contribution from its people. How that is expressed will depend on the culture. And I’ve successfully argued before (the rule of blogs dictates if that no-one comments you have won the argument) that there’s a huge variety of corporate cultures. On top of that, how well leaders define that contribution, and how well it cascades down to day-to-day action will be different in each organisation too.

So, isn’t it natural that each company should build their own definition of engagement? One that’s based on all the individual aspects that will help define it?

It’s certainly a challenge I’d relish getting involved in: getting under the skin of what are that organisation’s unique identifiers that show when people are taking the greatest satisfaction from making the greatest contribution. Perhaps that’s where engagement, culture, employer brand all overlap. Which is sort of the point of this blog. And me.

I know what you’re thinking, though. Surely then we need to go down to the individual level? Only each person knows what satisfies them. So isn’t it different for everyone? Maybe, and maybe that’s possible too. I think that’s what I’m going to ponder next…