Engagement vs Performance
Managers hear alot about how important it is for employees to be happy while at work. Do your happy employees perform? As every manager knows, each employee can have a different interpretation of what makes them happy. It’s important to have a respectful workplace so that all employeees can perform their jobs, but must all employees be happy?
“Are You Managing for Engagement or Performance?” by Jason Lauitsen on Sustainable Business Forum. You have to deliver results and employees are there to support the business. If an employee is engaged, does it mean they perform better?
While managing for employee engagement is a good thing, it’s a means to an end. We cannot forget that without performance, we won’t have a company to employ people in the first place. Engagement for the sake of engagement is wasted energy. Focus on performance and use engagement as it was intended in the first place—as a tool to collect information that helps you drive better results.
Step back and look at your high performers and analyze what drives them to perform. Individuals are different, yet for the success of the company, each person must be able to perform their responsibilities and show up to the best of their ability. Your role in managing employees is to provide clear directions, tools and environment for them to perform. That’s engagement.
Be well,
Pat
