Hay Group India Blog

Are your Employees engaged and enabled? If not, The Enemy of Engagement is a must-read book for you! 

There is currently a great deal of emphasis in organizations and in the management literature on enhancing levels of employee engagement – with good reason. In today’s global economic environment, many organizations need to do more with less, making the discretionary effort of employees willing to ‘go the extra mile’ all the more important. However, engaging employees, while clearly important, is not alone sufficient to sustain maximum levels of individual and team effectiveness over time. Hay Group has found that there are significant numbers of organizations that enjoy high levels of employee engagement yet nonetheless struggle with performance issues. In these environments, employees are energized by goals and objectives and are eager to help their organizations succeed. But they themselves often indicate that they do not feel optimally productive.

What’s the missing piece? Engaged employees who are frustrated by current work conditions often seem to be saying to organizational leaders, “Help me help you. Put me in a role that leverages my skills and abilities and allows me to do what I do best. Give me the tools, technology, information, support, and other resources I need to be effective. And, finally, get out of my way. Don’t dilute my focus and consume my energy with tasks that don’t add value. And don’t introduce procedural barriers that will interfere with my ability to get things done.”

Organizations need to ensure that work environments provide enabling conditions to harness the reservoir of superior motivation offered by an engaged workforce. Frustrated employees represent a lost opportunity for organizations. From a motivational perspective, organizational leaders have these employees where they want them. But when it comes to ensuring that they are as productive as possible, organizations and managers are missing out.