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Getting Started on the Journey to Improved Employee Engagement
I have tried to make a convincing argument that improving employee engagement in government is a goal worth pursuing. I began this book by emphasizing that this is a difficult time to be working in the public sector. I also emphasized, however, that this is also a critical moment in time for government as the nation deals with enormous challenges, ranging from economic and national security issues to challenges that we all face every day in our local communities.
There is an important role for government, and the public servants who are government, to help our nation and communities successfully meet these challenges.
But the public sector can only do this if it operates at peak performance. Unfortunately, employee-engagement surveys show that in government, like in the private sector, there is room for dramatic improvement in the level of engagement. On top of this, as I also described, government faces unique barriers to improving engagement.
Therein lies the challenge for government: to identify and then overcome these barriers and harness the power of employee engagement to improve individual and organizational performance. The research on employee engagement clearly shows that this potential exists, and nowhere is it greater than in government, where our most important resource is our talent.
I have also suggested a relatively simple but potentially powerful model for the process of measuring and improving engagement that focuses on the need to collect real, jurisdiction- and agency-specific data on the level of employee engagement:
1. Plan the engagement survey.
2. Conduct the survey.
3. Report and analyze the results.
4. Take action on the results to maintain strengths and improve on weaknesses.
5. Sustain improved engagement over time and resurvey.
I have also described several different methodologies to survey employees to measure the level of employee engagement, including the survey developed by the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), which includes questions that fall into six areas that drive employee engagement:
1. Pride in the work or workplace
2. Satisfaction with leadership
3. Opportunity to perform well at work
4. Satisfaction with recognition received
5. Prospect for future personal and professional growth
6. Positive work environment with some focus on teamwork
The MSPB engagement dimensions (and the questions in the survey itself), like other engagement surveys, can serve as a checklist for managers. Generally speaking, if these conditions exist in a jurisdiction or agency, that organization should have a high level of employee engagement. Conducting an employee-engagement survey is the most effective and accurate way to determine if these conditions truly exist.
I also highlighted the approaches that government organizations have taken to measure engagement and then take action to improve it. These jurisdictions and agencies have implemented changes to improve engagement that include the following:
• Providing senior-level and enterprise-wide leadership on employee engagement
• Improving communication
• Building leaders’ competencies
• Improving the management of employee performance
• Ensuring that employees believe their opinions count
• Creating a more a positive work environment
• Incorporating engagement into assessment of job applicants
• Implementing a structured and comprehensive new employee onboarding process
• Helping employees improve their well-being
• Clarifying the line of sight between employees’ work and the agency mission
• Enhancing employee prospects for career growth
• Recognizing employee contributions
As this list suggests, there are a range of strategies to improve engagement. But I’ve also emphasized that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to improving engagement. Each government jurisdiction and agency should measure its own level of engagement, analyze the results, identify priority areas to focus on, and then take action. These actions to improve engagement also must fit the agency’s mission, values, strategy, and culture.
Technical considerations aside, improving engagement in government requires the fundamental organizational commitment and will to first identify improving engagement as a strategic goal, then measure engagement, take action to improve it, and sustain this momentum over time.
As I also emphasized, there is no silver bullet to achieve superior organizational performance in government, and there is no silver bullet to achieve high levels of employee engagement. Instead, what’s needed is silver buckshot—an integrated series of actions to measure and then improve engagement.
Improving engagement is a journey just as much as it is a destination. But it is a journey worth embarking on to help government—the nation’s largest and perhaps most important employer—achieve its potential.