Employee Engagement Canadian Style: I am not Responsible

My engagement is my responsibility, don’t take that from me.

Psychometrics in Canada recently completed a survey of 368 Canadian HR professionals.

These professionals were asked : Who is primarily responsible for engagement?

• 50% said managers
• 34.1% said senior leaders
• 15.9 said employees

It boggles my mind that only 16% of HR managers see employees as having primary responsibility for engagement?

I see it differently. I believe employees have the primary responsibility for their own engagement. As in that  little poem: “If it is to be, it is up to me.”

I refuse to lose my personal responsibility. I refuse to put my engagement in the hands of someone else because that makes me helpless. If I am not engaged it makes it hard to change with the likelihood that I will believe myself to be helpless as I am the victim and senior leaders and managers are the villains.

Accountable not responsible. Having said this I believe that managers and leaders are accountable for engagement just as employees are accountable for the impact they have on other’s engagement.

Did we forget that leaders and managers are employees? Oh by the way, did we stop seeing managers and senior leaders as employees. They are employees of the organization so why would there be a separate category for employees, could this be a creating an us/them dichotomy in the organization?

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David Zinger takes full responsibility for his own engagement. David  works with organizations and individuals to improve employee engagement.  His speaking, writing, coaching, and consulting focus on helping organizations and individuals increase employee engagement by 20%. David founded the 3500 member Employee Engagement Network. The network  is striving to increase employee engagement 20% by 2020.

Contact David today to increase engagement where you work. (Email: dzinger@shaw.ca  / Phone 204 254 2130  /  Website: www.davidzinger.com)