The End of Employee Engagement: David Zinger’s chapter in the ASTD Management Development Handbook

In 2012 I wrote a chapter on employee engagement for Lisa Haneberg’s (2012) The ASTD Management Development Handbook.

Here is the opening paragraph:

We need to put an end to employee engagement. I can imagine I hear a cadre of managers cheering at the suggested end of another task on their bulging to-do list while another group of managers look quizzically at the statement because they are just launching employee engagement efforts in their organization after receiving dismal survey results paired with the strong business case for engagement. Employee engagement needs to end by being woven into the fabric of work so that it does not fade away or be abandoned when managers are cajoled by management consultants to jump on the latest and greatest new bandwagon.

Some of my thinking has changed in the past 4 years and I use a different model of engagement based on the 10 elements of engagement but I encourage you to read this chapter as it can help you prepare for a happy ending!

Click on this link to Chapter 26 Engaging Management: Put an End to Employee Engagement or click on the cover below to read the chapter.

Let’s ensure employee engagement ends well.  The term, employee engagement, was necessary as a focal point to move us towards more connected and integrated work but ultimately engagement is not an extra heaped on a manager’s long list of duties, rather management must be engaging and engagement is work.

David Zinger is an employee engagement speaker and expert.