"Commentary"-Rebuilding the Workforce
Thursday, July 05, 2007SUSIE GHARIB: Our commentator wants to build a more engaged workforce. Here's Robert Morison, director of research at BSG Concours and the co-author of "Workforce Crisis."
ROBERT MORISON, EXEC VP & DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH, BSG CONCOURS: I'm not one to celebrate or agonize over fluctuations in the overall workforce productivity rate. I can only deal with productivity as a local matter. Businesses raise productivity in any of four ways: better automation, better work and management processes, more skilled people and higher employee engagement. Most employers are prone to act upon the first three, yet the fourth may hold the greatest potential. What is engagement?
An engaged employee is willing to go the extra mile to help the organization meet its goals. An engaged employee makes work time count. How high is engagement in the American workforce? Not high. One-fifth are really engaged; almost as many are disengaged. Their goal is just to cash a paycheck and the average employee is not far above neutral. What factors correlate with engagement? We all know the answers: interesting and meaningful work, variety of responsibilities, capable and similarly committed colleagues, respectful and respected management.
What causes low engagement? No matter how we segment the workforce, the number one answer is always the same: feeling at a dead end in one's job. One-third of American workers today feel dead-ended. Want to do something about productivity? Improve the conditions that engage employees. Notice when capable people are getting into a rut and give them a change of pace to get them unstuck; leave nobody in a dead-end job. The American economy may plod along at a 2 to 3 percent annual productivity increase, but a well-managed business can do much better than that. I'm Robert Morison.
