#EngagedEmployees and Satisfied Employees Are NOT the Same.

In response to: https://www.trainingjournal.com/articles/opinion/employee-satisfaction-why-you-need-care

Employee happiness is not nearly as important as engaged employees. You can work with people who are happy at work and totally checked out. Employee engagement is what counts, not happy. When you think about "engagement" many companies offer free food or ping pong tables, however if an engaged employee goes home and tells their spouse of a really great day at work, typically it has to do with getting something done or working as a team - not free food!

Engagement is visible by employees who take initiative, solve problems, offer creative solutions and inspire other employees. Sure it's nice to work around people who are happy but a grouchy engaged employee is much more valuable than an unengaged happy employee. 

The author suggests "An employee satisfaction survey can be a particularly effective as it allows employees to be anonymous" yet our experience is that survey results are not the most important information to take action on. The real data comes from employee meetings where employees describe what they were thinking when they answered the question and what actions they themselves can take to improve engagement.

This takes Authentically Curious Leadership skills on behalf of the managers who conduct their team meetings. It's not difficult, however it does take re-framing the"stories" we have about the role of a boss being the one who tells people what to do! We have seen Authentically Curious Leadership shape, and reshape organizations to create higher engagement, and ultimately higher productivity and profitability. Pretty cool!

How would your organization change with more engaged employees and Authentically Curious Leadership?