Are you engaged in your vocational pursuit?

While motivated and engaged employees can be found in any job, no matter how difficult...less than 30 percent of employees are engaged in their work. As much as 13 percent of employees are actively disengaged, openly showing disdain for their jobs and their bosses, and behaving in destructive ways. And the majority of employees (60 percent) are..."ambivalent employees" — basically, employees who don't care. These employees....won't go the extra mile, won't volunteer for extra assignment, display low energy and lackluster performance, and just focus on "getting by." 

How to change in this area....it is simple...embrace "shared ownership":

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where you will learn about:

BUILDING A MAGNETIC CULTURE

THE VITAL STEPS TO SHARED OWNERSHIP

The CEO of an employee survey and human resources consulting firm, Kevin Sheridan, author of Building a Magnetic Culture, argues convincingly that employees in any industry or job can be motivated and engaged in the right environment and organizational culture. He describes, for example, the attitude of the waste management workers of Minneapolis. As Sheridan notes, picking up trash along city streets is a task sometimes given to prison inmates. And yet Minneapolis has a dedicated group of city workers who are happy to do that job. One reason is that Minneapolis is consistently rated among the cleanest cities in the world. In other words, these workers know that they help make their city a great place to live. There is also great flexibility and independence in the job. As Sheridan explains, "Staff members have the autonomy to do what needs to be done, and go home when they are finished. This freedom motivates employees to work hard so they can end their shifts early and have a more positive work/life balance."

The Sad State of Engagement

While motivated and engaged employees can be found in any job, no matter how difficult, Sheridan's survey data demonstrates that less than 30 percent of employees are engaged in their work. As much as 13 percent of employees are actively disengaged, openly showing disdain for their jobs and their bosses, and behaving in destructive ways. And the majority of employees (60 percent) are what Sheridan calls "ambivalent employees" — basically, employees who don't care. These employees, he writes, won't go the extra mile, won't volunteer for extra assignment, display low energy and lackluster performance, and just focus on "getting by."

The Power of Shared Ownership

In Building a Magnetic Culture, Sheridan offers specific guidelines on how to keep employees engaged. The first priority is to reject the notion that engagement is the full responsibility of the employer. "All too regularly, people have relied solely on their employer to keep them engaged in the workplace instead of taking any ownership of their own engagement," writes Sheridan. "With this mentality, employees think their employer is holding all of the cards, and if they do not like what they are dealt, there is nothing they can do to improve the situation." Both employers and employees are guilty of having this "lopsided" view of employee engagement, he writes.

Engaging employees requires a "shared ownership" approach, Sheridan argues. In Building a Magnetic Culture, he offers eight steps for shared ownership that begin with teaching the concept of engagement. Although it may seem obvious to experienced professionals, many employees must be taught what engagement means and why it's important. Employers must also help employees understand their engagement level, and ask employees to brainstorm on how to raise that engagement level. Employees and managers can then meet to discuss how to support each other to increase engagement, and later develop specific action plans on which employers must follow through and assess progress.

Building a Magnetic Culture includes chapters on recruitment, industry differences in challenges to engagement, the importance of diversity and an overview of recent engagement trends. Sheridan also lists the top 10 engagement drivers — from compensation and the abilities of direct supervisors to the availability of resources to perform the job effectively. Building a Magnetic Culture is a well-written manual on an issue vital to any organization's success.