Employee Engagement Isn’t Really the Goal

Employee engagement has become a core concept in human resource management – and rightfully so. Numerous research studies have demonstrated positive results for organizations when employee engagement is high – reduced staff turnover, increased productivity, improved customer ratings.   However, I want to propose to you that employee engagement isn’t really what you want to focus on. Because if you focus primarily on employee engagement, you will likely “miss the target.”   Why? Because employee engagement isn’t a behavior or even an attitude. Employee engagement is a result that flows from other targeted behaviors.      Let me give you an example from daily life. A lot of us, myself included, often want to lose weight. We want to weigh less than we do now. But that is not really our true goal – just to weigh less.