Employees who are highly engaged are committed to their work and see themselves as helping “build a cathedral.” Disengaged employees have essentially checked out—they are merely “laying bricks” for a paycheck, not building a cathedral. According to the Gallup report of 2013, only about 30% of the American workforce was “engaged,” and international data showed essentially the same results. In 2019, Gallup found that engagement had risen somewhat since 2013. (Both reports are attached in PDF format.) With this in mind, address these questions:
What is the impact of “engaged” versus “disengaged” employees on a company’s profits? For the purposes of this assignment, treat “engaged” as if it means the same thing as “inwardly committed to the good of the business.” (You can ignore whether or not they participate in company bowling or softball leagues.) Why do you believe this?
Using Lewin’s 3-Stage Model, how would you re-engage disengaged employees at every level in the organization? What conditions need to be in place in order to accomplish this? How would you make sure that their engagement results in a measurable increase in the productive effort? (See Lessons 7 and 8)
How would you use Drucker’s Management by Objectives, combined with Lewin’s 3-Stage Model, to secure the commitment of all employees, at every level of an organization (all the way to the bottom)? (See Lesson 1)
What can leaders do to preserve this commitment once it is attained? Is there a specific style of leadership that you believe would best serve this purpose? Why? How is EQ related to this style?
