Engagement does not equal Productivity

Stand by to be upset (or relieved): employee engagement is not as important as you think.

For years the prevailing orthodoxy has been that employee engagement is important, but did you know that just because someone is engaged at work, doesn't mean they're actually getting stuff done?

Yup, you read that right - engagement and productivity are not the same thing.

In fact, it is possible for an employee to be highly engaged but not productive- engagement and productivity don’t always go hand in hand.

When it comes to measuring productivity in the workplace, what people actually DO (aka their work output) is a more accurate indicator than how they FEEL about work (aka worker sentiment).

According to recent research done by O.C. Tanner Institute, “work output is a better metric than worker sentiment, and increasing it yields far greater individual, team, and organisational results.”

In my next post, I will cover the four practices organisation should focus on instead of engagement.

What do you believe - is engagement overrated? Does this surprise you?

#humanresources #leadership #remotework