HR Pulse - Fall 2007 - (Page 22)

Culture of Engag The Truth about Health Care Employee Engagement By Peter Lanser, MSA, CPHQ, FACHE and Suzanne Coshow, Ph.D. Understanding Engagement Leaders in health care know that employee engagement is good for their organizations and that they will benefit from a more engaged workforce. Many know that engagement leads to desired outcomes—from employee attitudes and behavior to higher levels of profit—and is related to loyalty and commitment. But there is much confusion in the industry about what engagement really is and what aspects of it can be controlled or influenced by employers. Without this understanding, health care leaders cannot sufficiently focus on addressing issues in a way that will improve employee engagement. First, the definition: engagement comes from the theory of personal engagement and disengagement articulated by William A. Kahn, Ph.D. (Boston University School of Management) in 1990. Kahn’s theory is based on a “role-theory” foundation and states that personal engagement happens when employees bring their personal self-identity to the performance of tasks in their work role identity. This is most likely to occur when three things happen: (1) employees find meaningfulness in their jobs and tasks; (2) the work climate is a sufficiently safe environment for them to risk their personal selfidentity; and (3) when they are emotionally, physically, and cognitively available to put on their best performance. Engagement is when your employees give it their all, not because you are paying them or rewarding them to do so, but because it is who they are. Their own personal identity is caught up in the performance of their job, and their personal identity and their work role identity become one and the same. While nearly all academic recitations of engagement cite Kahn, the most critical aspects of his theory are often lost in the translation and are usually overlooked in attempts to understand engagement. First, the predisposition toward engagement varies from person to person—some of us are more inclined toward engaging performances than others. Second, how much an employee engages in a particular performance varies from task to task. Lastly, perhaps the most important thing about engagement is that it is an unconscious process significantly determined by the work environment. When approaching any task, employees will unconsciously ask three questions: 1. How meaningful is this task? The good news for health care leaders is that there is a high likelihood for meaningfulness in health care. Because of the kind of work health care providers do—and the direct impact they have on other human beings’ well-being—health care employees are very likely to find their work meaningful. 2. How safe is the social climate for me to get involved? Employees evaluate more than physical safety. The also consider job and self-protection. For example, an employee may wonder, “Is it safe for me to speak up or share new ideas?” 3. How available am I to get involved? Employees’ current physical, mental, and emotional states also impact their ability to engage. Being overworked, stressed, or tired can all impact their availability to get involved. Employees may ask, “Can I get my full self involved in this task?” Measuring Engagement If engagement is a primarily unconscious process, how can you improve it? Before we consider improving engagement, we have to understand how it can be measured. The truth is, engagement itself is nearly impossible to directly measure in an accurate and cost-effective manner. One study that came close to measuring engagement directly used beepers to page employees and ask what they were working on and how engaged they were; others have utilized lengthy interviews where the respondent recollects particular task moments and those are explored (Kahn 1990; Kahn 1992). Studies like this would be cost-prohibitive and counterproductive in the health care setting. And if you did know what someone’s level of engagement was, what could you do about it? 22 HR Pulse Fall 2007

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of HR Pulse - Fall 2007

Contents Executive Director’s Letter President’s Message HR Leader Profile: Lisa McDaniel Spotlight on Community Citizenship Culture of Engagement How Transparent Should Healthcare Compensation Be? The Value of Assessment Testing in the Recruitment Process Technology Dramatically Changes FMLA Compliance Creating a Magnetic Culture™ Taking It to the Hill: An Advocacy Update 401(k) / 403(b) Fee Lawsuits – Are You the Next Target? Compensation Offers – A Better Process Find It Again Pulse Points Who, Why and Where Conference Highlights Schedule at a Glance Keynote Speakers Social Events Conference Sponsors Exhibitors Index to Advertisers

HR Pulse - Fall 2007

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