Leadership Development vs. BY FRASER MARLOW Employee Engagement HOW BEST TO ALLOCATE LIMITED TRAINING RESOURCES These days, organizational development budgets are limited. Companies are running lean on all fronts and training resources are as pared back as they have ever been. So, it's important to make every initiative count. To that end, training leaders who are trying to do more with less often wonder which approach will produce the best results: Training the more senior ranks in the organization to become better leaders or focusing on the engagement of the broader employee base? Certainly employee engagement has been a growing area of focus for most organizations as leadership teams and organizational development professionals become increasingly aware of the great contribution of engaged employees and the negative impact of low engagement. Why the rise of interest in employee engagement? Consider these contributing factors: 30 * Engagement is more visible and familiar. There is a keener understanding of the impact of employee engagement on business results. Two decades of academic research and pioneering work by some influential leaders has put the topic top-of-mind for many executive teams. * The leverage of engagement is greater. The connection between individual engagement and organizational achievement has always existed. But