Human Resource Executive magazine in their September 16 issue reported the results of the 2013 “What’s Keeping You Up at Night” survey. As in past years 35% of the respondents replied that getting employees engaged within the organization. The ongoing solution was employee engagement surveys every 12-16months. While surveys are fine, they tend not to explain some of the reasons for the non-engagement

Without exception every organization is seeking to find and retain engaged employees to make their operations run smoother, but there is a constant disconnect between what the employee needs or wants and what most organizations are willing to provide.

• · We tell our human capital assets that we want them to be engaged but we submit them to rigorous command and control tactics on the part of management. The message is not become engaged, become this robot that does as they are commanded to do and do not stray from the message. We tell our employees that we want engagement but than do not recognize their value in the workplace.

• · We tell our human capital assets that we want engagement, but even though the organization is not on its final legs financially,we hire and then fire on a regular basis. We send the message that our employees are of value only during good times.

When we look for engagement we are seeking an environment where the employment basis is aligned with the organization in its initiatives and is customers. Kevin Duggan defines operational excellence as the acquisition and integration of passionate and culturally aligned employees who are engaged and aligned with the organization’s goals and in which the employee is empowered to make changes to the corporate processes which are slowing down the productivity with or without approval from management. Engaged employees respond best when they feel and are confident that management is relying on the true experts within the organization on what is working and what is not.

So what is missing out there? What is missing is the majority of organizations who utilize employee engagement survey only to learn that 70% of their knowledge base is considering jumping ship because the organization is not working for them. What is missing is the majority of organizations who seek engagement but still consider their human capital assets as just numbers on an expense sheet. What is missing is the majority of organizations that do not fully understand that their employees in today’s workplace are seeking a workplace environment which brings value to their lives. Failure to do so means they jump ship in search of an organization that will meet those needs. I have in my work career had those micromanagers that in the course of their dealings with the human capital assets of the organization kill the engagement piece due to the feeling that everything they do does not meet the demands of the manager. The manager fails to appreciate that those assets today are non-owned leased assets and they can move as quickly as tomorrow.

So realistically how engaged are your human capital assets? Is your response based on the results of employee engagement surveys or does management truly rely on the feelings of the front line worker as to how the organization is functioning? It is not too late for you as a strategic, innovative and aligned organization to change the direction you are currently headed to focus on the employees and the voice of the customer.