Editor's Note

Although we have an action packed issue that covers everything from the pain points of Oracle's acquisition of PeopleSoft to recognition strategies for your entire workforce, I want to focus on the findings from Performance Assessment Network's employee engagement survey, which is the subject of our employee assessment article. The survey found that less than half of employees are "fully engaged" in their work. In a nutshell, being fully engaged means that an employee makes decisions based on a desire to do their job well, rather than on a carrot-and-stick system or fear of losing their job. This statistic is startling. That means that more than half of the individuals in the places we work, are not in it for the self-satisfaction of a job well done, but because they have no other choice than to be in that position and would rather be somewhere else.

Granted, we all dream of "getting away" when the pressure is on, but when an individual develops and builds on a daily disdain for the job, customers and co-workers, a business is in trouble. Even the most task-oriented jobs require that decisions on quality, productivity, safety, and co-worker and customer relationships constantly be made.

In some cases, management can impose more rules and regulations to try to control the situation. Although this may be helpful in specific situations, a variety of opportunities to make important decisions come up regularly on the job, and, in most cases, the circumstances vary, so rules don't always cover every scenario.

Other choices include employee assessment prior to hiring, to ensure that an employee has the potential to be engaged, and then follow up training and education to give the worker enough knowledge and awareness to make the right decisions.

There may not be a right answer for every organization, but the lack of engaged employees could be considered a crisis, and it warrants our immediate attention.

Betty Hintch, Editor