Why Workplace Engagement?
What is workplace engagement?
Workplace engagement has been defined by many, in many different ways. For instance, Beatty and Griffin (2014, Australia) look at engagement from a psychology perspective, and define it as ‘a positive, fulfilling work-related state of mind’. Business magazine Forbes describes it as ‘the emotional commitment the employee has to the organisation and its goals’. It goes on to say that this emotional commitment means engaged employees actually care about their work and their company.
How does it help your business?
An engaged workforce has been shown to:
- produce higher quality of work;
- have lower absenteeism and turnover;
- have fewer safety incidents;
- build a workplace culture where people work hard…
…because they want to!
Engaged employees lead to better business outcomes. In fact, according to research by Towers Perrin, companies with engaged workers have 6% higher net profit margins.
The TWEC way
At TWEC, we achieve employee engagement by coaching individuals using a strengths-based approach. We discover what teams, and the individuals within those teams, are already really good at without too much effort, and then look at how these ‘superpowers’ are tied in with your organisation’s purpose. We make sure that each person completely understands how what he or she does, makes a difference to your organisation. By providing meaning to what people do, we build even stronger relationships between the people and the organisation.
Positive psychology
All our work is founded on principles of positive psychology (not to be confused with positive thinking). Positive Psychology is a branch of psychology that studies the strengths and virtues that enable individuals, communities and organisations to thrive. Positive Psychology is grounded in the belief that people want to lead meaningful and fulfilling lives, to cultivate what is best within them, and to enhance their experiences of love, work, and play (Positive Psychology Center, 2016).
A foundation of positive psychology is the PERMA model. It has been found that positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning and accomplishments/achievements enhance perceived quality of life and happiness. Each of these principles comes with a set of tools, and at TWEC we incorporate each of these tools in our coaching and workshops.
If you are interested in some of the science of and research into positive psychology and workplace coaching, we recommend the following websites:
Project Happiness www.projecthappiness.com
Positive Psychology Center http://ppc.sas.upenn.edu/