Attentive, Vigorous and Absorbed are words used by the academics of our time to describe employee engagement. Exhaustion, Cynicism and Inefficacy are words used to describe those that are burned out. I want to address the employee and the leader in all of this.
The most attentive, vigorous and absorbed I have ever been at work is when I had the following conditions. The first was freedom. The freedom to create, develop, dream and execute a vision. The most burned out I felt was in times where I did not have choice, felt trapped, and felt smothered by those above me.
The second most attentive, vigorous and absorbed I have ever been was when I followed the interests of my heart and moved forward with conviction. This was actually during a time when I felt most burned out at work, when the only driver or push to perform was about buildng more revenue into the organization.
I found engagement outside of my work through a volunteer project. An interesting discovery for someone who would not necessarily go looking for more to do. The reality is that I needed to have that sense of accomplishment about my work. Just yesterday, I met an employee who is actually engaging in projects outside his job scope because he is bored out of his mind. The organization values these projects and has empowered him to do so. He is feeling attentive, vigorous and absorbed because he has responsibility and passion.
The organization is responsible for engagement and the employee has their part as well. The organization needs to give you purpose, support, relationship and value. I call this responsibility with feedback.
You then take that responsibility and engage attentively, vigorously and be absorbed in giving your heart and soul to the organization. The result is results. The individual contribution of all this cannot be overlooked. Consider engagement a joint partnership with the organization and the employee locked in arms moving toward mutual gain.
If you are bored, not board like the picture then “Houston, we have a problem.”