Let's Get Engaged - by Paul Gratton

By Paul Gratton, Chief Research Engineer at RentalMetrics

Red eyes. Vapid stare. Listless gait.  Moaning yawn.

No, I'm not describing a scene from my favorite zombie movie; this ghoulish scene occurred in my mirror almost every morning in late 2004 as I tried to convince myself to go to work.

This image is burned into my memory - I'm sitting in beige, shoulder-high cubical, my forehead is resting on the computer keyboard. The Muzak speaker is softly playing a MIDI rendition of "Yesterday" by the Beatles. My life slipping away; I can see the sand in the hourglass. I lean up on my elbows and decide recalculate how long it will be before I can retire with a pension. I pull out my calculator and run the numbers...again.

49,674 hours. That's about 22 years. "Thump." My head hit the keyboard again.

For years the Gallup organization has been using the Q12, twelve questions which help assess worker engagement. Gallup's research has found that organizations with motivated, engaged employees consistently outperform those who with employees which resemble disenfranchised zombies. What a surprise!

One company that's taken this philosophy to heart has been the electronics retailer, Best Buy. A few years ago Best Buy realized that the strength of their company lies in the quality of their store employees. They employed Gallup's Q12 at their local stores and saw real, bottom line results.

Are your employees encouraged and energized by their work, or do they resemble zombies?
Check out the Gallup Q12 to learn more about the elements of great managing...and prosper!