The sad truth is that the word “engagement” is not very engaging. It’s one of those fluffy, ambiguous terms that have become all too familiar around the business world, like “empowerment” and “respect.” What does engagement really mean, and how do you, as a leader, engage your workforce? The concept of engagement seems so simple when you hear it, but why is it so hard to achieve?

Engagement, like other buzzwords, is a matter of human interaction. Human interaction is complicated, so people often inadvertently make anything related to it complicated. People make engagement complicated by turning it into surveys and pointless performance reviews, but surveys are the opposite of engagement. They force people into a predetermined frame of thought. Surveys don’t listen or inspire action. Engagement doesn’t have to be complicated if we don’t make it complicated. The following is how I have come to define engagement, based on my coaching experience and exploration of the scientific process behind it.

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