Engaging employees: a smattering of ‘pixie dust’ or good management practice?

According to Truss et al (2012, 219) “Employee engagement has become something of an international phenomenon over the past few years.” Whilst this has partly been driven by an increased interest amongst academics in positive psychology, organizations and Human Resource practitioners in particular have seized upon engagement as a ‘magic formula’ for harnessing employee motivation towards higher levels of performance for the benefit of the organization. Linked to this is a growing body of research suggesting that if organizations could positively engage their employees then change management initiatives would be more successful. This paper explores the growing interest in the concept of employee engagement considering the nature of the concept, the links between employee engagement and organizational performance and considers how managers can engage their employees during times of change. The implications for managers and HR professionals are discussed.