By Jason McRobbie

What if the enemy of engagement lies within the structure of the workplace itself?

Engaged teams and innovative potentials are elegant byproducts of functioning systems and shared principles in purpose and practice. They are also absolutely essential to buoying the bottom line in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

In this light, engagement is optimal people potential – an intrinsically motivated work force aligned and enabled by inspired leadership and the aforementioned functioning systems. It is the latter that is most often founding lacking.

In The Enemy of Engagement, Hay Group management consultants Mark Royal and Tom Agnew take aim at the flip side of the familiar ‘how to get more out of your people’ refrain. Much goodwill hunting on the topic of engagement has already uncovered the merits of such non-shockers as authenticity, vision, trust, non-hierarchical communications and community.

“Engagement is not enough to sustain maximum levels of team and organizational effectiveness. Frustration is overlooked. Frustration is an everyday occurrence, but it is different in the workplace,” says Agnew. “How we match people to roles is just the start.  How do we give people the chance to do what they do best?  How do we create a supportive work environment that makes optimum use of team, tools and time?  These are good questions, but the most important one is one we as leaders can address right away; how do we stop hindering motivated employees from getting things down?”

The Enemy of Engagement offers a look through the other end of the microscope. What they uncover in their research, and share anecdotally in alternating chapters, is common ground for those in HR: frustrated people and non-functioning systems.

“Frustration is a common response in people to the inability to achieve a common objective or goal. In the workplace, it is something that trips up a lot of engaged people,” says Royal. “Ultimately, engagement walks through the door and trips over enablement. Motivation can only carry an organization in the short-term. Without being supported by enabling processes, that flash of motivation burns out or becomes frustration.”

In the workplace, frustration can be systemic, stemming from micro management, policy restrictions and antiquated information systems. Enabling processes and removing impediments is the key to more than engagement alone; it is essential for any organization seeking to stem attrition and tap the full potential of high-potential employees.

“What we find is that in many organizations, more than 20 per cent of the work force is frustrated – meaning they want to contribute, they are motivated to help the organization succeed, but they are being held back,” explains Agnew. “That state of frustration, is very unstable. People either withdraw their motivation or they end up leaving the organization. Not only are organizations leaving performance on the table by not enabling their engaged employees, but they also have great risk of losing the very people they care most about keeping.”

The new data collected by the Hay Group suggests that many high-potential employees are also frustrated employees. In an 80:20 world, these high-potential individuals account for the top functioning 20 per cent. Their impact upon the bottom line is notable, and even more so when they leave.

“Your best people always have options and frustration hits them hardest.  Fortunately, just by management starting the conversation, a flip begins that brings the frustrated, engaged employees into the solution making process,” says Royal.

(PeopleTalk Winter 2011)