Employee Engagement is a Three-Legged Stool

(CC) Haldane Martin/Flickr

Leigh Steere recently reviewed “Everything’s a Project” by Ben Snyder and introduced one of the book’s core concepts: Employee engagement is a three-legged stool. I’ve written plenty about employee engagement — especially as it pertains to efficiency and productivity — and like Steere, I’d previously focused mostly on management and company culture as determinants of a worker’s motivation.

Snyder’s book discusses the third leg of employee engagement: product environment, or the tools or processes in place within an organization to facilitate projects and everyday work. Think meetings, dashboards, technology, workspaces and regularly scheduled feedback sessions.

All three legs must be in sync and optimized for a fully productive workplace; attention to just one or two aspects won’t work. To continue the stool metaphor, a three-legged stool with a broken leg won’t balance properly.

Steere’s review of “Everything’s a Project” has inspired me to buy a copy for my iPad. I’ll follow up once I’ve finished the book.