OPM has issued a white paper that among other things defines what it means by employee engagement, saying that the lack of a commonly accepted definition in the federal workplace “has made it difficult to identify the unique impact of employee engagement on key organizational drivers and outcomes.”
Employee engagement has been a priority of OPM for years, including through a statistical measure based on responses to certain questions in the annual Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey. Engagement is also the “E” portion of the “REDI” initiative announced earlier this year (the others are recruitment, diversity and inclusion).
However, the white paper said that “without a shared definition of employee engagement, and ultimately a common model or framework explaining its relationship to other organizational variables, it will be difficult for the federal community to systematically address specific areas of concern surrounding engagement or institute practices and interventions that foster engagement.”
A working group reviewed practices and academic research in the area and found no common definition exists among them. However, it said there are commonly accepted elements, such as a heightened connection between employees and their work and organization, passion for the job and sense of purpose.
The definition OPM settled on was this: “The employee’s sense of purpose that is evident in their display of dedication, persistence, and effort in their work or overall attachment to their organization and its mission.”