Employee Engagement Killer

Have you ever found yourself in one of these situations?

• Without warning, your position is eliminated due to restructuring
• Your job security is at the mercy of company or government politics
• Your job responsibility is minimized as a result of a management change or merger
• Your competence and performance – reflected in stellar job evaluations – is questioned by a new boss.

Few people I know have been untouched by these situations. Their experience (and mine) leads me to describe the killer of employee engagement as “extraction” –  i.e., “Let’s wring as much as possible out of employees until we no longer need them.”

“Don’t take it personally”

Company decision-makers and/or those delivering the bad news try to rationalize “It’s just business” so employees don’t take their dismissal to heart. But how can people feel otherwise with the pain of losing one’s job, credibility, or work identity? Those left behind wondering “who’s next?” can’t help but feel at risk.

Several people close to me have experienced this pain. Here’s what they – and anyone who is feeling undervalued in the course of “it’s-just-business” – need to keep in mind:

“Your inherent value stands regardless of others’ decisions. You are not a victim of your circumstances.”