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Government employees face enormous challenges today, including being stigmatized as underworked and overpaid. At the same time, they're being asked to solve some of our toughest issues: unemployment, security, poverty, and education. In
Engaging Government Employees, Robert J. Lavigna gives managers the tools they need to leverage the talents of government's most important resource: its people. He shows them how to measure, nurture, and sustain the kind of authentic employee engagement that drives results. With over three decades of experience in public sector HR, he knows how to get team members passionate about the agency's mission, and committed to its success. Readers will learn: . Why a highly engaged staff is 20 percent more productive . How to get employees to deliver "discretionary effort" . How to assess the level of engagement . Why free pizza and Coke every Friday is not a viable strategy . And more Drawing on a wealth of empirical evidence,
Engaging Government Employees rejects the typical, one-size-fits-all approach to motivation and shows how America's largest employer can apply the science of engagement to dramatically improve performance.
List of contents
Contents
1 The Power of Employee Engagement and What This Book Is About
2 So What Is Employee Engagement, Exactly?
3 Why Engagement Matters: The Business Case for Improving Engagement
4 The Special Case of Public Service and How This Affects Engagement and Efforts to Improve It
5 How Managers Can Respond to the Differences Between the Public and Private Sectors and Improve Engagement
6 Measuring Employee Engagement
7 A Process Model for Measuring and Improving Employee Engagement
8 Steps 1 and 2: Planning and Conducting the Employee-Engagement Survey
9 Step 3: Reporting and Analyzing Survey Results: So What Do All These Numbers Mean?
10 Step 4: Taking Action to Improve Employee Engagement
11 Step 5: Sustaining Higher Levels of Engagement
12 What Public-Sector Organizations Have Actually Done to Improve Engagement
13 The Role of Human Resources
14 Getting Started on the Journey to Improved Employee Engagement
Appendix 1: Action Plan Evaluation Worksheet
Appendix 2: Sample Communication Plan
Notes
Index
About the author
ROBERT J. LAVIGNA has more than 30 years of experience leading public sector human capital management organizations, including positions with the state of Wisconsin, Partnership for Public Service, the U.S. Government Accountability Office, and the University of Wisconsin.
Summary
You know firsthand that your government workers are not underworked, overpaid, or mindless clones just carrying out the morally compromised work that politicians forced through the pipeline. You are quite aware that these and other common stereotypes of public sector employees don’t apply to your team . . . but are they?Besides having to daily overcome the persona of being a government employee, your hard-working employees face enormous pressures and challenges every day and are asked to solve some of our country’s toughest problems, including unemployment, security, poverty, and education. To be able to return to their desks each and every day with the passion and commitment required to accomplish these overwhelming duties will require a manager who knows how to leverage talent, improve performance, and inspire passion within these true servants.In Engaging Government Employees, Bob Lavigna--with over three decades of experience in public sector HR-- gives managers the tools they need to leverage the talents of government's most important resource: its people. Readers will learn:• Why a highly engaged staff is 20 percent more productive • How to get employees to deliver “discretionary effort” • How to assess the level of engagement • Why free pizza and Coke every Friday is not a viable strategy • And moreEngaging Government Employees rejects the typical one-size-fits-all approach to motivation. Drawing on a wealth of empirical evidence, this indispensable resource shows how America’s largest employer can apply the science of engagement to get team members passionate about the agency’s mission and committed to its success.
