Two approaches to organization development (OD) link the social health of organizations to the economic performance of organizations. Employee engagement research shows a correlation between the level of engagement among employees in organizations and the employee turnover, the organization’s ability to grow and bottom line results. Meanwhile, the Socio-Economic Approach to Management (SEAM) links organizational dysfunction to hidden costs and the ability of the organization to develop human potential.

1. SEAM and Employee
Engagement
SEAM Conference
May 18th and 19th, 2017
College of St. Scholastica

2. What Is Employee Engagement?
A way to assess how committed employees are to their employer and their job.
How Engagement Is Assessed
• Cognitive: employee’s belief about
organization, leadership and culture
• Emotional: employee’s feeling about
organization, leadership and
colleagues
• Behavioral: discretionary effort
employees put in to their jobs
Lockwood, N.R. (2007). Leveraging employee engagement for
competitive advantage: HR’s strategic role. SHRM Research.
How Engagement Is Categorized
• Fully engaged / committed: employees
fully committed to their jobs and/or the
organization.
• Not engaged: employees are compliant
and do the minimum required.
• Actively disengaged / non-compliant:
employees actively work against the
organization.
Gallup. (2013). State of the global workplace. Published report.

3. So How AreWe DoingWhen It Comes to
Engaging Employees?
Fully Engaged Not Engaged Actively Disengaged
Worldwide 13% 63% 24%
United States 30% 52% 18%
Western Europe 14% 66% 20%
Middle East 10% 55% 35%
S.E. Asia 12% 73% 14%
Latin America 21% 60% 19%
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olSIMc4j5Sg
Source: Gallup, 2013

4. Why Is Employee Engagement
Getting So Much Attention?
• 100 best places to work
outperformed S&P500 four
fold 1990-2009.
• Shareholder return at
companies with highly
engaged workforces are 54%
higher than average.
• Fully engaged employees
perform 20% better and are
87% less likely to leave than
their peers.
11.2%
9.0%
0% 3% 6% 9% 12%
Good Company Index
S&P 500
AnnualizedTotal Return
(1/1/03 to 3/31/17)
• Compiled by McBassi & Company
• “Good Company Index” includes organizations with high employee,
customer and community engagement rankings

5. How Does SEAM Help Improve
Employee Engagement?
Randall, R., (2017). Presenter’s review of current research.
Drivers of Engagement SEAM
Regular, two-way communication with management Mirror Effect, Communication Systems
Relationship with supervisor Coaching, PNAC, Competency Grid
Recognition of one’s contributions PNAC, Coaching
Performance management system PNAC, Competency Grid
Development opportunities PNAC, Competency Grid
Culture of transparency, collaboration and empowerment Mirror Effect, Baskets, PNAC, PAP
Meaningful work design PNAC, Competency Grid, PAP
Organization’s focus on employee well-being Work Structures
Organization’s brand and reputation
Confidence in leadership and organization’s strategy Strategic implementation
Savall, H., & Zardet, V. (2008). Mastering hiddent costs and socio-economic
performance. Information Age Publishing Inc.: Charlotte, NC.
Conbere, J., & Heorhiadi, A. (2011). Socio-economic approach to
management: a successful systemic approach to organizational change.
OD Practitioner 43(1).

6. Why Link Employee Engagement to SEAM?
• Nearly 80% of business leaders say employee engagement is an urgent or important need,
yet organizations continue to struggle with improving engagement. Since there are no
established tools for improving engagement, SEAM can fill the void for organizations that are
struggling with engagement. (Deloitte. (2016).The Deloitte Millennial survey 2016. )
• SEAM can accelerate its awareness and adoption if it links to employee engagement. An ISO
standard is being established for employee engagement and the field is evolving and
expanding rapidly.