--- title: "Friday Buzz: Harness the Power of Employee Engagement" id: "30989" type: "post" slug: "friday-buzz-harness-the-power-of-employee-engagement" published_at: "2015-11-13T21:29:49+00:00" modified_at: "2026-11-09T17:50:32+00:00" url: "https://associationsnow.com/2015/11/13/friday-buzz-harness-the-power-of-employee-engagement/" markdown_url: "https://associationsnow.com/2015/11/13/friday-buzz-harness-the-power-of-employee-engagement.md" excerpt: "See how a change in management style can turn work into more than a job for your employees and improve employee engagement." taxonomy_category: - "Career Development" taxonomy_post_tag: - "AssociationsNow" - "employee engagement" - "Leadership" - "Motivation" - "Workplace" taxonomy_content_format: - "Article" taxonomy_persona: - "Association Professionals" --- [Home](https://associationsnow.com/) » [Articles](https://associationsnow.com/format/article/) » Friday Buzz: Harness the Power of Employee Engagement Spurring motivation can be a tricky endeavor, especially in the workplace. While paying someone is usually reason enough to get the results you ask for, incentivizing work by other means can be difficult. When it comes to nonfinancial motivation, everyone has their own style. Some take a relaxed, hands-off approach, while others [use competition to incentivize workers](http://associationsnow.com/2015/08/what-amazons-culture-says-about-managing-employees/) . While a “carrot and/or stick” approach may work fine, [Thomas Buus Madsen, COO and founder of bookboon.com, says in a Huffington Post contribution (opens in a new tab)](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/thomas-buus-madsen/employee-engagement-the-n_b_8523334.html) that the best way to get employees to go above and beyond is to make them feel like they truly have a personal stake in the organization. There can be a number of factors that can cause employee engagement to suffer, and some of them are outside of the control of your group. “This [low engagement] may be due to a number of factors: increased pace and nature of change, critical and a cynical view of management, lack of trust in senior management in particular, as well as a lack of belief in organizational communication,” according to Madsen. “Restoring this imbalance in organizational and work engagement, requires a focus on employee wellbeing.” And Madsen adds that the solution to improving employee well-being should not be misconstrued as simply injecting “fun” into an office. “Although ‘fun activities’ may provide a break from monotonous work routines, they do not necessarily contribute to individuals overall sense of happiness,” he explains. Instead, Madsen suggests embarking on “job sculpting” by molding employees’ work to align with their talents and skills, which will make them more excited about a task and offer more satisfaction for a job well done. ## Debut of the Day: Apple’s newest addition to the iPad family, the iPad Pro, has been released in stores, and the reviews have been mixed. While [The Verge‘s Walt Mossberg (opens in a new tab)](http://www.theverge.com/2015/11/11/9707864/walt-mossberg-ipad-pro-laptop-replacement) is skeptical, [John Gruber, via Daring Fireball, believes (opens in a new tab)](https://daringfireball.net/2015/11/the_ipad_pro) this could be the tablet to help bring down the house on traditional laptops. ### Other Good Reads: **The dangers of embracing new media forums were on full display this week,** as REI CEO Jerry Stritzke learned after embarking on an “Ask Me Anything” Q&A on Reddit. *Quartz* reporter Adam Epstein [has all the details here (opens in a new tab)](http://qz.com/547572/the-ceo-of-rei-went-on-reddit-and-said-to-ask-him-anything-hundreds-of-disgruntled-employees-obliged/) . **Worried about who may be reading your emails?** Google’s looking into it. [Over at TechCrunch, Frederic Lardinois explains a planned update to Gmail (opens in a new tab)](http://techcrunch.com/2015/11/12/gmail-will-soon-warn-users-when-emails-arrive-over-unencrypted-connections/) will soon let users know when they receive an email from an unencrypted server. **This millennial started her own nonprofit when she was in her 20s,** and she has a lot to share about the experience. *Chronicle of Philanthropy* reporter [Drew Lindsay explores Jena Lee Nardella’s journey (opens in a new tab)](https://philanthropy.com/article/A-Standout-Millennial/234141) and what she learned along the way. (Startup Stock Photos/Stocksnap) [Eli Zimmerman](https://associationsnow.com/author/eli-zimmerman/) Eli is studying Journalism at the University of Maryland. When not studying, he likes to relax with a nice book or a couple rounds at the local boxing gym. [More articles by this author](https://associationsnow.com/author/eli-zimmerman/) Tags: [#employee engagement](https://associationsnow.com/tag/employee-engagement/) [#Leadership](https://associationsnow.com/tag/leadership/) [#Motivation](https://associationsnow.com/tag/motivation/) [#Workplace](https://associationsnow.com/tag/workplace/) **Stay Informed** [Subscribe to our free newsletter](https://associationsnow.com/newsletter/) , *Associations Now Daily News*, to find out what’s happening in the association world every business day. ## You Might Like - [VideoMagic Johnson: 2025 ASAE Annual Meeting Opening KeynoteJune 18, 2025](https://associationsnow.com/2025/06/18/magic-johnson-2025-asae-annual-meeting-opening-keynote/) - [VideoInvesting in Well-being: The Strategic Advantage of Mental Health Support in the WorkplaceJune 23, 2025](https://associationsnow.com/2025/06/23/investing-in-well-being-the-strategic-advantage-of-mental-health-support-in-the-workplace/) - [ArticleReports: Workers Concerned about Tech, Workplace ChangesMarch 11, 2025](https://associationsnow.com/2025/03/11/reports-workers-concerned-about-tech-workplace-changes/) - [Video🚀 The Agile Association Professional: How to Pivot Your Career Path When the Strategic Plan ShiftsJuly 28, 2026](https://associationsnow.com/2026/07/28/the-agile-association-professional-how-to-pivot-your-career-path-when-the-strategic-plan-shifts/) ## Comments **Comments are for ASAE members.** [Learn more about comments on this site.](https://associationsnow.com/comments/) [Log in](https://associationsnow.com/login?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fassociationsnow.com%2F2015%2F11%2F13%2Ffriday-buzz-harness-the-power-of-employee-engagement%2F%23comments) to your member account or [join ASAE](https://my.asaecenter.org/select-a-membership-type/) !