Do you spend Sundays ruminating about how you’d like to avoid Mondays? According to Gallup, that transition won’t be nearly as traumatic if you report feeling engaged with your work. We are all recognizing the power of employee engagement in organizations today – and it seems this construct is likely related to a host of other relevant variables, including your mood.
Gallup measured the progression of specific emotions during the course of our work week – with survey participants reporting their attitudes on a variety of topics including feelings of happiness, anger and stress. Not surprisingly, those who identified as “not engaged” or “actively disengaged” reported more negative responses, which subtly evolved during the course of a work week. The data held some fascinating findings.
Some examples:
- Happiness. There is an obvious difference in experiences of reported “happiness” – where those with lower levels of engagement, were less likely to report it. (For some reason this discrepancy peaked on Tuesdays for those identified as “actively disengaged”.)
- Smiling and laughing. You guessed it! Those that reported feeling engaged at work, also reported smiling and laughing more. Just over 65% of “actively disengaged” respondents reported smiling and laughing “a lot” (on Tuesday), as compared to 90.7% of those reporting themselves as “engaged”.
- Stress. Although all respondents were more likely to report higher levels of stress on Monday, as compared to Sunday, those reporting lower levels of engagement seem to be more susceptible. (Reported stress dipped a bit on Fridays, for all respondents.)
- Anger. Those who reported feeling disengaged, were more likely to report feelings of anger. On Tuesdays, for example, more than one-quarter of those defined as “actively disengaged” reported experiences of anger the previous day, in comparison to 9.2% of those identified as “engaged”.
Engagement is continuing to emerge as a key workplace challenge in the evolution of work – and more focus on this area will certainly follow. What helps you feel engaged at work? Tell us your story.
Dr. Marla Gottschalk is a Workplace Psychologist and coach. Connect with her and continue the conversation on Twitter and Linkedin.
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Marla Gottschalk 
Very interesting question. There appears to be some sort of relationship, judging by the data (tabs) – however causation isn’t proven – and I’m sure there is the possibility of moderating variables. I would consult the study for more information.
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Good article. However, I was wondering about the ‘anger’ topic. As it is put here, disengagement has a positive relation with feelings of anger. My point is that when someone is angry about something, it is usually because they care (of course, this is only an assumption I am making). What I am wondering is how are these related? How does being angry lead to disengagement (or vice versa)? What is the explaining mechanism behind this rekationship?
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Interesting findings in a long line of studies showing active engagement by employees is down. My question would be whether the C-suite really cares? Not to sound Draconian but this is kind of common sense and still many employers don’t seem to be taking action to build on this foundation of knowledge. Is it because its really a long term investment or is it that the ROI hasn’t been significantly attributed to real success of an organization?
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If you’re interested in this topic, Marla, you should check out with Cali Ressler and the super smart ladies at ROWE are doing. Their answer to employee engagement is autonomy and I could not agree more! http://getworksimple.tumblr.com/post/33296654732/its-time-for-organizations-to-focus-on-the-what
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It’s great that employee engagement at work is getting so much attention! Love the Gallup report info – thanks!
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