Four year ago David Macleod and Nita Clarke published their ground-breaking study into employee engagement. The report, called Engaging for Success, commissioned by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, shared real-life case studies from companies large and small from all over the UK. It talked about work, and how we could make organisations a much better place for people and deliver greater results. It included thinking from some of the leading proponents of SHRM, including some of my personal heroes Professor John Storey and David Zinger.
The success of the report led to the creation of the Employee Engagement Task Force, a Group led by David and Nita that was officially launched in March 2011 by the Prime Minister.
Since then, the Task Force has blossomed and grown to become a movement for change. Over 1000 people, from all over the UK - and the world - in every discipline you can imagine, have given their time, experience and knowledge for free to support the development of the movement.
I'm one of those people, who was asked to get involved early on, who has watched the movement grow from a collection of thoughts and ideas. It began with a handful of people committed to the idea that work can be better for everyone and deliver greater organisational performance. It's now a thriving community of likeminded people dedicated to making a difference.
Some of the success of the movement have been simply around raising awareness of employee engagement in UK industry: the Taskforce has a pretty impressive list of CEO's, consultants and in-house practitioners who have donated time and resources to the cause.
Perhaps the greater success is how it has brought people together, from all industries and at all levels, to talk - and often debate - about the nature of work and how we can create an environment where people can thrive.
It's an honour for me to be involved in the movement, and I'm incredibly grateful to David, Nita, Cathy and Ali for the opportunity to contribute my ideas.
Next week, on the 12 November, the new www.engageforsuccess.org website launches, created for free by Thomson Reuters, that will be the new home of the movement. It wil include resources for anyone with an interest who wants to learn more about employee engagement. It will provide free tips, advice and practical guidance on how to create the environment to engage people, and connect you with people who are experts in their area.
Work needn't be drudgery.
We just need to think about it a bit differently, and put people, not profits first.
Because if we do, they'll come later.