Government Employee Engagement

I’ve been hesitant to write specifically about Government employee engagement and not just because it’s an obvious joke that the phrase itself is an oxymoron. (My favourite oxymoron is when a certain New Zealand political party included a drug policy in its manifesto  labelled ‘Marijuana Initiative.’) But once I found this article with the photo above, I just had to post about it, if only for the combination of the photo and the headline. I haven’t even read the article yet!

The surveys do declare that on average Government employees are significantly less engaged than non-Government employees.  The article does make a great list of reasons why. It doesn’t tackle at all how to address it. I’d give it some thought myself but I’m pretty sure Government departments would be slammed by the media and general public if they spent any time or money addressing it, so they’re unlikely to reimburse me for my time and efforts. It’s not a catch 22 but it is a something – damned if they do, damned if they don’t. I’m now on the look-out for info on that public authority somewhere on earth that has a highly engaged workforce and shatters all the stereotypes. It’ll probably be in Iceland or Finland. I hate those happy, successful, innovative places so much. No wait, not hate, respect, curiousity. I always get those mixed up.

What I don’t get from the photo above though – who is the Government employee, the sheepdog or the sheep? Because if it’s the sheepdog, who are the sheep? (Clue – it’s us.)

And why do I keep spelling Government with a capital G?