Episode 49 – Engagement: how it started, how it's going

In this first episode of season 6 of The Internal Comms Podcast, host Katie Macaulay talks to the father of employee engagement, organisational psychologist Professor William Kahn. With the publication of his paper ‘Psychological conditions of personal engagement and disengagement at work’ in 1990, the concept of engagement at work was born. Now a professor of management and organisations at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business, his vast array of academic research explores the relationship between individuals and organisations. In this fascinating conversation, William explains the conditions needed to drive meaningful engagement, and unpacks the differences between ‘personal’ and ‘employee’ engagement. He also dives into what organisations truly want when they talk about engagement and speaks about the danger of not allowing people the space to have chaotic conversations. True engagement – he says – is messy, and without an emphasis on workplace relationships, communications professionals are missing the point.