Sessions

In 1990, an organizational psychologist by the name of William Kahn became the first to formally define theories around employee engagement and the conditions that enable it to happen. He was particularly interested in "the moments in which people bring themselves into, or remove themselves from, particular task behaviors". Through his research and time spent in various organizations he ultimately defined engagement as "an employee's ability to harness their full self at work" and pointed to three specific psychological conditions that enable it:

• Meaningfulness: Does an employee find their work meaningful enough (to the organization and to society) to justify them engaging their full self?
• Safety: Does the employee feel safe bringing their full self to work without fear of negative consequences?
• Availability: Does the employee feel mentally and physically capable of harnessing their full self at this particular moment?

Thirty-one years, several economic downturns and upturns, one pandemic and one present-day civil rights movement later, employers are challenged more than ever with how to curate a workforce and cultivate a workplace that promotes the harnessing of one's full self and speaks to the psychological conditions necessary for multiple dimensions of identity in the workplace to thrive. And although our world has changed, the psychological conditions that Kahn identified in the 90's have not. As a matter of fact, they are more relevant than ever. So why can't leaders demystify the art and science of employee engagement?

In this session, industry expert and equity strategist Kristen Magni, Managing Partner of Advisory Services at hyrUP and organizational climate researcher and PhD Candidate Marcus White will discuss the evolution of employee engagement theory and provide forward-thinking and actionable strategies for inspiring the next generation of contributors in our workplaces to commit versus quit. Attendees will learn about the concepts of placemaking as a fundamental pillar of workplace culture, the realities of staying competitive in a service economy, and the mindsets and leadership practices critical to promoting psychological attachments in a post-Covid workplace.

Learning Objectives:

• The evolution of research in the employee engagement space.
• Designing an equitable and inclusive workplace culture.
• The realities of staying competitive in a service economy, and the mindsets and leadership practices critical to promoting psychological attachments in a post-Covid workplace.