Engagement is More than Participation

engagement-is-moreAlthough the above advice focuses mainly on program participation, true engagement involves much more. You can think of engagement as a two-step process: first, getting your employees to participate, and then getting employees engaged on a deeper, more personally meaningful level. This can be accomplished by aligning your program with workers’ individual sense of purpose and life mission. Connecting your health promotion program’s goals with your employees’ purpose, beliefs and values will help maximize both program impact and personal engagement.17 The importance of finding and pursuing a personal purpose in life inspired University of Michigan professor Vic Strecher to investigate the integral role “purpose” plays in encouraging people to lead a healthier lifestyle.18 Connecting the program with employees’ sense of purpose will not only boost program participation, it will motivate employees to achieve improved health and well-being on a much deeper level.