Over the years, David Zinger and I have exchanged opinions about a wide range of subjects. I think he is one of the most thoughtful and most caring people I have ever known. He has agreed to respond to some questions and granted me permission to share his responses with you. For example:

Which misconception about employee engagement seems to do the most damage and what, in fact, is true?

There is a plethora of perspectives and viewpoints on employee engagement. I think it is dangerous to think that engagement is something we do to employees, “we get them engaged” or something we do for employees, “we are doing all these things for you.” Engagement is not manipulation of paternalism.

Employee engagement is something done with employees and it is imperative that leaders and managers fully acknowledge they are employees too!

I love the line from the field of Positive Deviancy: “Never do anything about me without me.”

We should include employees in everything done in the name of engagement including helping to generate some of the questions we would use to survey them.

In 2016, I am very fond of saying, There is no way to engagement, engagement is the way.

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David is the founder and host of the Employee Engagement Network that now has a global membership of more than 7,000. To learn more about David and EEN, please click here.