Faking Engagement

One of the realities of working is that, at some point in your career, you will be in a job you hate.

Sometimes, it is a job you can’t leave. At least not immediately. As much as you may fantasize about it, you can’t say, “Take this job and shove it.”

Yet simply surviving is often not enough.

Employers expect their employees to “be engaged”. They want employees to be personally dedicated to the interests of the company and to give 110% (a.k.a. “go above and beyond”). Never mind that this is an unrealistic expectation. “Lacking engagement” is one of the common criticisms employers level against employees.

What you need to do is fake engagement.

Here are 5 suggestions:

1.  Be clear on your reason for staying.

There must be some reason you are still in the job, be clear what it is.

Is it:

• You need the paycheck and other options for earning the money you need are not available.
• The job provides excellent training for what you want to do next.
• You are scared of making a change.
• You like parts of your job enough to stay.
• You think the job will improve in the future.

Be honest with yourself.

Your reason for staying shapes your strategy for faking engagement.

For example, if the job is primarily for “training purposes” make sure you focus on the job assignments and training opportunities that will prepare you for moving on to your dream job.

If fear of the unknown is your primary motivation, work on ways to make that less of a factor so you are ready to move on.

In addition to clarifying your reasons for staying, you need to have a clear trigger for when you will move on. If you don’t, you may find yourself with a 10-year pin for a job you hate and lots of regrets for not having lived your life to the fullest.

2.  Find one thing you can do and do it.

Don’t simply avoid work. Do something.

Bottom line, organizations value productivity. Try to identify one thing about your job that you are good at and own it.

Don’t do this for others. Do it for you. Everyone needs to feel productive at something.

Stay focused on your one thing and make sure others in the organization know how productive you are at this and how valuable it is to the organization.

If you can’t find one thing to do that you find enjoyable, perhaps it is time to move up your exit strategy.

Life is too short to be miserable.

3.  Participate strategically.

Avoid being enmeshed in endless unproductive meetings, vague initiatives and organizational politics. Remember the goal is to appear engaged not necessarily to be engaged.

Keep your goals in mind and align your work accordingly. Develop and practice your skill in saying no. When newly proposed work activities are not aligned with your goals, find a way to say “not now” or “not me”.

4.  Be friendly but avoid close friendships at work.

It is inevitable. People develop friendships at work but “over-sharing” is problematic when you are in a job you hate.

Focus on being friendly but avoid sharing personal information and professional goals. For example, if you or a family member has health limitations, this information may be used against you at work without you having any input into decisions that end up negatively impacting your career.

Have a professional life outside of your current employment. Network with professionals in outside organizations where you can develop personal friendships but be careful about who knows whom when sharing information.

5.  Take care of yourself.

You need to take care of yourself physically and emotionally. No job is worth dying for.

Related Resources: 

On July 29, 2021, Gallup reported the results of their latest employee engagement survey – U.S. Employee Engagement Holds Steady in First half of 2021. Despite the positive title, the survey results indicated that the percentage of actively disengaged employees is up slightly and the ratio of engaged to actively disengaged workers is down.

The results of this Gallup survey track with the number of articles published recently about “rage quitting” and the difficulties employers are having in hiring employees. For suggestions on what to do instead of rage quitting, check out this article – Daydream about Rage Quitting? Here’s What to Do Instead.

A couple of other resources you may find interesting:

The Power of a Positive No by William Ury (2007). Although an older book, this book provides suggestions you can use to avoid saying “yes” when you really should be saying “no”.

Start Finishing by Charlie Gilkey (2019). The best idea in this book is the need to recognize that each of us has only so many projects we can finish in a lifetime so we need to be careful which ones we choose. The older you get, the more important this advice becomes.

If you are into more passive entertainment, you can watch a couple of classic movies – Take this Job and Shove it or, one of my favorites, Nine to Five.