The New York Times continues its recent focus on highlighting the importance of the human side of capitalism. This past week it featured (on the cover of its Sunday News in Review section) an article entitled, “Rethinking Work” written by Barry Schwartz, a psychology professor at Swarthmore College, based on his upcoming book, Why We Work. It was the fourth-most shared article of the day the last time I checked. Whatever one thinks of the New York Times, it is arguably among the most influential media in the world in terms of its reach with corporate and government leaders, and it’s emphasis on this subject is bound to move the needle over time. We look forward to reading the book and featuring it on our Engagement Strategies Media portal at Enterpriseengagement.org.

At the same time, this article begs the question:

With so much compelling research proving the connection between engagement and financial results in organizations that get it right, why does this concept remain an outlier in business?

The answer, I believe, is simple: There is no formal “named” profession to support it.

What type of organization should one search for to help implement engagement at a practical level? Who in an organization should be in charge? What is the proper implementation framework? How can the results of an engagement effort be measured from a practical standpoint? Where is the subject taught as a formal practice, outside of the Enterprise Engagement Alliance?

ESM has posted a series of articles recently pointing to the emergence of engagement a a formal field, but it isn’t there yet. What we have are a lot of great prescriptions for success that only a small percentage of organizations actually follow.