Engagement Over Education

Now that the spring semester is over, schools throughout the UW System will begin their cuts in anticipation of getting less money from the state--and another two-year tuition freeze.  Also, now that the spring semester is over, some of the instructors who took the early retirement package offered by UW-Oshkosh are providing me with plenty of materials pertaining to how the UW System spends their money--without fear of retribution on campus.  One of those questionable expenditures is how much the UW System spends on "employee engagement".

UW-Madison has posted an open position on its human resources page for the following position:

Coordinator for Employee Engagement, Inclusion and Diversity

University of Wisconsin-Madison   295 Reviews – Madison, WI
Apply on Career Site SavePosted 22 days ago

Job Description

The UW-Madison Office of Human Resources (OHR) is currently recruiting a Coordinator for Employee Engagement, Inclusion and Diversity.
The position is located within Talent Recruitment and Engagement in the Office of Talent Management in OHR at UW-Madison, and reports to the Director of Talent Recruitment and Engagement. The Talent Recruitment and Engagement group serves a central interface point with the campus community to recruit, retain, and sustain a high-quality workforce prepared to address the challenges of the 21st century in an educational environment.
The Coordinator for employee engagement, inclusion and diversity leads by actively engaging the UW-Madison community in education, strategy development and implementation, and data management to improve and sustain employee engagement, inclusion and diversity practices across the University.



So in five lines of that job posting, "engagement" or "engaging" is used seven times (perhaps they should hire someone in the English Department to review the Office of Human Resources' job posting and suggest a few new synonyms).  You will also notice that there is a "coordinator" and a "director" of Employee Engagement, Inclusion and Diversity--and likely a Director of Talent Management above them and of course, a Human Resources Director above them.  I also see the word "team" in there--meaning more than just one underling is making sure that everyone is "engaged" on campus.

I reviewed the corporate structure here at Cumulus Broadcasting, and I can't seem to find a "Coordinator for Employee Engagement, Inclusion and Diversity".  I'm also unable to locate a "Director of Talent Recruitment and Engagement" nor does there appear to be any members of a Talent Recruitment and Engagement group.  Despite not having any of those "engagement" officers, our company seems to be doing just fine. 

I would encourage you to stop by the front office at your job today and ask to see the "Coordinator for Employee Engagement, Inclusion and Diversity". When you are told that no such person exists at your company--say that you don't feel very "engaged" and that they should really spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to bring people in to help you "become engaged" or you won't be able to "address the challenges of the 21st century workplace".  You will probably be sent to the person who signs your checks--who will remind you that said checks should be all of the "incentive to be engaged" that you need to do your damn job.