Reading the article about a Virginia Police Department and two Fire Department/Divisions in the link pasted below, I was struck by two things.  First is that most of the recommendations make a lot of sense, could have a big impact in our organizations and are generally ignored in many localities where performance suffers.  The perceptions of the officers and firefighters in this study about these areas correspond to what we find frequently in local governments.  Effective multi-directional internal communication, accurate and timely feedback on performance to employees and supervisors, and widespread creation of and responsiveness to ideas and suggestions are vital to engaging all employees and improving performance.

Second, the issue of engagement is far more complicated than the self-perception of employees about their own level of engagement.  That is not to say that such perception is unimportant.  It is, nevertheless, just half of the story.  Rare is the organization that takes the time and effort to actually define its expectations of what fully engaged employees look like.  Sure, job descriptions lay out examples of tasks to be undertaken (seldom are the leadership and management responsibilities of line employees included), supervisors lay out the technical work that they desire, and employees understand these as “their” work and can feel “engaged” when they do it with some enthusiasm.  But is that the limited set of expectations that are going to empower our workforces to help bring about strong, vibrant and successful communities in these difficult times of tight resources, shifting demands and low political support and trust?  I think not.  While the items to which I referred above are important, equally so is that each organization wrestle again with the fundamental view of what people throughout the organization can bring to their organizations beyond the technical skills for which most were hired.  We can afford to have no less than the full range of talents, skill and abilities at the discretion of each employee be brought forth to help us on our important journey.

http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/law-enforcement-bulletin/december-2011/analyzing-organizational-performance