Take the stage and engage

Among many definitions, employee engagement, also known as work engagement,¹ has been defined as a “positive, fulfilling, work-related state of mind that is characterized by vigor, dedication, and absorption.”² High levels of energy, mental resilience, and a desire to give one’s best even when challenged at work define vigor; a feeling of pride, inspiration, and significance defines dedication; and being fully immersed in one’s work defines absorption.²

Understanding engagement and its impact on performance 

Engagement is “the individual’s involvement and satisfaction with as well as enthusiasm for work,”³ and the process that motivates employees cognitively, emotionally, and behaviorally in order to help them fulfill organizational outcomes.⁴ Engagement is a desirable condition that encompasses organizational purpose; connotes involvement, passion, and commitment; implies focused effort, enthusiasm, and energy on the part of the employee; and includes attitudinal and behavioral components.⁵ It can also be “the extent to which employees commit to something or someone in their organization, how hard they work, and how long they stay as a result of that commitment.”⁶ Regarding talent management and employee recruitment, retention, and engagement:

The more highly engaged the employee, the more likely he or she will be to say positive things about the organization, thereby contributing to the development of a positive employer brand; want to remain within the organization, thereby minimizing turnover; and regularly exert a superior level of effort, thereby potentially influencing such variables as service quality, customer satisfaction, productivity, sales, profitability, etc.⁷

Conversely, disengagement involves withdrawing internal energies, removing oneself from the role, keeping distance from the preferred self, and becoming “physically uninvolved in tasks, cognitively unvigilant, and emotionally disconnected from others in ways that hide what they think and feel, their creativity, their beliefs and values, and their personal connections to others.”⁸ Disengagement at work may be due to a lack of meaningful work, a lack of support from leaders, or poor relationships with colleagues.⁹

From disengagement to burnout

A step further from disengagement is burnout, which is emotional depletion and loss of commitment and motivation.¹⁰ The three core dimensions of burnout include exhaustion—the most obvious manifestation greatly affected by workload, time pressure, lack of feedback, participation in decision-making, and autonomy; depersonalization (cynicism)—when distance comes between oneself and service recipients to make it impersonal and feel indifferent to decrease feelings of exhaustion; and inefficacy—reduced personal accomplishment, a result from lack of relevant resources, which interferes with effectiveness on the job.¹¹

Burnout in dentistry is common and can lead to lower quality patient care.^12,13 Increased detachment and dehumanization of patients resulting from the emotional and physical exhaustion of burnout can lead to substandard care.¹² Time constraints, demanding and competing tasks, relationships with leadership, conflicting roles, and challenging work in health care all contribute to burnout among health professionals, including dental personnel. It can lead to medical errors, low morale, absenteeism, turnover, and leaving the dental profession altogether,¹² which is evident by the current dental workforce shortages.¹⁴

Leadership strategies to foster a culture of engagement

Dentists, as leaders, need to create and provide "a more purpose-driven environment" for their teams in order to "joyfully" engage with them and see them "passionately" engage with their patients.¹⁵

Strategies for success include:

1. Create and communicate the mission, vision, and core values regularly and consistently, and embed them into every operation of the practice.¹⁵

2. Consistently strive for quality and create a "positive touch point," which is when a patient interacts with the "service brand" (aka the service provided to the patient), which strengthens the overall positive experience for the patient. This process begins with engaging employees by helping them find purpose and meaning in their work, along with daily activities in the dental office, which occurs from leaders who communicate the foundational elements—the mission, vision, and core values of the dental practice.¹⁵

3. Evaluate the time pressure and workload amount employees experience and increase employee decision-making involvement,¹¹ because organizational goals become employee goals when they identify themselves through their organizations.¹⁶

4. Express praise and gratitude, listen to employee concerns and address their needs,¹⁷ and acknowledge their feelings, emotions, and their need to grow and develop¹⁸ to help foster emotional, cognitive, and behavior engagement.⁹

5. Develop personal development plans for each employee, along with annual performance appraisal reviews to support them, increase their engagement, give them a sense of ownership, and involve them in the vision.¹⁹

6. Determine which employees need to be engaged and ways in which to engage them, target drivers of disengagement by using employee engagement surveys, and work on building an engaged culture.⁶

7. Regularly measure your behavior as a leader to ensure behaviors that drive engagement can be identified, developed, and included as part of the organizational strategy.²⁰
   

Sustained employee engagement begins with purposeful leader-ship. When dental teams feel val-ued, supported, and connected to their practice’s mission, they bring greater energy and empathy to their work—benefiting patients, colleagues, and the profession as a whole. 

Editor's note: This article appeared in the November/December 2025 print edition of Dental Economics magazine. Dentists in North America are eligible for a complimentary print subscription. Sign up here.

References

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