In Terms of Engagement, Richard H. Axelrod, (ISBN 1576750841) describes four key principles that help engage people in organisational change. The four are;

• Widening the circle of involvement
• Connecting people to each other and ideas 
• Creating communities for action, and 
• Embracing democracy.

He describes the benefits of engagement as

• People grasp the big picture, fully understanding the dangers and opportunities.
• Urgency and energy are created as people become aligned around a common purpose and create new directions. 
• Accountability is more evenly distributed throughout the organisation as people come to understand the whole system. 
• Collaboration across organisational boundaries increases because people are connected to the issues and to each other. 
• Broad participation quickly identifies performance gaps and their solutions, improving productivity and customer satisfaction. 
• Creativity increases as people from all levels and functions along with customers, suppliers and other stakeholders contribute their best ideas. 
• Capacity for future change increases as people develop the skills and processes to meet not just the current challenges but future challenges as well.

What are your thoughts on this as a summary of the key principles and benefits of employee engagement?