Engagement over time is not static.

I was reading up on tenured employee engagement research today for a project. Turns out we tend to be our most engaged at work right after we start. Happy and excited and sure we found our dream job.

Then, engagement starts dropping. And dropping. For more than a decade we tend to be less engaged. Then something happens. When you get to 15 years, your engagement starts to rebound. After 15 years, you don’t work for the organization, you are the organization.

I have had the privilege of working for a few organizations over the years with tenured professionals. We’re talking 30+ year tenures. I could see it. It was no longer a job for them, it was simply who they were.

Many of these people I knew were happy with their position, happy with their team, happy with their lives. Sure, they complained about things but not in the same way the newer people did. It was complaint coming from a place of care, not a place of arrogance. Even though these pros had much to be arrogant about.

It was like they had arrived. Most did great work. But like professionals in any industry, they made it look easy which made some think they were slacking off. They weren’t.

Most found their mentoring voice. Most knew what the newer people needed to see, hear, and do. They knew how to help.

There is tremendous and often overlooked value in tenured team members. There is huge value in organization experience as opposed to just industry experience. Part of our job as leaders is to help certain team members cross the valley of disengagement. It’s in our best interest.