Regarding the four drivers of employee engagement (See my posts of Jan. 10, 2008: “business” and May 29, 2008: “boss.”), the third is what I dubbed “buddies.”
Your colleagues who work with you day after day are often what creates an engaged employee. If you like the people around you, you feel part of a team. You feel collegial affection and trust and engagement (See my posts of Feb. 8, 2006: buddy system at Cox Communications; June 17, 2008: buddy system at Starbucks; April 13, 2006: collegiality didn’t rate as an advantage of working in-house; and Jan. 27, 2008: lawyer retreats build collegiality.).
Morale in law departments has spawned a number of reflections on this blog (See my posts of Oct. 29, 2005: morale affected by a hodgepodge of titles; Oct. 29, 2005: morale is a symptom of underlying causes; May 29, 2008: morale busters; Nov. 25, 2006 and Dec. 9, 2005: pay, pride and pals and 5 references cited; Nov. 19, 2005: morale in Reuters’ law department; June 1, 2008: colleagues were morale boosters; and June 1, 2008: some aspects of law department cut both ways regarding morale.).
Law departments devise various ways to increase morale (See my posts of Oct. 30, 2005 and July 3, 2007: inexpensive morale boosters; May 7, 2006: pro bono; April 17, 2007: town hall meetings; April 14, 2005: brown bag lunches; April 14, 2005: after layoffs; and Feb. 12, 2008: retreats and offsites with 8 references cited.)