In the past few weeks, I’ve noticed a focus around corporate culture in many of my typical news sources – Fast Company, Fortune, Talent Management Magazine, and Harvard Business Review’s Blog. I’m sure the recent changes in Yahoo’s and Best Buy’s corporate work-from-home policies sparked the heated debates around corporate culture. Many of the discussions center around the impact these culture changes may have on the employees’ engagement, satisfaction, and overall commitment to the company. As covered in the New York Times, Yahoo explained the workplace policy change was made in an effort to boost employee morale. I’m not here to discuss whether this type of culture change was right or wrong, as I believe an argument for both is easily found in the media already.

However, it does have me thinking about how corporate culture affects employee engagement in general. A Gallup poll showed that more than 71% of Americans aren’t engaged in their jobs. We at Hogan believe this is more often a result of failed leadership or a bad boss, which Ryan Ross explains in an article by Adrienne Hedger and Dr. Robert Hogan discusses in “Why Engagement Matters.” I would argue that employee engagement is connected to organizational culture as well.

Perhaps the high rate of employee disengagement is a result of shifting views of how work environments should be structured. Companies are attempting to mitigate low employee engagement by creating a unique environment. We’re seeing examples of how top performing companies, especially those on the Fortune's “Best Places To Work” list, create a culture where employees want to be at work. Casual dress codes, free food, on-site gyms, ping-pong tables, pet-friendly policies, and many other non-traditional benefits are found in these types of cultures. Not surprisingly, Google is ranked as the #1 Best Place to Work by Forbes.

Of course, not all companies can provide what Google does in terms of free benefits. Fortunately, people want to work at places like Google for reasons besides the free food and rooms full of Legos. Fast Company’s recent article highlights how Google deliberately designs workplace satisfaction, not just around incredible perks, but also by creating a corporate culture that provides freedom, mutual respect, and transparency for all employees. According to the article, Google empowers its employees to have a say in topics ranging from how the company is run to the new design of its company-provided bicycles. This underlying philosophy of empowerment and transparency is the most attractive aspect of corporate culture, and the easiest to emulate.

As more companies begin to make the shift to a flat organizational structure, I bet employee engagement rates will also increase. Only time will tell.

Talk of personal branding on social platforms is rampant. Rarely, however is there mention of how a personal brand can affect engagement at work.

Employee engagement refers to the rational and emotional commitment one has to various aspects associated with the organization where he or she works. An employee’s commitment level translates into discretionary effort and intent to stay, which both affect organizational performance. Additionally, employee engagement is associated with job commitment, lack of burnout and well being. As Dr. Robert Hogan attests, “when employees are engaged, they like their jobs, they work hard at their jobs, they take initiative, and they show loyalty.”

When you brand yourself effectively within a company culture, co-workers and supervisors will have a clearer and more concise understanding of what it takes for you to be successful. Accurately projecting who you are to others will give them the necessary information to help you along the way. Even if they're well-intentioned, peers and supervisors cannot contribute to your engagement or success if they do not have a clear picture of your personality traits and motives. 

How can one take control of one’s personal brand and intentionally portray it favorably every day? It all starts with self-knowledge, which is a basic necessity to building your personal brand. Managing your reputation within an organization can only arise from strategic self-awareness.

Here are 3 ways to accurately define and project your personal brand at work.

Define it Simply

Identify what your three core brand attributes are. You should be able to fit them on a Post-it. Start by collecting feedback on how co-workers describe you, your strengths, your development opportunities and some of your top drivers.

Convey it Clearly

Project yourself in a concise manner. Mixed messages will confuse others. Focus on sending out a clear message of how you like to get things done, what makes you get those things done and why you do the things you do in a compact way.

Project it Confidently

Establish yourself as an expert in a relevant field. Once you show competence, you can more easily create a confident presence and build credibility. Become a good source of knowledge for others in a specific area and take control of disseminating that information. By sharing your expertise others will become more aware of what engages you.

If you are not feeling engaged at work, consider what image you are projecting to others.  Sharply defining your personal brand could be a step in the right direction.

What makes a great job? Is it better benefits, flexible hours, or the promise of promotion? Maybe it’s all about the money. Hogan asked nearly 1,000 professionals to tell us about their ideal job. Here’s what they said.

The HR world is already atwitter with a brand new batch of buzzwords. But wait! Here are five of last year’s biggest buzzwords that will still matter in 2013. 

LEADERSHIP
“To me, there is only one talent management issue, and it never changes: leadership. What also never changes is the fact that businesses don’t understand this, which is why they put so many self-serving assholes in leadership positions.”  - Dr. Robert Hogan

After what seemed like a never-ending election cycle, the last thing anyone wants to keep talking about is leadership. But it’s something we can’t afford to ignore. Competent leadership is crucial for a company to succeed. Yet, research indicates that two-thirds of the leaders in corporate America will fail. Why? Check out this free ebook to find out.  

GAME CHANGERS
At any given organization, 20% of employees account for 80% of productivity. They are the game changers, and in 2013, companies are going to have to work hard to attract, develop, and retain employees capable of creating value and driving growth. How would Hogan do it? Download From Potential to Performance to find out. 

MULTI-GENERATION WORKFORCE
Although they aren’t necessarily the entitled slackers the media made them out to be, Millennials (Generation Y) and Digital Natives (Generation Z) work differently than older generations. Organizations need to work to separate fact from fiction when it comes to generational differences in order to leverage the experience of their older employees and build the talent bench of the future. Need a place to start? Check out this blog. 

TALENT ANALYTICS
The HR world was all abuzz with talk of Big Data last year, and rightly so; many organizations are sitting on a mountain of data about their people. This year, the challenge is for those companies to find a way to effectively analyze, understand, and leverage those data to make their organizations run better. What kind of data do we have? Check out the Hogan archive. 

ENGAGEMENT
Employee engagement matters. Engaged employees are more satisfied and more productive, and productivity ties directly to the bottom line. In 2013, we hope to see a reduction in Hawaiian-shirt Fridays and a genuine effort by organizations to identify and fix the root cause of low engagement. Here’s a hint: it’s their leaders. Want more? Check out our free white paper. 

In a recent blog for the Harvard Business Review, Ambiga Dhiraj, Head of Talent Management for Chicago-based Mu Sigma, a decision science and analytics services firm, made an interesting observation about her company’s talent management process:

When it comes to employee development, most companies traditionally follow the 10/80/10 rule: The top 10 percent are promoted, the middle 80 percent are nurtured, and the bottom 10 percent are let go. At my company, we followed this advice at first too. But we found that we were losing too many from the middle 80 percent: people who had great potential were leaving because they weren't getting promoted quickly enough.

As any HR professional can tell you, Mu Sigma isn’t the only company that faces this struggle – in fact, a survey released last year showed that nearly 40% of employed adults were looking for a new job. That’s bad news for companies. According to Dr. Robert Hogan, when [engagement] is low, absenteeism, turnover, and theft go up, and productivity and customer satisfaction go down.

So how can companies address low engagement? Hogan said engagement is commonly defined in terms of four components: cognitive – the role is consistent with a person’s identity; emotional – the person likes the role; physical – the person will work at the role; and existential – the role provides personal meaning.

Dhiraj said her company changed the basic way it motivated its employees:

[Previously], our managers used promotions as carrots. Now they are challenged to motivate employees in other ways – by giving them interesting projects to work on, public praise for their work, and the right guidance and encouragement.

Fellow HBR blogger Tony Schwartz, president and CEO of The Energy Project, approaches engagement on an even more basic level:

The single highest driver of engagement, according to a worldwide study conducted by Towers Watson, is whether or not workers feel their managers are genuinely interested in their wellbeing. Less than 40 percent of workers felt so engaged.

Feeling genuinely appreciated lifts people up. At the most basic level, it makes us feel safe, which is what frees us to do our best work. It's also energizing. When our value feels at risk, as it so often does, that worry becomes preoccupying, which drains and diverts our energy from creating value.

After seven seasons playing the wacky, yet lovable Michael Scott on NBC’s hit series, “The Office,” Steve Carell left the show this spring to focus on his film career. With his crazy antics and hilarious one-liners, Carell’s character enticed more than 7 million viewers to “The Office” every Thursday night. From off-the-wall impersonations to “that’s what she said” jokes, Michael Scott was a staple (no pun intended) of Dunder Mifflin, and his resignation will certainly lead to changes for the fictional company.

Like all managers, Michael’s personal values shaped the culture of the Scranton branch. One of his most fundamental beliefs was that his employees weren’t just staff – they were family, with perhaps the exception of Toby. Michael clarified during one episode that “Toby is in HR. Which, technically, means he works for corporate. So he's really not a part of our family. Also he's divorced. So he's really not a part of his family.”

Because he placed great value on relationships, Michael created an office environment that revolved around social interaction, frequent unscheduled meetings, constant communication, and spontaneous special work teams. For example, Michael held impromptu meetings on hot workplace topics including diversity, sexual harassment, and fire safety. He also assembled the Party Planning Committee to organize office events, such as birthday parties and holiday celebrations.

Another one of Michael’s drivers was the need for recognition. He sought visibility and admiration and cared deeply about having his and others’ accomplishments publically acknowledged. Michael carefully selected job titles such as “Assistant to the Regional Manager” to properly acknowledge his employees for their work roles. Also, Michael hosted “The Dundies,” an annual award show that publically recognized the Scranton staff by bestowing prestigious awards such as Whitest Sneakers, Longest Engagement, and Busiest Beaver.

After his nearly 20 year tenure (9,986,000 minutes to be exact) at Dunder Mifflin, Michael hosted his last Dundies and a new manager will take his place as the leader of the Scranton branch. Although “The Office” season finale left viewers in the dark about who the next regional manager will be, one thing is certain – a new leader will create a new office culture.

Will it be Dwight Schrute with his traditional values of reporting hierarchies, respect for authority, rules, and formality? Or will it be Kelly Kapoor with her attention to appearance and style? Perhaps it will be an external applicant with a completely different set of values and beliefs.

Regardless of the new boss’s identity, the culture of Dunder Mifflin will surely change with Michael Scott’s departure. Despite his quirks, Michael’s unique personality and value set created a one-of-a-kind office that we won’t soon forget. At least, that’s what she said.