ABSTRACT
Most global HR firms have developed their own approaches to engagement. These include proprietary methodologies to use in their client organizations: Towers Perrin, Aon Hewitt, and the HR consulting arms of Deloitte, Accenture, and PwC. Beyond HR, most global market research firms, and many specialized research boutiques offer relevant solutions. The best known among these is Gallup and its 12Q approach, which has built an impressive longitudinal database that spans decades. Some of these approaches have a fairly sound academic grounding, but most are based on unsubstantiated correlations, unvalidated theories, and a lack of rigor around definition, measurement, and testability. As expected, there is a commonality in purpose: rather than being mostly explanatory, the approaches are highly prescriptive in that they seek effective solutions to organizational performance issues.
