Engaged employee. Engaged workforce. Management and leadership gurus love these words. Employers don’t care what you call it–they just want to achieve it. If you’re discouraged about your attempts to motivate employees, here’s a story to lift your spirits. Hopefully, you have had more success than this young woman’s managers.

Employers at the top of the game know the value of a workforce full of engaged employees.–employees who take ownership of their work. Well, if there ever was a story to demonstrate what an engaged employee is not, this is it.

An Iowa Administrative Judge denied unemployment benefits to Emmalee Bauer, 25. Bauer was formerly employed by Sheraton as a sales coordinator. Apparently, she did not do much coordinating, though. Instead, she spent her time at work scribing heart-felt journal entries she hopes may someday be published. But this is not the journal you might picture.

Her journal was devoted entirely to her work-avoidance strategies.

That’s right. Every day, throughout her shift, she journaled away. And, by the time the Sheraton gig was over, she’d created a 300-page, single-spaced Manifesto of a Slacker.

I’m only here for the money, and, lately, for the printer access. I haven’t really accomplished anything in a long while . . . and I am still getting paid more than at any job I ever had before.

I am going to sit right here and play Elf Bowling or some other nonsense. Once lunch is over, I will come right back to writing to piddle away the rest of the afternoon.

The judge who denied Bauer’s unemployment appeal, said that the journal demonstrated Bauer’s refusal to work as well as her “amusement of getting away with it.”

If there was ever a case where an employer should be able to sue an employee to recoup the money it lost by employing her, this sure seems to be the one. Can you say “refund“?

[Hat tip to the Manpower Employment Blawg]

Our Annual Seminar for Employers was held today at the Chase Center on the Riverfront in Wilmington, Delaware. The attendance at the seminar was our best ever, with more than 130 of Delaware’s best human resource professionals, labor relations specialists, senior managers, and small business owners.

Our many thanks to The Honorable Mary Pat Thynge, who spoke candidly about the federal mediation process. Her comments were direct and insightful for everyone, including for the attorneys!

Another thanks to all of the attendees who completed and submitted a survey at the end of the day. We’re looking forward to reviewing your comments. Our objective is to make the seminar as effective and enjoyable as possible. Your opinion really tells us what we can do to better to maximize the client experience. We are especially interested to learn what topics most interest you for future seminars. If you were in attendance today but did not have an opportunity to submit an evaluation, just let us know and we’ll send you one that can be completed and returned electronically–no stamp necessary!

Again, thank you to all of our clients, colleagues, and new friends, who gave us your attention and participation for a very full day on a variety of employment-law topics.

Well, Monday mornings aren’t exactly the favorite part of the workweek, at least not for most of us. But they don’t have to be that bad, really. Here’s a little cubicle humor to start your week off on a positive note.

Happy April!! You’ve survived the first week of the month of April 2008. And, if you’re as seasonally focused as most, this means that you are one week closer to Spring! But wait, there’s more to love about April. This week, April 7-11, is “Explore Your Career Options Week”? (Last week was “Laugh at Work” week. I suppose this week’s title means you probably weren’t laughing.)

And the celebrations and merriment don’t stop there.

~Today (7th) is No Housework Day. I’d like to nominate this one to get an entire month. A day just isn’t enough.

~Wednesday (9th) is National Cherish An Antique Day. For the Generation Y’ers out there, No, this does not include the senior management team.

~Thursday (10th) is National Sibling Day, which I am happy to celebrate given I have the world’s best sibling.

~But Friday (11th), for certain, is the best day of the week this time round. There are two, yes, that’s right, two reasons to celebrate on Friday. First, Friday is Barbershop Quartet Day. And, second, Friday is also International “Louie Louie” Day.

With a barbershop quartet and at least one office karaoke version of “Louie Louie” in your future, how could you NOT be glad that it’s Monday!

How loyal are your employees? Really, how loyal? How about $276 million dollars worth of loyalty?

Apparently, the Tax Office at the Monogalia County Sheriff’s Department in Charleston, West Virginia is doing something right because that is exactly how loyal their employees are. Eight employees of the Tax office claimed a winning Powerball ticket worth $276.3 million on Tuesday, having seen their numbers selected during the Saturday night drawing. But that was only after they reported to work on Monday, business as usual.

The “Lucky Eight” range in length of service at the Tax Office from 1 yr to 35 years. But they all went back to work, though Linda Fominko, who bought the winning ticket, said that they weren’t necessarily going to work forever and some may consider retiring early. But not right away she said, “Who knows, down the line, in a few months or a year?”

After taxes, each woman will take home $11.9 million. Yet each of them felt passionately enough about the work that they do and about the community that they believe relies on them, to return to work on Monday morning. Obviously, these individuals are pretty level-headed to reserve the major celebrations for after they check in with financial planners, attorneys, and the like. But level-headed or not, their extreme loyalty to their work must say something about their working environment and, likely, their employer.