If you were among the over 41 million people who watched the 82nd Academy Awards telecast last Sunday, you might have seen one of our 2010 Top Small Company Workplaces award finalists: outdoor clothing designer/distributor/retailer Patagonia.

During the program American Express ran an ad for their Members Project, a new partnership with social action network Takepart.com.  Here’s the commercial if you missed it:

The ad features Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard, who according to their application for our award – and the company’s own press materials – is still actively involved in the business he established almost 40 years ago.

This post on Patagonia’s employee and customer blog explains the set piece in the ad, the Matilija Dam, and why removing it would be good for the planet and people (which, along with profit, make up the three pillars of the growing triple bottom line business movement).

Patagonia’s work maintaining a strong triple bottom line is readily apparent.  On their website homepage, a vast Environmentalism section is given equal weight to revenue-friendlier sections such as Clothing & Gear and Product Information.

This perfect weave (pardon the pun) of company mission and like-minded employees and customers has kept business strong, even in a down economy.  I can’t get into specifics, because our Top Small Company Workplaces media partner Inc. Magazine will share those with you in its June issue should Patagonia be named a winner for 2010.  But trust me that they’re doing very well on the key business metrics you’re concerned about in your own organization.

Watch for the June issue of Inc. on newsstands to read about this year’s winning firms and their workplace culture improvement and team engagement activities, which you can adapt for your company.  You can also subscribe to Inc. and get the issue as soon as it comes out.

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So if employee engagement is important to boosting productivity, what’s the right approach to make it happen?  On the Sloan Network’s Work and Family Blog this week, Brad Harrington of the Boston College Center for Work & Family says a hands-on approach, rather than a detached or defensive stance, works best:

I am skeptical that high levels of employee engagement will be achieved by simply looking to minimize conflict in employees’ lives and help people cope with their existing difficulties.  Engagement is far more likely the outcome of employees who view their lives, both inside and outside of the workplace, as meaningful.  Helping individuals find meaning in their work, know they are respected as whole persons, and perceive alignment between their values and goals and those of the organization – these are the critical ingredients of employee engagement.

To me the most important word that actually is repeated in Harrington’s claim is meaning.  As we see with our Top Small Workplace winners and finalists, companies that focus on helping their workers reach an almost zen-like level of pride and contentment in their work, and the intersection of work and life, enjoy returns in the form of greater commitment and the willingness of people to work at "off" hours to meet key goals, not to mention fewer unscheduled absences and – perhaps the most important benefit for customer service and satisfaction – lower turnover/longer employee tenures.

Do you agree with Harrington as far as the right tack to take to achieve stellar employee engagement performance?  If not, what do you think works best?

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