French President Nicolas Sarkozy takes measurement seriously.  He writes, "I hold a firm belief: We will not change our behavior unless we change the ways we measure our economic performance...The [financial] crisis is not only giving us the freedom to imagine other models, another future, and another world - it compels us to do so...We knew that our indicators had limitations, but we went on using them as if they didn't.  They made communications easier...calling them into question seemed so outrageous that no one would even seriously consider it" (in Stiglitz, Sen and Fitoussi, Mismeasuring Our Lives: Why GDP Doesn't Add Up, pp. vii-xi).

Reflecting his concerns about the importance of mismeasurement in our lives, in 2008, Sarkozy created a high-level, international Commission on the Measurement of Economic Performance and Social Progress.  Four Nobel Laureates in economics were among the commission members.

Sarkozy's remarks above appear in the foreword to the Commission's 2010 report, which makes a series of recommendations for improving the measurement systems we use to monitor economic performance.

There are striking parallels between the problems with the world's macroeconomic indicators discussed in the report and a widely-accepted microeconomic indicator that firms use to monitor their performance: employee engagement.

Per the report, "if we have the wrong metrics, we will strive for the wrong things."

Economists across the political spectrum agree that GDP is a flawed concept - and not a measure that societies should seek to maximize.  And so too it is with employee engagement.  It's the wrong measure for firms to maximize, and attempting to do so is a disservice to both employees and shareholders.   

But, in Sarkozy's words, it does make communications easier, and calling it into question has (for too long now) indeed been considered outrageous.