Employee Engagement and Its Importance with H

As most of us know or heard about the term EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT but what that term actually means? So here by I am tried explaining about it in details along with some facts. If you have ever searched for the suggestion or any activity for engagement of employees you will be getting list of the games, some best practices, ideas contenting some activities etc., but in actual its not about these all.

Firstly lets understand the meaning of it - Employee engagement simply means that the relationship between the employee and employer. It refers to the emotional attachment employees have with their organisation. According to a dictionary, it is the “emotional connection an employee feels towards his or her organization, which tends to influence his or her behaviors and level of effort in work-related activities.”

Employee engagement is vast construct that touches almost all the parts of human resource management facets we know till now. Its not only about the benefits given to the employees or the activities conducted by the HR department in organization on weekly or monthly basis.

If every part of human resources is not addressed in appropriate manner, employees fail to fully engage themselves in their jobs. Employee engagement is stronger predictor for positive organizational performance clearly showing two way relationships between employee and employer. Always remember that engaged employees are emotionally attached to their organization and highly involved in their job with great enthusiasm for the success of their employer, going extra mile beyond the employment contractual agreement.

According to one survey, employees who are part of a team are more likely to be fully engaged than those who work on their own. This is probably because employees working in teams are aware of the significance of clarity of goals and objectives, and know how important it is to communicate openly. They also believe in powerful leadership, outlining the responsibilities and making everyone’s role clear.

Drivers of Employee Engagement or Factors to have Higher Employee Engagement:

 Many researches have tried to identify factors leading to employee engagement and developed models to draw implications for managers. Their diagnosis aims to determine the drivers that will increase employee engagement level. According to Penna research report (2007) meaning at work has the potential to be valuable way of bringing employers and employees closer together to the benefit of both where employees experience a sense of community, the space to be themselves and the opportunity to make a contribution, they find meaning. Employees want to work in the organizations in which they find meaning at work.

Penna (2007) researchers have also come up with a new model they called “Hierarchy of engagement” which resembles Maslow’s need hierarchy model. In the bottom line there are basic needs of pay and benefits. Once an employee satisfied these needs, then the employee looks to development opportunities, the possibility for promotion and then leadership style will be introduced to the mix in the model. Finally, when all the above cited lower level aspirations have been satisfied the employee looks to an alignment of value-meaning, which is displayed by a true sense of connection, a common purpose and a shared sense of meaning at work. The BlessingWhite (2006) study has found that almost two third’s (60%) of the surveyed employees want more opportunities to grow forward to remain satisfied in their jobs. Strong manager-employee relationship is a crucial ingredient in the employee engagement and retention formula.

1.   Align efforts with strategy

2.   Empower and motivate

3.   Promote and encourage teamwork and collaboration

4.   Help people grow and develop

5.   Provide support and recognition where appropriate

6.   Build proper remuneration structure within your organization

Of those who earned between 1.5 and 3 lakhs, about 15 per cent were highly disengaged. But 30 per cent of the engaged employees were willing to stay on with their present employers even if they were given half the increment offered by a competing organisation.

This simply means that money is still factor of motivation and to be engaged with your work. As student I have heard from so many professionals that money is not the factor to be focused on. But in reality that won’t work. To have higher employee engagement the employee should firstly understand the needs of the employees, provide the environment where they can grow and develop.

Benefits of Having Employee Engagement

Engaged employees = Increased Productivity.

A study by Gallup revealed that connected teams are 21% more productive. Like all other companies, making employees productive must be your end goal too. So, engaging employees can be your first step to creating a productive workforce.

1.   Higher retention rates.

2.   Increased Revenue.

3.   Lower Absenteeism.

4.   Employees will be more loyal towards the organization.

5.   Better quality of work which will increase production and will lead to better market image.

6.   Positive work environment

7.   Employees are motivated enough to bring innovations.

Conclusion

While organisations are waking up to the importance of employee engagement, there is still a long way to go for all the organizations.

Organisations need to simply ensure that work is allocated with some thought to the suitability; employees are chasing realistic deadlines; enough flexibility is allowed to the employees to enjoy work-life balance; the mental and physical well-being of the employee is given priority; and the workforce enjoys an environment and culture of positivity.