Employee Engagement in Organization

 Employee Engagement in Organization

Employee engagement is about improving the work environment and culture to encourage employees to be more dedicated to the company's goals and values. Therefore, employee engagement is so important to all organizations because having effective strategies in place helps to create a better work culture, reduce staff turnover, increase productivity, build better work and customer relationships, impact company profits, and make employees happier. Generally, employee engagement tends to matter most at the company level because of the impact it has on business operations and profitability. A company’s success depends in large part on employee engagement. When employees feel engaged, they produce their best work and contribute to a positive corporate culture. It happens when ‘people are committed to their work and to the organization’ (Armstrong, 2017). A Gallup study states that “the behaviors of highly engaged business units result in 21% greater profitability.”

Employees who believe that management is concerned about them as a whole person – not just an employee – are more productive, more satisfied, more fulfilled. Satisfied employees mean satisfied customers, which leads to profitability. – Anne M. Mulcahy, former CEO at Xerox

What is Employee Engagement

Employee engagement is defined as the emotional investment employees make in their organizations. It is the passion, involvement, and motivation they bring to work, which they use to guide their work. Engaged employees identify with the goals of the organization and align their own goals with the organization’s goals.(Lalwani,2021). Employee engagement is based on trust, integrity, and communication between an organization and its members.

The concept of employee engagement was first introduced in 1990 by Dr. William Kahn. He suggested that people are involved in their work at three levels – physically, cognitively, and emotionally. However, employees may be engaged at fewer levels, or even disengaged or actively disengaged

 

Types of employee engagement

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1. Engaged Employees -According to the,Jim McCoy (chief revenue officer and general manager at Scout Exchange, an AI-powered recruitment marketplace) ‘’Highly engaged employees are typically high energy people that have close relationships with their colleagues, including their direct manager or supervisor. They have a clear sense of commitment to their organization. They are excited to take on new challenges, embrace change, and welcome solving tough problems. They also tend to be curious by nature, continually learning, and regularly seeking new ways to broaden their existing skill sets. They effectively are ambassadors for the organization, continually looking for ways to promote the organization and further the organizational mission.”
2. Disengaged employees -. They do not involve themselves in activities beyond their regular jobs, and they value the job just enough to ensure that they get their pay check at the end of the month. simply put in their specified hours at work and leave
3. Actively disengaged employees - Such employees are not only unproductive, but they also undermine the work engaged employees do. Their negative attitude may create a toxic workplace, and they essentially become a burden on the business.

How Is Employee Engagement Measured?

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Measuring employee engagement helps you gain insight into what your employees think your organization does well and areas to improve

Pulse Surveys -Surveys are the most frequent technique to measure employee engagement, but they should be supplemented with measurable, independent data

Sentiment Analysis-an approach for extracting subjective data can identify the general sentiment in employees' online discussions. Sentiment analytics can identify harmful workplace practices within or across teams by analysing email and chat data. All data is anonymous. Sentiment analysis can reveal employee survey honesty.

Employee net promoter score (eNPS) - Employee net promoter score is a metric used to measure employee loyalty by asking how willing employees are to promote the organization as a place to work.

One-on-one meetings(monthly)-No technology can replace one-on-one meetings. Employees feel heard when they can talk about their opinions. Anonymous feedback can raise wider issues. Managers can gauge employee attitude in one-on one sessions for more intimate matters.

Stay/Exit interviews - Employee retention might be tough. However, exit interviews can provide HR departments with vital data to improve employee engagement. These interviews show how vital it is to consistently interact with employees to prevent such incidents, starting with the on boarding process and setting the tone in that crucial 90-day period to define a culture that even new employees can feel engaged in.

Employee Engagement Theories

Employee engagement theory is the formal idea that organizations can make their workers happier and get more work out of them by challenging, supporting, and inspiring them. According to this theory, businesses with high levels of worker motivation and loyalty enjoy employee engagement benefits like lower turnover and less absenteeism, higher customer satisfaction, bigger bottom lines, and more creativity and innovation. This idea is linked to best practices for employee engagement, frameworks for employee engagement, and strategies for employee engagement. Many employee engagement software tools, employee engagement campaigns, and employee engagement tasks are based on the theories below.

Theory	Best for
The Zinger model	The Zinger model would work particularly well for workplaces that are responsive to the idea that everyone has spiritual, emotional, and mental energy levels that can affect their professional relationships and output.
The Gallup model	The Gallup model is very flexible and works well for teams of all sizes and in various industries. It’s particularly useful for remote, hybrid, or distributed teams as it lets leadership ascertain satisfaction with a few core questions in an employee engagement questionnaire sent with a tool like Leap some.
The AON-Hewitt model	The AON-Hewitt method can work well for larger companies with its clear Say, Stay, and Strive messaging.
The Kahn model	This model could work particularly well for companies that want to encourage staff to be open, empathetic, and compassionate in their workplace.
The Maslow model	Maslow’s original hierarchy is well-known and simple, so it may be easier than other models to communicate to staff and implement company-wide.
The JD-R model	This model may work well for demanding roles (like high-pressure or physically demanding jobs) or companies that want to focus on ways to offer employee development or extra resources.

 

 What is the Famous Employee Engagement Theory

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Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory is the most famous employee engagement theory.Abraham Maslow was an American psychologist who created the Hierarchy of Needs, a theory which argued that psychological health was dependent on the fulfilling of needs in order of priority. This theory put forward the idea that humans must have their basic needs met in order to pursue their own personal growth and development. These needs are the basis for human survival and growth

This theory play a large part in employee engagement levels and  lets see how the company  employees are engaged and motivated under this theory

1. Survival– We know this is a basic need. This includes the need to have a job, a salary that pays the bills, and a sense of financial independence.
2. Safety– When we have jobs, we need to know that they are  With the way the job market is nowadays, it’s hard for many to move past this second most basic need. It also causes individuals to need structure in the workplace, with a chain of command and a process for their duties so they feel confident that they’re doing their job correctly.
3. Belonging– People need to feel like they’re part of a team, that they are a part of something bigger. As employees, humans need to know their individual contributions are valued by the company. If your organizational is setup around team principles, then this sense of belonging and “camaraderie” should come almost naturally.
4. Importance– This need dovetails into the “belonging” need in the sense that individuals need to feel like they’re important to a team, projects, and the overall organization. This need is most prevalent inside of larger companies where the need to engage employees on a personal level becomes harder and harder for higher level management.
5. Self-Actualization– Most employees have some level of ambition and want to achieve more than where they’re currently positioned. Giving them opportunities for growth, learning, leadership and advancement gives them all of the tools they need to begin to self-actualize within your company’s walls. When they reach this point, and are taking full advantage of the tools made available to them, they inspire others along the way and create a ripple effect of employee engagement.

Main Drivers of Employee Engagement

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Employee engagement is driven by employees' desire for: Meaningful work. Career growth. Empowerment and main drivers of employee engagement as  as given below

1. Employee wellness - Employee wellness is one of the essential drivers; employees with high welfare focus better, perform better, and achieve their professional and personal goals. These are the employees that don’t get distracted at work. Workplace culture plays a vital role in improving employee well-being. It is up to an organization to provide a conducive environment for its employees.
2. Empower your employees - Empowering employees means giving your team members permission to take action and make decisions within your organization
3. Workplace culture- The shared values, belief systems, attitudes, and the set of assumptions that people in a workplace share Workplace culture is proven to boost employee engagement. The average American works 60 hours a week, and work culture shapes who you are. Leadership and management affect culture and employee engagement drivers. This engagement driver sets company culture. A well-organized company culture makes work enjoyable.
4. Career growth- Organizations must recognize that employees' personal and professional interests are linked. If they don't perceive career advancement in your company, people will go. A greater attrition rate wastes resources and money! When co-workers quit, morale drops. Thus, keep workers engaged to keep them.
5. Brand alignment-Employees feel in sync when they share the company's vision and ambitions. Engaged workers don't mind working overtime. They feel like part of the team and own their tasks.
6. Rewards-When rewarded, humans grow thrilled. This is human nature, but you can utilize it to your advantage at work by congratulating your staff for their hard work. Workplace gamification is this idea. It encourages employees to stay and work hard.
7. Social relationships at work - Work socially. This engagement driver considers employee-manager respect, feedback, fairness, development, and advocacy. Your employment shouldn't be like high school, where you're continuously monitored and punished for mistakes. Encourage co-workers to greet each other as they would outside the office. Avoid cliques and exclusion..

8. Data and more data- Data is vital for any business. You need to know how engaged your employees are. Employee feedback and the Net Promoter Score survey are great ways. Scores are usually ranked:

Benefits of the Employee engagement

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1. Higher levels of Employee Satisfaction-Any company needs happy employees. Unsatisfied workers won't enjoy or own their work. The company suffers from this. Disengaged workers also cost the company money. Happier workers are more likely to perform well for the company.
2. Lower levels of employee attrition-High employee turnover hurts the company's reputation. Unengaged workers depart and move to a company where they think they'll perform better. It's costly and time-consuming to hire and onboard new employees. Higher engagement will help you keep your finest performers.
3. Better productivity-Engaged employees perform faster and better. Motivated workers work better. Surveys show engaged workers are 17% more productive. By working hard, these employees inspire others.
4. Increase in company revenue-Employees who are more engaged in their work harder. This makes customers and clients happy, and it's obvious that satisfied customers will return. Returning customers become loyal, which boosts a business's revenue. It's simple to make your company more profitable
5. Less number of absent days-Engaged employees use 41% fewer sick days. Disengaged employees lack a sense of responsibility for the business they work for, unlike engaged employees, who don't mind coming to work since they feel like an important member of the team.

Current Challenges in Employee Engagement 

Recruit and on-board the right people

Proactively drive internal mobility

Improve the line manager’s ability to manage

Empower employees to manage their own careers

 

Conclusion 

HR has to ensure employees have the right skills, tools, and environment to perform their jobs to the best of their ability. And HR needs to keep developing employees so that engagement is maintained. Make sure people have clear career progression, and the managers of the company need to work closely with their employees, and they need to engage with the employees to identify why some employees engagement is very low and what kinds of strategies can be implemented to increase the employees engagement to improve productivity and maintain  happy employees work environment while achieving the organizational objectives.

References

Armstrong.M(2014), Armstrong’s Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice(13^th edition) [Online] Available at  https://www.google.com/search?q=e-book+of+ARMSTRONG%E2%80%99S+HANDBOOK+OF+HUMAN+RESOURCE+MANAGEMENT+PRACTICE.[Accessed on 02^nd April 2023]

 

 everyonesocial(no date),Why Is Employee Engagement Important?,[Online] available at  https://everyonesocial.com/employeeengagement/#:~:text=Employee%20engagement%20improves%20work%20culture,workers%20into%20your%20best%20advocates. [Accessed on 13^th April 2023]

 

Lalwani.P.(2021) What Is Employee Engagement? Definition, Measurement, Drivers, and Strategies,with Examples, Engagement & Retention article [Online]Available at  https://www.spiceworks.com/hr/engagement-retention/articles/what-is-employee-engagement  [Accessed on 13^th April 2023]

 

Leapsome Team (no date), 6 employee engagement models for a thriving workplace, [Online] available at  https://www.leapsome.com/blog/employee-engagement-models. [Accessed on 13^th April 2023]

 

Proactiveinsights (2020),Hierarchy Of Needs Applied To Employee Engagement,[Online] Available at https://www.proactiveinsights.com/blog/hierarchy-of-needs-applied-to-employee-engagement/ [Accessed on 13^th April 2023]

 

Questionpro(no date ) Drivers of Employee Engagement: Top 8 drivers + Free Guide ,[online ] Available at https://www.questionpro.com/blog/top-drivers-of-employee-engagement/[Accessed on 13^th April 2023]

 

 Snell.A(2009) Tackling the challenges of employee engagement, Strategic HR Review article[Online Available at https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/shr.2009.37208baa.002/full/html?utm_campaign=Emerald_HR_PPV_November22_RoN [Accessed on 13^th April 2023]

 

Smith.T(2022) What Is Employee Engagement? Definition, Strategies, and Example,[Online] Available at https://www.google.com/search?q=employee+engagment&rlz=1C1GCEV_enLK929LK929&biw=1366&bih=580&sxsrf=APwXEdcYI05Y2c4-wga52gHDxIiaosXvxA%3A1681343579383&ei=W0Q3ZKSEF-ra4-EPtsSCwAU&ved=0ahUKEwjkna32xKX-AhVq7TgGHTaiAFgQ4dUDCA8&uact=5&oq=employee+engagment&gs_lcp=Cgxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAQAzIHCCMQsQIQJzIHCCMQsQIQJzIHCCMQsQIQJzIHCAAQigUQQzIHCAAQigUQQzIHCAAQigUQQzIHCAAQigUQQzIHCAAQigUQQzIHCAAQgAQQCjIHCAAQgAQQCjoKCAAQRxDWBBCwAzoECCMQJzoHCCMQ6gIQJzoNCAAQjwEQ6gIQtAIYAToICAAQigUQkQI6CwgAEIAEELEDEIMBOgsIABCKBRCxAxCDAToNCC4QigUQsQMQgwEQQzoKCAAQigUQsQMQQzoNCC4QigUQxwEQrwEQQzoKCC4QigUQ1AIQQ0oECEEYAFCRAliIVmCAXWgCcAF4BIABiAKIAeMikgEGMC4xNS44mAEAoAEBsAERyAEIwAEB2gEGCAEQARgK&sclient=gws-wiz-serp [Accessed on 13^th April 2023]

 

 Tenney.M(2021) 3 Types of Employee Engagement, business leadership today article [Online] Available at https://businessleadershiptoday.com/how-many-types-of-employee-engagement-arethere/#:~:text=There%20are%20three%20types%20of,emotional%20connection%20to%20their%20work. [Accessed on 13^th April 2023]