EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT
Employee engagement can be understood as the degree
to which people are invested in the success of a business. Having engaged
employees means higher levels of productivity, improved retention rates and
ultimately a boost in our bottom line .The real describe of employee engagement is ambiguous between both academic researchers and
among practitioners who use it in conversations with clients. We show that the
term is used at different times to refer to psychological states, traits, and behaviors
as well as employees antecedents and outcomes (Macey,2008).
Employee
engagement is a vast construct that touches almost all parts of human resource
management facets we know hitherto. If every part of human resources is not
addressed in appropriate manner, employees fail to fully engage themselves in
the employers’ job in the response to such kind of mismanagement. The construct
employee engagement is built on the foundation of earlier concepts like job
satisfaction, employee commitment and Organizational citizenship behavior.
Though it is related to and encompasses these concepts, employee engagement is
broader in scope (Sridevi,2010).
According to Saks, (2006) employee engagement has become an important topic
in recent years. However, employee
engagement has rarely been
studied in the academic literature and relatively little is known about its
antecedents and consequences. This is the first study to make a distinction between job
and organization engagement and to measure a variety of antecedents and consequences
of job and organization engagement. As a result, this study addresses concerns
about that lack of academic research on employee engagement and speculation
that it might just be the latest management fad (Saks,2006).
Poor
workforce engagement can be detrimental to organizations because of the ensuing
decrease in employee well-being and productivity. A sample of 216 health care
employees from the United States, Canada, and Japan completed an online survey.
Regression results suggested that psychological workplace climate was
significantly related to each outcome variable; engagement moderated relations
between workplace climate and each of the four dependent variables. ANOVA
results revealed that high engagement group employees demonstrated higher psychological
well-being and personal accomplishment, whereas low engagement group employees
exhibited higher emotional exhaustion and depersonalize (Shuck and Reio,2014).
The
term employee engagement has gained considerable popularity in the past
20 years yet it remains inconsistently defined and conceptualized. Although
much has been written on the subject, little rigorous academic research has
been done. This gap has resulted in a disjointed approach to understanding and
developing strategies around employee engagement within organizations. This
article explores the development of employee engagement through a historical
lens using an integrated literature review to define and situate the concept within
the HRD field by systematically reviewing and organizing literature across
various disciplines and fields of study. Seminal works on the topic were
identified and reviewed to gain an understanding of the topic’s development. A
working definition is proposed and implications for theory, scholarship, and
organizational practice are discussed (Shuck,2009).
Figure
1.0: Main Four elements of employee engagement
(Source
: Juneja, 2018)
Employee
engagement consists of four main features as per figure 1.0. To achieve high results all the four key elements
should be link together. Namely Commitment, Loyalty ,Motivation and Trust. We
work for a leading commercial bank in country and the bank tries to achieve
these four dimensions in figure 1.0 through the seven areas as stated below.
1. Give employees a sense
of purpose
One
of the critical drivers of employee engagement is employee’s sense of purpose
in an organization.
Companies
will us the vision statement, mission statement and values to communicate the purpose.
Banks Vision : To be the acknowledged leader and chosen partner in providing financial solutions through inspired people.
Banks Mission : Combining entrepreneurial spirit with empowered people and leading edge technology to constantly exceed stakeholder expectations.
Values………….
- Treasure professional & personal integrity at all times
- Demonstrate mutual respect in all our interactions
- Passionate in everything we do
- Committed to being customer orientated
- Courage to change, challenge and be different
- Demonstrate unity in diversity
2. Involve employees in the creation of strategy related to Bank’s objectives
Allowing
employees to be a part of the strategy creation process in relation to the jobs
can go a long way in improving employee engagement. When people feel like
employees have a measure of control in the work executed by the employees, and
experience higher levels of accountability and ownership over the jobs and
goals. The strategy creation process is a two way process through the
organization. Hence, employees at every layer play a part in the creation.
Managers, once given the strategic objectives and KPIs, should sit with the
employee’s teams and create strategies with all who will be involved in the
execution process.
3. Clearly defined roles and responsibilities
People should
know exactly how people work contributes to the bigger picture. A clear
understanding of the alignment between peoples work and top level company goals
is the key. Employees are then able to see the work contributes to the overall
purpose and this places importance on the stipulated job and increases employee
engagement.
The steps
below are simple efforts to ensure all employees have clearly defined roles and
responsibilities:
Write out a clear job description for each employee
Outline the rights and the decision making scope of the role
Clearly define the goals and objectives the role should achieve
4. Opportunities for growth
Providing bank
employees with opportunities for growth instills a confidence that hard work
will pay off. The chance to continually grow and develop keeps employees
engaged with the work. If employees aren’t given the opportunity to rise and
grow, engagement will fade and will result employee turnover. Employees who
feel underused and restricted in applying the employees skills and abilities
will quickly look elsewhere for opportunities. For this reason, it’s important
to create and offer your employees opportunities for growth.
At the bank
performance appraisals address the following Succession planning discussions
with employees. Employee satisfaction with the members current roles and on how
to improve satisfaction, Provide bank employees with necessary resources and
improve two-way communication mapping out plans of progression and regular checks
on KPIs
5. Communication
The banks
environment fosters good communication to increase the likelihood of employee
engagement. When employees receive clear and consistent communication it allows
them to feel valued. Employees are being kept in the loop, and are privy to
information required to successfully complete the job. People respond well to
the feeling of importance and being valued. As a result the employees have
increased levels of motivation and engagement in them self-work.
6. Recognition and reward
Recognition
and reward is a fairly common practice at the Bank and a well known motivator
of employee engagement in organizations. When an employee is rewarded and
recognized, they feel valued. When employees excel at the dedicated job and are
praised for employee’s efforts, a level of importance flows through to the
role. This all creates an environment ripe to increase employee engagement. Both
monitory and non monitory awards are given by the bank at regional level and
national level.
7. Positive relationships
The positive
relationships created among employees have positive effects. Help build
emotional bonds that generate positive feelings towards the organization.
CONCLUSION
When
considering the above suggest the employee engagement is a critical element in
the current economic society. Organization leaders may focus on this area and
practice positively and see the outcome of the employees as well as company
bottom line results. Employee engagement using the above 7 step process as
practice in the Bank will lead to employee engagement and subsequently lead to
organization success.
List of reference
Alan
M. Saks, (2006)
"Antecedents and consequences of employee engagement", Journal of
Managerial Psychology, Vol. 21 Issue: 7, pp.600-619,
Brad Shuck, Thomas G. Reio, Jr,(2014)“Employee Engagement and Well-Being A Moderation Model and Implications for Practice”, Volume: 21 issue: 1, page(s): 43-58
Article first published online: July 16, 2013; Issue published: February 1, 2014
Available at https://doi.org/10.1177/1548051813494240
Hatton
National Bank PLC, Annual Report( 2015-2016)
Human Resource Development Review Vol 9, Issue 1, pp. 89
- 110 First Published December 2, 2009https://doi.org/10.1177/1534484309353560
Available at
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1534484309353560#articleCitationDownloadContainer
Management
Study Guide Content Team
Macey,
W., & Schneider, B. (2008). The Meaning of Employee Engagement. Industrial
and Organizational Psychology, 1(1), 3-30.
doi:10.1111/j.1754-9434.2007.0002.x
Solomon
Markos Kompaso and M. Sandhya Sridevi,(2010)” Employee Engagement: The Key to
Improving Performance”, journal of International Journal of Business and
Management,Vol.5, Issue:12
Available
at https://doi.org/10.5539%2Fijbm.v5n12p89
