EMPLOYEES ENGAGEMENT IN AN ORGANIZATION

QUESTION

Assignment Topic:

“Critically examine managerial implications of employee engagement.”

(What is employee engagement? Is it a relevant and important concept to managers? Why’s and Why Not’s? etc.)

SOLUTION

Employee engagement is a very effective and influencing concept which catalyses the performance of people engaged on work in an organization. For an employee this concept can be directly proportional to job satisfaction, sense of belongingness and lower intention to quit. For the organization it may mean higher commitment, more retention, healthy work environment, productivity and profitability and competitive advantage in context with the present day business world of globalization [ Saks, 2006]. The concept of employee engagement has been debated since many years. Many HR & OB professionals have coined many concepts, theories and definitions for employee engagement but the concept gained importance in real sense i.e. its practical implication started from the age of globalization when it was seen that there is a huge need for retaining and motivating the employees so as to attain desired goals. The global world has become very competitive nowadays, in order to sustain it is very important to evolve new strategies and marketing techniques from time to time in order to capture the customers, in such competitive scenario, attrition can be a huge load on the management and therefore the concept of employee engagement, employee empowerment, strategic HRM and many other similar concepts have been coined. [White, 2011] The topic of the essay critically denotes the concentration of employee engagement concept on the managerial implications of it which must be given increased attention. The topic is highly justified as the crux always remains in hands of the managers or the senior officials who are liaisons between the organization and employees and who can act as a catalyst for employee engagement.

KAHN describes employee engagement as a concept that focuses on how the psychological experiences of work and work context shape the process of people presenting and absenting themselves during task performance [Luthans & Peterson, 2001] Csikszenmihalyi says employee engagement is a notion of flow that people feel when they act with total involvement. When individuals are in flow state little conscious control is necessary for their actions. Empirical research on employee engagement has put into focus the link of this concept with customer satisfaction and organizational financial success. Employee engagement can bring higher willingness to contribute to company’s success, staff commitment and sense of belongingness towards the firm. Higher motivation to contribute in organization’s success and creating a sense of identity of an individual in the firm. [Insala, 2007] Furthermore employee engagement can bring trust and integrity in an employee towards his manager, it can bring mental stimulation of the employee for the kind of work he has been assigned by his manager, managers can work towards motivating the employees for their own career growth opportunities, manager can significantly influence employees level of engagement by higher job involvement, giving freedom of decision making and friendly coordination in workplace. [Peters, 2007]

Manager’s implication of employee engagement starts with measuring the level of engagement. It has to be the level of engagement required and also the level of engagement presently possessed. There is no certain metrics for measurement of employee engagement at work but it can be easily attained through a survey or feedback form being filled up anonymously by the employees and questioning them on the parameters of productivity, motivation. Leader’s feedback and training needs. [Wellins] Perrins in 2003 has said that one of the key drivers in employee engagement from manager’s perspective is good leadership and challenging work. Managers must look at engagement from a very positive point of view, it should not be considered as a key to success but it should be seen as a key to working towards well being of the subordinates and the organization. Clearly managers ability to build a challenging work environment for the subordinate and effective employee communication of the work to be done on high priority is very crucial in deciding the level of engagement a employee can attain in the organization. [Perrin, 2003] Managers can also imply support and control technique for improving employee engagement in the organization. This technique can be applied depending upon the efficiency and competence of the employee as competent employees can be engaged with the help of higher motivation towards work, recognition of their work, easy and informal conversations with senior officials on further goals and mission of the company whereas for incompetent employees controlling technique can be applied to gain engagement of employee in the firm. They can be asked to perform short term work goals and regular monitoring of the work performed, timely training and lectures relating to work, effective and empowered voice which employee gets bound to listen and abide and timely delivery of services which on the whole will remove the unproductive time and increase the engagement of employee on positive job. [CIPD, 2011]

Manager’s implication of employee engagement primarily deals with distinct job role plays being assigned to employees so that they are totally aware of their work and duties which will further lead to timely and higher productivity. Secondly managers must recognize the efforts and efficient work of his subordinates subsequently bringing high level of motivation and positive energy in the employee. Thirdly managers should value the engagement concept because senior team leaders must be true believers of the power of engagement thereby bringing faith in their subordinates as well. Fourthly choosing the right champion is very imperative as employee engagement must capture both mind and heart of the employee for which it is very important for the manger to apply it in order of most efficient employee to least efficient one. [Macleod and Clarke ,n.d]  Fifth implication can be said to be fixing a bold goal or a firm goal for success. Just improving engagement cannot be powerful enough to meet the desired goals what si more important for managers to adopt is a sustainable goal and motivation of all subordinates towards achievement of the same. Sixthly it can be said that managers must energize their HR functions like retention, Good morale, talent related decisions and reward and recognition for good performance. Seventh implication is the direct relation between first line managers and their subordinates as a tool for measuring impact of engagement as the relationship between first line managers and subordinates has direct impact on employee engagement and his motivation for work and performance. The eighth way is to celebrate and replicate those who engage well. It is nothing but a way to reward the subordinate for his higher involvement in work and such celebration increases direct association of manager and their subordinates thereby increasing employee engagement at work. Another method is to recruit and promote people who engage well in the organization. A consistent way of increasing employee engagement is by promoting those senior officials who have succeeded in engaging their team effectively on work and have achieved desired goals through team performance and involvement. Tenth way could be by developing the managers for team handling and employee engagement. Most organizations are training more and more managers for employee engagement and better team handling techniques which may bring compelling reasons for higher engagement and better managed team. [Zinger , n.d]

One of the surveys says that employee engagement has effect of various social media networking sites being officially operated and enjoyed in free time. It has direct effect on high level of productivity and mental peace and stability of employees in an organization. The survey says that face book, twitter, blogs, you tube etc are tools used by managers for employee engagement and team motivation. Managers are increasingly adopting these methods to enhance employee engagement and team spirit among their subordinates. The survey also says that employee engagement can also be increased by communicating budgetary changes and staff changes to all employees by their managers and seniors. It provides a sense of belongingness to employees and also helps them to easily adjust with the necessary changes which have been done in the organization. The communication of budget and financial reports tells the employee about the internal growth factors necessary in the organization, the economic downturn is not hidden from the employees, mergers or acquisitions or reorganization of the firm is also known to the employee from internal sources only like their own reporting officers and seniors. [IABC, 2009]

Concluding it can be said that employee engagement is very vast and distinct concept which can be seen as a link between job and organization engagement. The study has provided a new insight into employee engagement for example the definition varies from person to person and point of view of watching engagement as a concept also varies accordingly. Practitioners and academics tend to agree to positivity of employee engagement as a concept being extensively practiced as we have already seen that engagement can yield many positive returns like job satisfaction, retention, higher morale, manager’s team integrity and many others. Employee engagement is firstly an individual level construct and then an organizational level construct. Mainly it’s the mangers that have to liaison between the individual and organizational engagement needs. Kahn has given the outcome in his studies that individual level engagement can yield positive outcomes for individual as well as organization in terms of monetary benefits, productivity and profitability and higher commitment. Managers are the key drivers for employee engagement being successful on ground level as managers practice engagement on their subordinates and subsequently understand the minute changes and need for chan ges in engagement techniques so as to bring higher motivation and more productivity in his subordinates and eventually high profits to the firm. Apart from this managers must apply employee engagement for well being of their subordinates. Growth of each employee is indirect achievement for the managers as well. Surveys and data reviews have also fetched same results that employee engagement can yield profit and customer satisfaction for the organization and motivated employees are easy to retain thereby increasing good will of the company in the global competitive world. It is also worth considering how employee engagement levels vary across industries, type of employees and sometimes country as well. Employee engagement is very high source of motivation for competent employees; it is very important source in private sectors where attrition is relatively high as compared to government and public sectors. Employee engagement is more practiced in developed countries where monetary growth is very high and globalization has increased the need for employee engagement so as to increase the level of commitment and sense of belongingness of employees. The study has also identified the need for empowerment together with engagement needed in firms. Managers must involve their team in decision making and goal setting in order to attract, motivate and retain staff. It was also seen that senior officials are more likely to be engaged and are less involved in negative energies in professional life whereas lower level executives were disengaged and had high chances of leaving organization or identifying with long term goals of the firm. The major reason behind it is monetary motivation is likely to be low in executive level employees whereas managerial level or top officials are highly paid bringing more engagement reasons for them. Employee engagement is not just influenced by individual factors but also by socio-cultural factors like community with which they are working, the concept of globalization and virtual workstations have increased the reason for lesser engagement as loyalty for the firm is very low in such cases. Apart from this today is the world of outsourcing where employees are not directly recruited in the parent firm but they work just for contract bound period and therefore they have strong reasons for having lesser employee engagement at work. [ Kular et al, 2008]  In progressive organizations, employee engagement is being practiced on ground level since long time and it has been included in HR strategies so as to bring consistent effectiveness. Thus it can be said that employee engagement has a direct lead-lag relationship with organizational growth and development and it’s an accepted belief that engaged workforce is very essential for the success and growth of the company.

References:

1. Allan M. Saks, 2006, Journal of managerial psychology, Vol. 21, Iss 7, pp-600-619, viewed on 2^nd April, 2012, <http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?articleid=1575563&show=abstract>
2. Blessingwhite Research, Employee engagement report, viewed on 2^nd April, 2012, <http://www.bs-muc.de/aktdoku/report.pdf>
3. Fred Luthans and Suzanne J.Peterson, 2001, employee engagement and manager self efficacy, viewed on 2^nd April, 2012, < http://www.learnership.co.uk/archive/27.pdf>
4. Insala.co.uk, 2012, Employee engagement, viewed on 2^nd April, 2012, <http://www.insala.com/Articles/employee-development/employee-engagement-a-review-of-the-most-current-research.asp>
5. Melissa Peters, 2007, Employee engagement, research snapshot, viewed on 2^nd April, 2012, <http://www.cio.gov.bc.ca/local/cio/kis/pdfs/employee_engagement.pdf>
6. Richard S. Wellins, Paul Bernthal, Mark Phelps, Employee engagement, key to realizing competitive advantage, viewed on 2^nd April, 2012, http://www.ddiworld.com/DDIWorld/media/monographs/employeeengagement_mg_ddi.pdf?ext=.pdf
7. Towers Perrins, 2003, Understanding what drives employee engagement, , viewed on 2^nd April, 2012, <http://www.keepem.com/doc_files/Towers_Perrin_Talent_2003(TheFinal).pdf>
8. CIPD, 2011, Management competencies for enhancing employee engagement, viewed on 2^nd April, 2012, http://www.cipd.co.uk/binaries/5468%20Mgt%20Comp%20RI%20(WEB).pdf
9. David Macleod and Nita Clarke, Engaging for success, viewed on 2^nd April, 2012, <http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/+/http://www.bis.gov.uk/files/file52215.pdf>
10. David Zinger, Employment engagement network, viewed on 2^nd April, 2012, < http://www.davidzinger.com/wp-content/uploads/Top-Tens-of-Employee-Engagement.pdf>
11. IABC, 2011, Employee engagement survey, viewed on 2^nd April, 2012, < http://www.iabc.com/researchfoundation/pdf/EmployeeEngagement.pdf>
12. Sandeep Kular, Mark Gatenby, Chris Rees, Emma Soane, Katie Truss, Employee Engagement,  viewed on 2^nd April, 2012, <http://eprints.kingston.ac.uk/4192/1/19wempen.pdf>

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