EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT SHIFTING TOWARDS A NEW PARADIGM

Abstract

Employee Engagement is the state of level of commitment and involvement an employee has towards their
organization and its core values and beliefs. It plays a vital role in the attainment of organizational
objectives and developing an environment of belonging, mutual respect and trust , as well as it help to align
the human activities to the company strategy. This paper throws light on how Employee Engagement can
be increased. This work also identify the strategies to handle the disengaged employees, key drivers of
Employee Engagement and modern Employee Engagement practices in corporate.

Keywords: Employee Engagement, Commitment, Working relationship, Involvement

Introduction

In the past several years, many authors have written on the topic Employee Engagement.
Engagement at work was conceptualized by Khan (1990) as the harnessing of organizational members to
their work roles. In Engagement, people employ and express themselves physically, cognitively and
emotionally during role performances. Human Resource being the most important asset of any organization
requires an enabling human resource climate with a view to achieve organizational objectives in the most
effective manner. Employee Engagement is an important facet of the management. With a view to nurture,
mentor and groom people to realize their capabilities and potentials; help them grow with the organization
and thereby enabling them to contribute effectively in the attainment of organizational goals.

One of the most sensitive issues of concern of the 21st century is that in spite of providing good pay
packets and benefits, many organizations losing their competitors without any valid reasons. Though, some
employee turnover is normal, but if organization will seriously act on this problem, they can be cope up
with it, to engage their employees, the possibility of unexpected loss of talented and motivated workforce
will be less. Employee Engagement is arguably the most critical metric for organizations in the 21 st
century.

Towers Watson, a global HR and Performance improvement company, defines engagement as:-
 The Rational Component (Think): Employees support and alignment with the organizations
strategy, goals, culture and values.

The Emotional Component (Feel): The degree to which employees feel an emotional sense of
belonging, attachment and pride towards their organization; includes a willingeness to recommend it to
others as a place to work.

The Motivational Component (Act): Employees willingness to exert extra effort and go avove and
beyond their normal job responsibilities in order to help their organization succeed.

Objectives of the study

To understand the factors contributing towards an culture of engagement.

To understand the drives of engagement.
To understand the strategies to engage the employees.

Categories of Employee Engagement

In an organization there are three categories of employees depending upon their level of engagement.

Engaged Employees: Engaged employees are builders. They want to know the desired expectations
for their role so that they can meet and exceed them. They are always curious about their company and
their place in it. They perform consistently at high levels. They want to use their talents and strengths at
work every day. They work with passion; they drive innovations and move their organization forward.
They display outstanding level of commitment and loyalty to the work for the better benefits of the
organization. They make efforts without distress meaning working harder and deriving satisfaction.

Not Engaged Employees: The not-engaged employees are the task doers. They tend to focus on
tasks rather than the goals and outcomes they are expected to accomplish. They want to be told what to do,
so that they can do accordingly and say they are finished. Employees who are not engaged tend to feel that
their contributions are being constantly overlooked, and their potential is not being tapped. They
concentrate on accomplishing task rather than achieving an outcome.
Actively Disengaged Employees: The actively disengaged employees are the cave dwellers. They are
consistently against virtually everything. They are not just unhappy at work; they are busy acting out their
unhappiness. Actively disengaged workers undermine what their engaged coworkers accomplish. They
have a very negativity towards at every opportunity. They are with least level of commitment and loyalty
to the organization. They get distressed without effort and feel bad about it.

AIM- Articulate Improve- Manage

The success of employee engagement lies in the attainment of the highest standards of AIM (Articulate-
Improve-Manage). In case, the employees are truly engaged, they tend to articulate their view freely in the
interest of the organization. In case, the employees are truly engaged, they tend to articulate their view
freely in the interest of the organization. Further, while interacting with customers, potential employees
and co-workers, employees speak positively passionately about the organization. This helps to get better
operating results from a higher level of motivation and also helps to get better employees and market share
due to positive image of the organization. Secondly, the truly engaged employees tend to have an intense
desire to stay with the organization and work for its continual improvement. While this solves the problem
of attrition and intellectual flight from the organization, at the same time this leads to qualitative
improvements in the systems and procedures, definitely it helps to give a better lead of operating and
financial performance of the organization. As the third component of the AIM, truly engaged employees
manage things better by making extra efforts and engaging in behavior that contributes to business success.
As such, AIM becomes an important component on which the success of employee engagement is based.

Figure 1: Employee Engagement

AIM- Articulate Improve- Manage

Employee Engagement

Articulate Improve

Positively speaking Nnnn AIM Staying and

about the growing with the
organization at organization
internal and external through
forum Manage improvements

Making extra efforts

and contributing to
organizational goals
Factors Influencing AIM

The effectiveness of employee engagement through AIM depends on several factors, such as
overall HR climate with a quality of work and life at good relationship with co-workers while maintaining
the hygiene and motivating factors to provide a platform of growth and opportunities (see Fig 2). In case of
customer-centric organizations, where the involvement of employees makes a lot of difference in the
quality of customer service and business volumes; the accomplishment of the highest standard of employee
engagement should be a fundamental of the human resource management.

In todays business scenario every organization, however employee engagement is one of the most
essential factors in human resource management. Actually engaged employees tend to have enthusiasm,
high energy levels, willingness to learn new things, loyalty towards organization, job involvement, good
interpersonal skills, adoptability to change, openness for innovative ideas, ability to perform under work
pressure, leadership qualities and team spirit.

Figure 2: Factors Influencing AIM

HR Climate

Quality of Work

Quality of Life

People at Work

Hygiene &
Motivating factors

Growth
opportunities
 The overall HR climate of the organization plays an important role in this, others factors are also
equally important. Quality of work is an important element of job satisfaction and hence there is better
engagement by offering challenges that enable an employee to upgrade his knowledge, skills and
capabilities. A well accomplished job produce a greater satisfaction than a monetary benefit and also boost
the morale and self confidence leading to better management. The quality of work life include status
improvement, recognition and appreciation. The work environment should be contribute to achieve
organizational goal as well as individual development. It is a set of win-win circumstances where both the
entities; an employee should be awarded and rewarded appropriately for his good job, extra efforts,
sincerity and loyalty, and at the same time irresponsible and drowsy employee should be penalized
suitably. The practice of such a concept gives a direction to the existing and potential employees to
assimilate such values and try to attempt up to the level of expectations. Such practice will develop a good
organizational image which affects the attitude and behavior of its internal and external clients. It also helps
the institution to attract and retain the talent and thereby facilitate improvements in the systems and
procedures. In addition, people at work which include seniors, co-workers and subordinates also play a
crucial role in employee engagement. A conducive work environment requires a healthy, hearty and
warmth relations with superiors, peers, subordinators as well as with customers and clients. Good
interpersonal relationship with co-workers generate a employees comfortable level and trust and
confidence among each other which helps in better articulation as a part of AIM process.

In addition, basic hygiene factors such as monetary compensation, other facilities and work-life
balance also plays an important role in strengthening employee engagement by developing on them a level
of satisfaction towards their quality of life. Moreover, growth opportunities such as learning, research, self
development, enhancement of skills, public recognition, etc. are also the determining factors in employee
engagement. If an organization will not give an opportunities for growth and personal development, it will
get very difficult to attract and retain the talented personnel among the existing and potential employees.

Drivers of Engagement

An organizations HR system is the primary driver of employee engagement. The HR systems staffing,
training and development practices contribute to the development of employee competencies that enhances
competitive advantage and help to ensure organization and employee fit. Awards, rewards, benefits and
performance management practices help motivate employees to behave in ways that benefit the
organization. To implement engagement organization need to understand the drivers of engagement
organizational culture is the most important drivers of engagement. An engagement is all about people,
people are one of the most important drivers of employee engagement.

E
Hhhh Give a feel to remain in the
organ organization
N
HV Versatility in skills of employees
to exhibi to perform their jobs Hh G
H Customer service orientation
achived achieved
Feeling Valued A

Hh Proper training and development & G

Hh Personal autonomy
Involved E

M
Hh Coordination between departments
of of the organization E
Hh Reducing role conflict
N

Figure 3: EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT DRIVERS

Driver 1: Give a feel to remain in the organization

The more likely employees to indicate their intention to stay, the more likely they are
to be satisfied with the organization and their status as an employees.

Driver 2: Versatility in skills of employees to exhibit to perform their jobs

The degree to which employees feel their job tasks to require a wide range of
personal skills and competencies influences the satisfaction of individual employees. Employees tend to
feel more satisfied if given the opportunity to stretch their wings a bit.
 Driver 3: Customer service orientation achieved

Employees are more satisfied when they believe are responsible for identifying and
satisfying the needs of customers, and when they believe that the organization has the best interests of its
customers in mind. It would appear that when employees are more satisfied, they have an inherent focus on
making sure the customer is too.

Driver 4: Proper training and development

The extent to which employees both, new and existing, are provided with the type
of orientation and training that promotes their personal development as well as their contributions to the
organization. This is not just training for the sake of training, but rather the development of skills that
improve the contribution of each individual employee.

Driver 5: Personal autonomy

Autonomy is defined as the degree to which the job provides freedom and
discretion to the employee with respect to scheduling and work procedures. The employee is not only given
freedom and independence in their work, but is provided with the resources, information and training to
execute their role in the organization optimally.

Driver 6: Coordination between departments of the organization

The extent to which employees across organizational units cooperate to

articulate inter unit activities and minimize disruptions, delays and interference appears as an indicator of
satisfaction. Employees are more satisfied with the organization and their role within it when they feel that
the organization coordinates activities well between subunits, that is, they feel more satisfied being a part
of a well-structured and coordinated organization.

Driver 7: Reducing role conflict

The employees receive inconsistent expectations from the organization and

are expected to do things that conflict with what they believe to be correct is identified as a factor
negatively impacting engagement. The organization must provide clear and consistent information to
employees and must take into consideration the ramifications of that information. Employees are unlikely
to be motivated to blindly follow such instructions or bow to expectations, but if they are counter to what
the employee feel to be appropriate, engagement will not occur.

Modern strategies implemented in the organization

Empowerment: Employees want to be involved in decisions that affect their work. The leaders of
high engagement workplaces create a trustful and challenging environment, in which employees are
encouraged to dissent from the prevailing orthodoxy and to input and innovate to move the organization
forward. If the will involved in decision making and has the right to be heard by his boss then the
engagement levels are likely to be high.

Equal opportunities and fair treatment: The employee engagement levels would be high if their
superiors provide equal opportunities for growth and advancement to all the employees. Employees feel
that they are not discriminated in any aspects within the organization. The employee engagement levels
would be high if their superiors provide equal opportunities for growth and advancement to all the
employees.

Retiree engagement: Retirees are important ambassadors for organization. Managers should connect
with them through engagement, programs, frequent communications & events, such as an annual briefing
on company strategy, innovation and highlights from the prior year.

Employee feedback: Communications about organization business and strategy help in establishing a
shared set of goals priorities throughout the company and give employees the power to influence future
business decisions.

Recognition program: Appreciating employees efforts and achievements at all levels has always
been important. A program that promotes a culture of appreciation and supports high performance through
ongoing recognition, particularly in the areas of leadership, innovative thinking and service excellence.

Employee forum and networks: Employees exchange ideas and views, and collaborate through a
variety of online and in-person forums. Many employees maintain or contribute to company blogs or help
to build the internal network.
Outcomes of Employee Engagement

Employee engagement is a critical ingredient of individual and organizational success. The

impact of engagement (or disengagement) can demonstrate itself through productivity and organizational
performance, outcomes for customers of the organization, employee retention rates, organizational culture
and advocacy of the organization and its external image. Employee engagement is a key business driver for
organizational success. High levels of employee engagement with in a company promote retention of
talent, customer loyalty and improve organizational performance. It is also a key link to customer
satisfaction, company reputation and overall stakeholder value (Lockwood, 2007). Khan (1992) proposed
that high levels of engagement lead to positive outcomes for individuals, as well as positive organizational-
level outcomes (e.g. the growth and productivity of organizations). Engaged employees can help the
organization to achieve its mission, execute, its strategy and generate important business results. Employee
engagement affects the bottom line because engaged employees deliver high-quality, committed service
and form work teams that produce high quality results. Several research studies conducted by the Harvard
business review (HBR) found that employees rank the opportunity to do important work that gives a
feeling of accomplishment higher than pay as a prime motivator, it motivate the employees and develop
their talent and also to improve the work life balance.

Conclusion

Employees are the greatest assets for the organization. The more they will remain engaged the more
will be the productivity and the growth of the organization. It is important to have a medium to long-term
vision so as to properly understand the basic tents and advantages of employee engagement and how to use
it effectively for achieving organizational objectives through the best possible utilization of the human
resources. Truly engaged employees turn out as invaluable assets for the organization as they AIM to
contribute more than 100% through positive Articulation about the organization, working heartedly for its
continual improvement and also by putting in extra effort for managerial effectiveness. In the best
organization engagement is more than a human resource initiative. It is strategic function for the way they
do the business.
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