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Employee engagement is a concept that is generally viewed as managing discretionary effort, that is, when employees have choices, they will act in a way that furthers their organization`s interests. An engaged
employee is a person who is fully involved in, and enthusiastic about, his or her work.
Generating engagement
Recent research has focused on developing a better understanding of
how variables such as quality of work relationships and values of the organization interact and their link to important work outcomes. 84% of highly engaged employees believe they can positively impact the
quality of their organization`s products, compared with only 31 percent of the disengaged[1]. From the perspective of the employee, "outcomes" range from strong commitment to the isolation of oneself
from the organization. The study done by the Gallup Management Journal has shown that only 29% of employees are actively engaged in their jobs. Those "engaged" employees work with passion and feel a
strong connection to their company. About ⅔ of the business units scoring above the median on employee engagement also scored above the median on performance. Moreover, 54% of employees are not engaged meaning that they go through each workday putting time but no passion into their work. Only about ⅓ of companies below the median on employee engagement scored above the median on performance.
Access to a reliable model enables organizations to conduct validation studies to establish the relationship of employee engagement to productivity/performance and other measures linked to effectiveness. It is an important principle of industrial and organizational
psychology (i.e. the application of psychological theories, research methods, and intervention strategies involving workplace issues) that validation studies should be anchored in reliable scales (i.e.
organized and related groups of items) and not simply focus on individual elements in isolation. To understand how high levels of employee engagement affect organizational performance/productivity it
is important to have an a priori model that demonstrates how the scales interact.[13] There is also overlap between this concept and those relating to well-being at work and the psychological contract.
As employee productivity is clearly connected with employee engagement, creating an environment that encourages employee engagement is considered to be essential in the effective management
of human capital:
*Employer engagement. A company`s "commitment to improving the partnership between employees and...employer." Employers can stay
engaged with their employees by actively seeking to understand and act on behalf of the expectations and preferences of their employees.
* Employee perceptions of job importance. According to a 2006 study by Gerard Seijts and Dan Crim, "...an employees attitude toward the job[`s importance] and the company had the greatest impact on loyalty
and customer service then all other employee factors combined."
* Employee clarity of job expectations. "If expectations are not clear and basic materials and equipment not provided, negative emotions such as boredom or resentment may result, and the employee may then become focused on surviving more than thinking about how he can help the
organization succeed."
* Career advancement/improvement opportunities. "Plant supervisors and managers indicated that many plant improvements were being made outside the suggestion system, where employees initiated changes in
order to reap the bonuses generated by the subsequent cost savings."
* Regular feedback and dialogue with superiors. "Feedback is the key to giving employees a sense of where they`re going, but many organizations are remarkably bad at giving it.`What I really wanted to hear was `Thanks. You did a good job.` But all my boss did was hand me a check.`
* Quality of working relationships with peers, superiors, and subordinates. "...if employees` relationship with their managers is fractured, then no amount of perks will persuade the employees to perform at top levels. Employee engagement is a direct reflection of how employees feel about their relationship with the boss."
* Perceptions of the ethos and values of the organization.
"`Inspiration and values` is the most important of the six drivers in our Engaged Performance model. Inspirational leadership is the ultimate perk. In its absence, [it] is unlikely to engage employees."
* Effective Internal Employee Communications - which convey a clear description of "what`s going on". "`If you accept that employees want to be involved in what they are doing then this trend is clear (from small businesses to large global organisations). The effect of poor internal communications is seen as its most destructive in global
organisations which suffer from employee annexation - where the head office in one country is buoyant (since they are closest to the action, know what is going on, and are heavily engaged) but its annexes (who are furthest away from the action and know little about what is happening) are dis-engaged. In the worst case, employee
annexation can be very destructive when the head office attributes the annex`s low engagement to its poor performance... when its poor performance is really due to its poor communications.
Source:
http://www.about.com
employee is a person who is fully involved in, and enthusiastic about, his or her work.
Generating engagement
Recent research has focused on developing a better understanding of
how variables such as quality of work relationships and values of the organization interact and their link to important work outcomes. 84% of highly engaged employees believe they can positively impact the
quality of their organization`s products, compared with only 31 percent of the disengaged[1]. From the perspective of the employee, "outcomes" range from strong commitment to the isolation of oneself
from the organization. The study done by the Gallup Management Journal has shown that only 29% of employees are actively engaged in their jobs. Those "engaged" employees work with passion and feel a
strong connection to their company. About ⅔ of the business units scoring above the median on employee engagement also scored above the median on performance. Moreover, 54% of employees are not engaged meaning that they go through each workday putting time but no passion into their work. Only about ⅓ of companies below the median on employee engagement scored above the median on performance.
Access to a reliable model enables organizations to conduct validation studies to establish the relationship of employee engagement to productivity/performance and other measures linked to effectiveness. It is an important principle of industrial and organizational
psychology (i.e. the application of psychological theories, research methods, and intervention strategies involving workplace issues) that validation studies should be anchored in reliable scales (i.e.
organized and related groups of items) and not simply focus on individual elements in isolation. To understand how high levels of employee engagement affect organizational performance/productivity it
is important to have an a priori model that demonstrates how the scales interact.[13] There is also overlap between this concept and those relating to well-being at work and the psychological contract.
As employee productivity is clearly connected with employee engagement, creating an environment that encourages employee engagement is considered to be essential in the effective management
of human capital:
*Employer engagement. A company`s "commitment to improving the partnership between employees and...employer." Employers can stay
engaged with their employees by actively seeking to understand and act on behalf of the expectations and preferences of their employees.
* Employee perceptions of job importance. According to a 2006 study by Gerard Seijts and Dan Crim, "...an employees attitude toward the job[`s importance] and the company had the greatest impact on loyalty
and customer service then all other employee factors combined."
* Employee clarity of job expectations. "If expectations are not clear and basic materials and equipment not provided, negative emotions such as boredom or resentment may result, and the employee may then become focused on surviving more than thinking about how he can help the
organization succeed."
* Career advancement/improvement opportunities. "Plant supervisors and managers indicated that many plant improvements were being made outside the suggestion system, where employees initiated changes in
order to reap the bonuses generated by the subsequent cost savings."
* Regular feedback and dialogue with superiors. "Feedback is the key to giving employees a sense of where they`re going, but many organizations are remarkably bad at giving it.`What I really wanted to hear was `Thanks. You did a good job.` But all my boss did was hand me a check.`
* Quality of working relationships with peers, superiors, and subordinates. "...if employees` relationship with their managers is fractured, then no amount of perks will persuade the employees to perform at top levels. Employee engagement is a direct reflection of how employees feel about their relationship with the boss."
* Perceptions of the ethos and values of the organization.
"`Inspiration and values` is the most important of the six drivers in our Engaged Performance model. Inspirational leadership is the ultimate perk. In its absence, [it] is unlikely to engage employees."
* Effective Internal Employee Communications - which convey a clear description of "what`s going on". "`If you accept that employees want to be involved in what they are doing then this trend is clear (from small businesses to large global organisations). The effect of poor internal communications is seen as its most destructive in global
organisations which suffer from employee annexation - where the head office in one country is buoyant (since they are closest to the action, know what is going on, and are heavily engaged) but its annexes (who are furthest away from the action and know little about what is happening) are dis-engaged. In the worst case, employee
annexation can be very destructive when the head office attributes the annex`s low engagement to its poor performance... when its poor performance is really due to its poor communications.
Source:
http://www.about.com
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Raghav 29-10-2008
"Employee engagement is a direct reflection of how employees feel about their relationship with the boss" - Well said
