Do you want to improve productivity, business performance and share holder value of your organization? Of course, who doesn’t? Then work on developing a more engaged workforce because it is well proven by research that companies with higher percentages of engaged employees perform better.
There is no generally accepted definition for the term employee engagement. One definition which provides emphasizes the relationship between the employer and employee was given by Robinson et al.
Robinson et al. (2004) define employee engagement as “a positive attitude held by the employee towards the organization and its value. An engaged employee is aware of business context, and works with colleagues to improve performance within the job for the benefit of the organization. The organization must work to develop and nurture engagement, which requires a two-way relationship between employer and employee.”
Employee Engagement drives Organizational Performance
There is a direct relationship between employee engagement and employee retention, productivity and profitability. If the employees are engaged employees are, the employer is moe likely to exceed its revenue growth. Research also indicates that engagement is positively related to customer satisfaction (Coffman, 2000; Ellis and Sorensen, 2007; Towers Perrin Talent Report, 2003; Hewitt Associates, 2004; Heintzman and Marson, 2005; Coffman and Gonzalez-Molina, 2002).
What drives Employee Engagement and why it’s Matter?
Various researchers have identified the drivers of employee engagement:
The Penna research report (2007) states that employees want to work in organizations in which they are involved in meaningful work. The Blessing White (2006) study has found that almost 60% of the surveyed employees believe employee engagement comes from greater opportunities to grow and a strong manager-employee relationship.
Development Dimensions International (DDI, 2005) states that if managers do the following, it will help create a highly engaged workforce.
- Align efforts with strategy
- Empower
- Promote and encourage teamwork and collaboration
- Help people grow and develop
- Provide support and recognition where appropriate
According to the Towers Perrin Talent Report (2003), the top three among the ten drivers that result in employee engagement are:
- Senior management’s interest in employees’ well-being,
- Challenging work and
- Decision making authority.
Effective ways to increase Employee Engagement and Performance
Get the top leadership committed to retaining talent by developing good people management practices.
- Ensure that all line managers take on this culture of talent retention.
- Treat every employee as an individual; find out what their needs are at work, and meet them.
- Ensure that your managers are supported and coach their people management skills.
- Carry out regular employee satisfaction audits.
- Hire talented people to whom you can offer a commitment.
- Don’t have a “hire-and-fire” mentality.
- Develop your people, which increases their worth to your company.
- Challenge any reasons your organization has for not being flexible and responsive to your people’s needs.
- Identify your core talent and invest on developing these people.
Conclusion
In order for HR to be able to develop effective engagement programs, measurement and analysis is required and integrated software platforms and tools can help in this regard.
