employee engagement

Employee engagement is a multi faceted concept. Employee Engagement is a two-way process between employees and an organization. In the words of Kahn (1990:694) , employee engagement is defined as “the harnessing of organization members’ selves to their work roles; in engagement, people employ and express themselves physically, cognitively, and emotionally during role performances”. The cognitive aspect of employee engagement concerns employees’ beliefs about the organisation, its leaders and working conditions. The emotional aspect concerns how employees feel about each of those three factors and whether they have positive or negative attitudes toward the organization and its leaders. The physical aspect of employee engagement concerns the physical energies exerted by individuals to accomplish their roles.
In a world that is changing at a rapid pace, having engaged employees is a key to competitive advantage. Studies have found positive relationship between employee engagement and organizational performance outcomes: employee retention, productivity, profitability, customer loyalty and safety. HR systems must cater the needs of their employees and understand what employees are thinking to get a pulse on their workforce. We must accept that employee engagement is a dynamic process. Organizations are continually evolving and changing hence employee engagement is a moving target that requires constant attention, commitment and action. The key to create sustainable employee engagement levels in organizations, according to me should follow the following steps:
Building an organizational culture in which focuses on strengthening employee voice can make a difference to organisational performance. Employee voice can be defined as the ability for employees to have an input into decisions that are made in organisations Organization culture must be such that it fosters employee productivity by appreciating them for their contributions, big or small. An organizational