Employee Engagement

“The best companies now know, without a doubt, where productivity—real and limitless productivity—comes from. It comes from challenged, empowered, excited, rewarded teams of people. It comes from engaging every single mind in the organization, making everyone part of the action, and allowing everyone to have a voice—a role—in the success of the enterprise. Doing so raises productivity not incrementally, but by multiples.” Jack Welch Former Chairman and CEO of General Electric Human Resources, 10 September 2003 Introduction: It is the need of the hour that, Organizations should increasingly convert from traditionalism to the contemporary learning and individualized corporations. With growing opportunity and greater flow of information, employees today want to be in the best workplaces handling the best suited responsibilities and enjoy greater autonomy. Therefore, engaging the employees to the work as per their competency level must occupy the centre stage not only for the HR department but also for the immediate bosses. The extent that an employee believes in the mission, purpose and values of an organization and demonstrates that commitment through their actions and their attitude towards the employer (both internal & external) will determine the employee satisfaction towards his/her work. Employee engagement is high when the statements and conversations held reflect a natural enthusiasm for the company, its employees and the products or services provided. Employee engagement is the level of commitment and involvement an employee has towards their organization and its values. An engaged employee is aware of business context, and works with colleagues to improve performance within the job for the benefit of the organization. EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT: In other words, employee engagement can be described as: “The degree to which an employee is emotionally bonded to his/her organisation and is passionate about the work that really matters”. The organization must work to develop and nurture engagement, which requires a two-way relationship between employer and employee. Thus Employee engagement is a barometer that determines the association of a person within the organization.

Engagement can also be defined as “the extent to which people enjoy and believe in what they do and feel valued for doing it.” Enjoyment

Engagement

Belief

Value

Employee commitment and engagement is measured by three primary behaviours – Say, Stay and Strive. 'Say' is evidently achieved if the employee consistently speaks positively about the organisation to co-workers and refers potential employees and customers. 'Stay' refers to the employee's intensive desire to be a member of the organisation, despite opportunities to work elsewhere. 'Strive' indicates an extra effort and behaviours that contribute to business success. As organizations globalize and become more dependent on technology in a virtual working environment, there is a greater need to connect and engage with employees to provide them with an “organizational identity”. Employee engagement plays a greater role in the current era where every contribution by each of the employee counts. Employee engagement programmes throw light into the success of the company in engaging its employees in the productive activities. Employee engagement is not just the process of engaging the employees productively. It also expects the organization to pave the way to ensure that the employees are motivated to put in their best efforts for the wealth maximization. This requires building loyalty which can inject commitment in doing quality work. The mission must be well defined and supported by well set organizational plans and policies for its attainment. The management is also to provide with the set of tools and material that are necessary for performing the task effectively.

WHAT DOES AN ENGAGED EMPLOYEE THINK, FEEL & DO?
I understand how my role in the organization is related to the...