Key Factors Of Employee Engagement

Engagement is a sign of satisfaction and loyalty to the firm which can be incurred by increasing job resources

Employee Engagement is a measurable degree of an employee's positive or negative emotional attachment to their job, colleagues and organisation which profoundly influences their willingness to learn and perform at work. Thus engagement is distinctively different from employee satisfaction, motivation and organisational culture.

Workforce engagement is the feeling of emotional connection someone has to their workplace. An engaged employee feels satisfied and enthusiastic about their work. They feel valued, driven, and that they belong to part of a team. This is the way a school should feel for its employees. When teachers and staff of a school are engaged in fulfilling the work of the school they show higher levels of performance and thereby increase the achievement of students. Principals should know the engagement level of their staff and also any events or feelings that may impact that engagement level.

There are three levels of engagement in which an employee can be measured at (Catado, P. 2011); fully engaged, disengaged, and actively disengaged. A fully engaged worker takes it upon themselves to stay relevant and up-to-date in company’s and their professional field and take on additional responsibilities as the opportunities arise. They also show respect towards their fellow colleagues, are willing to put in more effort than is expected, and exhibit high levels of enthusiasm.

Blessing white from the division of GP strategy defines employee engagement as “ the intersection of maximum contribution for the organization and maximum satisfactory for the individual,” (Blessingwhite.com,

The term “employee engagement” was introduced by W.Kahn in 1990 but it was referred as personal engagement and it was about an employee who brings his shelf, interests and preferred roles to the organization. He supported that people have many aspects of their selves which express or defend according to the occasion (Kahn, 1990, p.692-693). Today each corporation small or large has a goal that needs to be achieved in order to be successful. Employees are a nodal point in a company because they affect the way a corporation functions in order to meet that target. Each person needs to be focused on his task, to show commitment, energy and passion instead of a person who does not put much effort in his work. In other words, engaged employees are dedicated to their jobs and their organizations emotionally, physically and intellectually because they realize the importance of their work (Macet et al, 2009, p.1). In contrast, disengaged employees are negative to do extra work for the

‘Engagement happens when people are committed to their work and the organisation and are motivated to achieve high levels of performance. Engaged people at work are positive, interested in, and even excited

Wefald, A. J. & Downey, R. G. (2009). Job engagement in organizations: fad, fashion, or folderol? Journal of Organizational Behavior, 30, 141-145.

Employee engagement is today’s leadership priority. However, the catchphrase goes a long way back in the beginning of the 21st century. It has gained interest to this date, which can be credited to Gallup’s first version of the Q12 in the 1990s commonly termed as the Gallup Workplace Audit (Gallup Consulting, 2006). Subsequently, Gallup has continuously refined and expanded their Q12 for current business challenges. Furthermore, several literatures, surveys and evidence-based studies abound that exhibited positive results with employee engagement such as increased performance, safety, retention and profits among others.

Employee engagement is a concept whereby an employee feels an emotional attachment to their employers and the goals and values the employer holds. There doesn’t appear to be a definitive description of employee engagement, but most agree that the emotional attachment is a key element to being an engaged employee. “The term employee engagement has gained considerable popularity in the past 20 years yet it remains inconsistently defined and conceptualized”, Shuck B & Wollard K (2010) - Human Resource Development Review. This emotional attachment could be described as a passion for the organisation and their part in it and a feeling that they can make a difference.

The concept of employee engagement is the extent to which an organization’s employee are psychologically involved in, connected to, and committed to getting one’s job done. Employee engagement is important for business because it drives performance. High levels of engagement were associated with a host of positive outcomes for individuals and their employers.

Usually, Employee engagement is understood as an outcome of a mutually beneficial and good relationship between the employee and employer. When such a synergy exists between the superior and subordinate, employee engagement actually works out. A very rosy picture of increased employee engagement is that, it results in increased customer delightedness rather than satisfaction, increased shareholder satisfaction, a highly productive employee who commits lesser mistake, is self-motivated and dependable. Those well- established organizations enjoy good reputation and profits because of increased employee engagement. To be described about the real picture, in the article,(Wolfe, 20nnm,introduction section,para5)it says “…employee engagement is just rhetoric. It is a score that management uses to recruit candidates”. For most of the companies, employee engagement is usually seen not more than as a measure or a tool used to attract a pool of potential job candidates and retain them in the organization. It is not seen as an emotion or a feeling with an intention to make the employees feel a great

Employee engagement has gained rapid attention in the past five to ten years and all for the right reasons. Data shows that engaged employees tend to perform better at their jobs and also surpass expectations when it comes to helping colleagues, members and the organization. Employee engagement can be defined as a positive emotional attachment that a person forms with an organization leading to behaviors that drive productivity and boost performance. The goal of employee engaging is to provide maximum satisfaction to the employee while in return getting maximum contribution from them.

Employee engagement is a relatively new concept. According to Stairs (2005, p.8) research into engagement has completely being ignored and a Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) report (Alfes et al., 2010, p.4) supported this view by stating that while academia became silent on the concept of employee engagement, the concept was actually placed on the discussion board by Human Resources (HR) professionals, practitioners, and consultants. Kular et al (2008) further state that there remains a paucity of critical academic literature on employee engagement. However, with the advent of concerns given to engagement in modern times, the concept has seen new faces of definitions and explanations given to it. The very first definition was given by Kahn (1990, p.694) 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 aspect of engagement that is cognitive concerns employees’ beliefs about the organization itself, the leaders and the conditions under which employees work. The emotional side of employee engagement is about how employees feel of each of the 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. Form this background, Kahn (1990)

It has a lot to do with emotions which are fundamentally related to drive bottom line success in a company. There will always be people who never give their best efforts no matter how hard HR and line managers try to engage them. “But for the most part employees want to commit to companies because doing so satisfies a powerful and a basic need in connect with and contribute to something significant”. Aspects of Employee Engagement Three basic aspects of employee engagement according to the global studies are:• • • The employees and their own unique psychological make up and experience The employers and their ability to create the conditions that promote employee engagement Interaction between employees at all levels. Thus it is largely the organization’s responsibility to create an enviro nment and culture conducive to this partnership, and a win-win equation. Categories of Employee Engagement According to the Gallup the Consulting organization there are there are different types of people:Engaged--"Engaged" employees are builders. They want to know the desired expectations for their role so they can meet and exceed them. They're naturally curious about their company and their place in it. They perform at consistently high levels. They want to use their talents and strengths at work every day. They work with passion and