Key Factors Of Employee Engagement

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.

The CIPD (2014) factsheet states that Employee Engagement is a concept that ‘is generally seen as an internal state of being – physical, mental and emotional – that brings together earlier concepts of work effort, organisational commitment, job satisfaction and ‘flow’ (or optimal experience)’. An engaged workforce willingly demonstrates discretionary effort within their roles; their goals and values reflect that of their employers/organisation; they express a passion for work, feel valued and that their work has meaning.

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.

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.

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.

Employee Engagement: It’s a known perception that an engaged workforce provides many intangible benefits that is linked directly to retention. HR policies should focus on employee engagement initiatives that stimulate motivation levels of employees to perform better and bond with organisation. This process should be initiated right from induction and continue throughout their tenure by opening channels of continuous communication and encouraging interpersonal relations. HR is responsible to incorporate methods to measure engagement and at regular intervals track engagement contribution to company’s success.

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

Employee engagement, which reflects the emotional commitment an employee has to an organization is not just an organizational nicety but a business necessity due to direct ties to a number of performance outcomes, such as profitability,

Employee engagement has been a trend of management since 2004.(CMI 2015) ‘Some people may believe that engagement is just about employees ‘going the extra mile’, but it is much more.’(CMI 2014) Within globalization, how to apply employee engagement is significant for an organization to achieve their performance. A key aspect of employee engagement concerns how employees manage their position, performance and development in relationship to the company’s strategies. Therefore, according to Moenguc (2013), employee engagement has been personalized as a“persistent, positive affective-motivational state of fulfillment.” To demonstrate how this process affects the overall performance of an organization, John Lewis has been selected as the case study

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,

Engagement is more than just happiness. It involves commitment and helping others accomplish goals, whether it’s personal or for work. When people are engaged they do everything possible to complete that task, take full responsibility of the projects that is at hand, stay positive, deliver great work, and go above and beyond to make sure that they do great at the goal that was set. Engagement is the most important factor needed of any person for the achievement of any company in order to succeed.

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.

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