Employee_Engagement

Introduction: Putteridge Solutions plc is a company which provides internet security software. Most of the dealing of this company is with its corporate clients and company provides advice and help on purchasing security packages. It’s a UK based company which has staff over 400 and about 300 technically skilled workers. Putteridge Solutions has very good reward and pay structure due to which its employee turnover is very low. In addition company also pays lucrative team bonuses and annual bonuses which went to almost £9000 average employee last year. Last year company’s share prices have declined in share markets due to economic slowdown, also there is very high chance that their huge bonuses will reduce significantly and probably next year there might be no team bonuses. Company is planning to retain its staff by using cost effective initiatives. Although company has no plan for redundancy but it fears that it will affect its staff performance which is clear indication of increased sick absence and grievances. Main Body of the Report: (Part one) Employee Engagement: What is employee engagement' According to Kahn employee engagement is’ ‘being positively present during the performance of work by willingly contributing intellectual effort, experiencing positive emotions and meaningful connections to others.’’ Kahn (1990) It has other three core factors which are: Social engagement being able to discuss work related problems with others actively Affective engagement being positive about doing their jobs Intellectual engagement thinking how to perform better and well Thus, an employee is said to be engaged when he/she discusses work-related problems with others, how these things can be tackled and improved, thinks hard about their job and feel Positive when they perform better. Employee engagement can be defined as combination of commitment to the organisation Without motivation to help fellow members. It is said as passion for job which an employee can show and its not part of the job contract. Most employers prefer that employees who do thier work at their best and are willing to gor for an extra mile because these typeof people are not only beneficial for the organisation but also set examples for other colleagues to show their best potential. (PURCELL, J. at al 2003) How do employers build an engaged workforce' In order to build an engaged workforce, the first and foremost thing to do is to conduct attitude surveys. Most large organisations whether they operate in private sector or in public sector, they regularly conduct these surveys in order to know about how their employees feel and what concerns and reservations they have. It also shows employees views about pay and benefits, learning and development, line management and work life balance. It also helps to identify those areas which needs to be improved and also to support performance management. Employee engagement does not mean to make your employees more harder its involving them by giving them sense of freedom and providing better working conditions. If employees are made to stay for longer hours this will affect their work life balance and hence performance, therefore providing better, healthier and safer work conditions is also a pre-requisite for employee engagement in their jobs. If these three aspects are carefully covered like people management and development of policies with the support of Line managers then it would lead to an engaged workforce which will be highly motivated. Line managers have to show their employees that how their contribution will lead to positive growth of the organisational outcome. There are chances that some people do not want to be engaged too much and they believe in low context, in order to motivate such employees proper communication needs to be done with them which will divert their efforts to show their best. Therefore careful attention should be paid while recruiting new employees. (ULRICH, D. and BROCKBANK, W. 2005) CIPD research into employee attitudes found that the main drivers of employee engagement were: * Opportunity to communicate upwards and put forward your views * Should be well informed about the organisation that what on and what’s not * Managers show high level of commitment towards the organisation Outcomes of engagement : Thus, an employee is said to be engaged when he/she discusses work-related problems with others, how these things can be tackled and improved, thinks hard about their job and feel Positive when they perform better. Employee engagement can be defined as combination of commitment to the organisation Without motivation to help fellow members. It is said as passion for job which an employee can show and its not part of the job contract. Most employers prefer that employees who do thier work at their best and are willing to gor for an extra mile because these typeof people are not only beneficial for the organisation but also set examples for other colleagues to show their best potentialIf employees are engaged in their jobs then level of productivity will increase and hence organisation outcome. If the engagement is in positive direction then surely it will lead in prosperity and goodwill of organisation but if the engagement is in negative direction then it will lead to organisational damage and repute of company. Engaged employees are more likely to perform better and stay loyal with the organisation Engaged employees are considered more innovative than other employees Discussion: In one of the surveys done by CIPD show the case of company ANZ, how cultural change program named ‘Breakout’ helped to change employee attitudes and behaviour towards their organisation. One of the method used by company was it gave freedom to choose from list of words to describe best their company and most of the employees selected the words ‘profitability’ and ‘customer satisfaction’. By introducing new idea like ‘online CEO chat’ and other areas like constructive engagement, problem solving methods, improved communication ways to both ways upwards and downwards has really helped to tackle those problems. ANZ then successfully used this idea in other countries like New Zealand, Australia and Asia-Pacific givig practical voice to those cultural programs . In conclusion, it is necessary that employee voice should be heard and acted upon in order to give them sense of confidence in their employers. Many new technologies and methods can be used for such purposes. (CIPD survey on employer branding) Employee engagement can be divided into two dimensions satisfaction and commitment. Satisfaction is what they get from their jobs individually and commitment is how loyal they are towards their employers and organisations. Both dimensions have further three aspects. Satisfaction dimension focuses on following aspects: a) Recognition: How much employees efforts and contributions are valued and recognised' b) Support: How many people feel whether they are supported by their managers and colleagues in their efforts' c) Work: How much people are satisfied with their jobs that they are doing is worthwhile or not' Commitment dimension has following aspects: a) Values: How many employees feel that managers ‘’walk the talk’’ in company’s values' b) Loyalty: How many people really want to pursue long term career with the organisation' c) Advocacy: How many people will recommend their organisation to their friends and family' Source: http://www.digitalopinion.co.uk/engagement-how.html In one of the surveys done by CIPD show the case of company ANZ, how cultural change program named ‘Breakout’ helped to change employee attitudes and behaviour towards their organisation. One of the method used by company was it gave freedom to choose from list of words to describe best their company and most of the employees selected the words ‘profitability’ and ‘customer satisfaction’. By introducing new idea like ‘online CEO chat’ and other areas like constructive engagement, problem solving methods, improved communication ways to both ways upwards and downwards has really helped to tackle those problems. ANZ then successfully used this idea in other countries like New Zealand, Australia and Asia-Pacific givig practical voice to those cultural programs . In conclusion, it is necessary that employee voice should be heard and acted upon in order to give them sense of confidence in their employers. Many new technologies and methods can be used for such purposes. How To Build Employee Engagement In one of the surveys done by CIPD show the case of company ANZ, how cultural change program named ‘Breakout’ helped to change employee attitudes and behaviour towards their organisation. One of the method used by company was it gave freedom to choose from list of words to describe best their company and most of the employees selected the words ‘profitability’ and ‘customer satisfaction’. By introducing new idea like ‘online CEO chat’ and other areas like constructive engagement, problem solving methods, improved communication ways to both ways upwards and downwards has really helped to tackle those problems. ANZ then successfully used this idea in other countries like New Zealand, Australia and Asia-Pacific givig practical voice to those cultural programs . In conclusion, it is necessary that employee voice should be heard and acted upon in order to give them sense of confidence in their employers. Many new technologies and methods can be used for such purposes. Employee engagement is not necessarily common in every employee and it cannot be created in couple of days it takes time to build and develop with the passage of time, therefore employers should not expect its staff loyalty in couple of days even if it is not clearly seen. * Employee engagement cannot be developed in early stages however it can be developed by proper training and development techniques * Make a clear way of communication with the employees by giving them extra time or overtime in order to explain themselves more clearly, as sometimes most of the problems can be solved by proper communication. * Introduce different schemes for the staff like employee of the month, intrinsic awards and recognition that will keep employees motivated and perform better. Source: http://www.love2reward.co.uk/rewards/solution-finder/employee-engagement.jsp'sen=google&link=7&id=311445&gclid=CMz74J3EgqICFclr4wodfGAmEA Step 1 The first step is to hire good and best employees. Every employee the company hire will be an asset for the company. Consider not only the skills and qualifications of the candidate but also focus on this as well how the candidate will be useful for the organisation' How much useful will he/she be for the company' Whether he/she will be a good team player or not' Check his/her previous job experiences and relate them to your organisation to find out whether he/she suits your organisation or not' By considering these factors will help any manager to employ the right person for the right job at the right time. Step 2 The second step is better pay. If employees are paid better than the current market rate this will increase their loyalty although money is always not the motivating factor for all the employees but in most of the cases it is seen as it is a major cause of leaving any organisation. Always try to be two or three steps ahead of your competitors. This will not only give a physical edge over your competitors but will also try to attract more and more best people towards your organisation. Step 3 The third step is to offer incentives. Incentive can be anything like it can be intrinsic reward or extrinsic reward. By giving your employees share in company also give them more sense of responsibility and in many cases it has increased employees performance. When employees are known that they are better paid and are taken care of, it will increase their loyalty and hence increases company productivity. Step 4 The fourth step is feedback forum. It is most important thing to be done and almost most of the companies are doing it in order to know what their staff feels about their organisation. It will make them feel that they are valued and their voices are heard and are not falling on deaf ears. Feedback is considered very important step. Step 5 The fifth step is appreciating your employees. It can be done by making a holiday trip or arranging a dinner for the staff. This will certainly make fell the staff that company cares about them and want to have them for longer time. This is also a great way to reward your staff. Step 6 The sixth step is saying ‘thank you’. It is itself a small word but it will give the staff very good impression that manager is thanking them and he/she appreciate their work and want to have them for longer time. People always feel better when they see that their contribution is seen, rewarded and noticed. How to encourage Employee Loyalty: In order to build an engaged workforce, the first and foremost thing to do is to conduct attitude surveys. Most large organisations whether they operate in private sector or in public sector, they regularly conduct these surveys in order to know about how their employees feel and what concerns and reservations they have. It also shows employees views about pay and benefits, learning and development, line management and work life balance. It also helps to identify those areas which needs to be improved and also to support performance management. Employee engagement does not mean to make your employees more harder its involving them by giving them sense of freedom and providing better working conditions. If employees are made to stay for longer hours this will affect their work life balance and hence performance, therefore providing better, healthier and safer work conditions is also a pre-requisite for employee engagement in their jobs. If these three aspects are carefully covered like people management and development of policies with the support of Line managers then it would lead to an engaged workforce which will be highly motivated. Line managers have to show their employees that how their contribution will lead to positive growth of the organisational outcome. There are chances that some people do not want to be engaged too much and they believe in low context, in order to motivate such employees proper communication needs to be done with them which will divert their efforts to show their best. Therefore careful attention should be paid while recruiting new employeesIt is rightly said that whether you are running a big organisation which employs hundred of employees or small organisation consisting of couple of employees, the true asset of any organisation are always its employees. However in order to engage employees there are several steps through which employees are better motivated .If these steps are carefully followed then we can say that our job is done. 1) The first step is the element of respect. Almost everyone who works for any company or organisation wants to get respected, no matter how small amount of work he/she is doing. If the manager or supervisor walks around the store with big smile on his/her face and he/she greets his staff then it leave very good impression on the staff. They feel that they are valued and their manger likes them. 2) Importance of communication. The second step is communication which means communication with the staff at all levels. Sometimes most of the problems are solved just by proper and effective communication. This does not mean that manager have to share important and sensitive information with the staff as well but it means letting the staff know how good/bad organisation is going' How much sales do most of the successful organisations are using this technique to overcome staff demotivation and retention. he store make in previous month' What type of new collection is coming around and things like that' This will certainly increase the joy of employees and they will feel that they are valued and their opinion matters. May be this method is adoptable in every organisation. This will certainly motivate the employees and increase their performance and will lead to better organisational output resulting in increased sales in case of clothing giant or any retail store. 3) Employee dedication is seen by acknowledging employee hard work. Always remember the golden rule to thank your staff by verbally saying them ‘thank you’. Its infact a small world but it carries a deep ocean meaning in itself. Imagine a manager saying thank you to his/her cleaning staff, this thing is rare in most of asian countries but when any manager says it, then it is itself a big sense of motivation for the staff. Never forget to say that ‘i appreciate your presence here’ or similar things like i appreciate what you have been doing for this company for the last couple of years. Also introducing schemes like ‘employee of the month’ creates a very healthy competition between employees and increases output. Six steps to Encourage employee engagement: Step 1 The first step is to hire good and best employees. Every employee the company hire will be an asset for the company. Consider not only the skills and qualifications of the candidate but also focus on this as well how the candidate will be useful for the organisation' How much useful will he/she be for the company' Whether he/she will be a good team player or not' Check his/her previous job experiences and relate them to your organisation to find out whether he/she suits your organisation or not' By considering these factors will help any manager to employ the right person for the right job at the right time. Step 2 The second step is better pay. If employees are paid better than the current market rate this will increase their loyalty although money is always not the motivating factor for all the employees but in most of the cases it is seen as it is a major cause of leaving any organisation. Always try to be two or three steps ahead of your competitors. This will not only give a physical edge over your competitors but will also try to attract more and more best people towards your organisation. Step 3 The third step is to offer incentives. Incentive can be anything like it can be intrinsic reward or extrinsic reward. By giving your employees share in company also give them more sense of responsibility and in many cases it has increased employees performance. When employees are known that they are better paid and are taken care of, it will increase their loyalty and hence increases company productivity. Step 4 The fourth step is feedback forum. It is most important thing to be done and almost most of the companies are doing it in order to know what their staff feels about their organisation. It will make them feel that they are valued and their voices are heard and are not falling on deaf ears. Feedback is considered very important step. Step 5 The fifth step is appreciating your employees. It can be done by making a holiday trip or arranging a dinner for the staff. This will certainly make fell the staff that company cares about them and want to have them for longer time. This is also a great way to reward your staff. Step 6 The sixth step is saying ‘thank you’. It is itself a small word but it will give the staff very good impression that manager is thanking them and he/she appreciate their work and want to have them for longer time. People always feel better when they see that their contribution is seen, rewarded and noticed. References: PURCELL, J. at al (2003) Understanding the people and performance link: unlocking the black box. Research report. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.  ULRICH, D. and BROCKBANK, W. (2005) The HR value proposition. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press KAHN, W.A. (1990) Psychological conditions of personal engagement and disengagement at work. Academy of Management Journal. Vol 33, No 4. pp692–724 Employee Engagement Model: Employee engagement cannot be measured 100% but there are certain ways which helps employee to keep going or in other words we can say keep them motivated. The above drawn chart is an example of keeping the employees engaged. Employee engagement Triangle: Source: Reflection on employee engagement CIPD survey