Category: Employee Engagement

The problem of employee engagement has been studied actively throughout the past decades. The expert community is mainly focused on determining the key triggers of employee engagement such as managerial attitudes. A particular emphasis is likewise put on the potential outcomes that a consistent engagement implies.

Also, it should be pointed out that there is currently no consensus regarding the proper interpretation of the term itself. In other words, different researchers offer individual variants of “employee engagement’s definition. The paper at hand is aimed at summarizing the scope of the relevant literature and providing a brief review of the problem from four perspectives: the term’s interpretation, the main engagement-related outcomes, key triggers, and potential challenges.

First and foremost, it is essential to review the way that the term engagement is defined in different scientific sources. As has been already noted above, the notion is interpreted differently within the expert community. The lack of consensus might seem surprising, taking into account the fact that the term has been used for more than a decade. From this perspective, it seems to be most rational to refer to Robertson-Smith and Markwick (2009) that performed a thorough analysis of a large scope of the relevant literature to work out the most complete definition.

Hence, the researchers note that, despite the lack of unity in the experts’ opinion, the major part of the analyzed sources implies that engagement stands for the positive outcomes that employees might potentially bring in the company. Moreover, the researchers note that the engagement phenomenon likewise comprises a sense of commitment. Upon a detailed analysis of the literature, Robertson-Smith and Markwick (2009) composed a shortlist of common traits that most specialists assign to employee engagement.

First and foremost, the majority of experts describe an engaged employee as the one that is satisfied with the work performed and ready to contribute to the possible improvements. The contribution aspect is particularly critical as many consultants, that target to increase the engagement, focus specifically on those psychological factors that the employees need to realize their contributing value. Second, the researchers note that the security factor is also a common characteristic assigned to the engagement structure.

Hence, it is assumed that employees might show complete involvement in the working process on the condition that they feel safe. Otherwise, their intellectual and emotional potential cannot be fully elicited. Finally, Robertson-Smith and Markwick (2009) point out the reciprocal character of employee engagement that is commonly emphasized by different academics. Hence, the definition of the engagement term suggested by Robertson-Smith and Markwick (2009) seems to be most detailed and complex as it relies on the general summarization of a wide range of studies and research.

Meanwhile, it is likewise essential to elucidate another interpretation offered by Harter and the co-authors (2002) that put a particular focus on the factor of enthusiasm. Otherwise stated, the authors mainly expect engaged employees to be fully absorbed into the working process and united by the common feeling of involvement (Harter et al., 2002, p.269). This interpretation resonates with that proposed by Robertson-Smith and Markwick (2009) as the latter likewise describes an engaged employee as the one ‘absorbed, charged with energy, vigor and focused, so much so that they lose track of time at work’ ( p. 11).

The next question that needs to be elucidated in the framework of this literature review is the outcomes of employee engagement and different engagement-related levels. Summarizing the relevant literature, it might be concluded that the outcomes of employee engagement are evaluated positively in general. Hence, it is assumed that being sincerely engaged in the working process is associated with positive emotions and, thus, has a positive impact on the employee’s health. As a result, many researchers believe that engaged employees are less likely to experience stress-related disorders.

Also, engaged employees are generally more successful. For example, Dicke and the co-authors (2007) state that engaged employees have better chances to be well-paid and rewarded. Lewis and the co-authors (2012) explain this phenomenon by the fact that engaged workers try harder than their colleagues and, thus, they are more likely to achieve better results and get promoted.

This point of view is likewise expressed in the work of Alfes and the co-authors (2013) that point out that engaged employees are more concentrated on the quality of their performance. Moreover, the researchers note that the successful performance of engaged employees can be partially explained by the fact they tend to be highly creative due to the emotional involvement that allows them to come up with new ideas and alternative solutions.

It should be pointed out that the positive character of the engagement outcomes has been empirically proved by different researchers. Hence, for instance, Dromey’s (2014) findings reveal that engaged employees are more productive, while Harter and the co-authors (2002) provide the evidence of them being more satisfied and loyal to the relevant organization.

Meanwhile, it is also necessary to summarize the negative outcomes associated with engagement that some researchers describe. Hence, for instance, Truss and the co-authors (2013) align high engagement with additional work intensification that employers tend to take advantage of, without offering the relevant reward. Lewis and the co-authors (2012) likewise note that engaged employees are more exposed to work-related burnouts and stresses as they are excessively concentrated on achieving the best results.

Another question that needs to be essentially discussed is the key engagement triggers. Hence, the major part of the experts agrees upon the point that the main determinant of a consistent engagement is managerial attitudes. In other words, it is believed that employee engagement should be regulated from the outside – managers are obliged to ensure the environment that would help the employees feel engaged (Gruman & Saks, 2011).

Kahn (1990), in his turn, insists that engagement is mainly dependent on the inner psychological triggers such as meaningfulness, availability, and safety. The former might be interpreted as the employee’s satisfaction retrieved from the sense of being valuable. Thus, for instance, Hodson (2005) mentions those employees that enjoy their meaningfulness while mastering a particular skill.

The availability factor, according to Sonnentag (2003), is associated with an appropriate work-life balance that allows an employee to restore the lost energy quickly. The safety element is necessary to ensure the sense of stability that allows an employee to engage in the work process without experiencing tension from the outside (Hodsen, 2005).

One of the most important triggers, that is commonly pointed out, is leadership. Hence, Purcell and Hutchinson (2007) assume that line managers are naturally responsible for promoting effective practices to get their employees more motivated and, thus, engaged in the working process. Thus, managers are in charge of creating a favorable team atmosphere, within which productive communication and collaboration can be established. For example, Tamkin and Robinson (2012) note that the manager must avoid potential conflicts and reduce the tension that distracts the employees and prevent them from being fully engaged in the process.

Apart from the positive engagement triggers some experts likewise point out the negative determinants. Hence, for instance, Tamkin and Robinson (2012) note that poor managerial practices that imply inconsistent communication and lack of motivation are likely to prevent employees from showing engagement. Also, it is assumed that employee disengagement might be often explained by the lack of the relevant skills and knowledge that does not allow an employee to fulfill the relevant responsibilities in an expected manner (Gallup, 2013). These factors need to be considered while generating a relevant management strategy.

Finally, it is essential to mention the challenges that researchers are likely to face while examining this field. Hence, the main problem that the majority of authors point out is the lack of relevant studies. For example, Truss and the co-authors (2013) note that the field is poorly examined – there are little practical and experimental studies described.

As a result, the expert community is incapable of suggesting any practical recommendations for raising employee engagement (Alfes et al., 2010). Also, the literature review shows that there is a lack of relevant evaluation practices. Thus, Bersin (2015) points out that the major part of organizations realizes the need to elevate employee engagement though it is ignorant of the ways to evaluate its current state properly. Therefore, it might be concluded that the problem needs further investigation.

Reference List

Alfes, K., Truss, C., Soane, E. C., Rees, C. and Gatenby, M. (2010) ‘Creating an engaged workforce’. London: CIPD.

Alfes, K., Truss, C., Soane, E. C., Rees, C. and Gatenby, M. (2013) ‘The Relationship between Line Manager Behaviour, Perceived HRM Practices, and Individual Performance: Examining the Mediating Role of Engagement’. Human Resource Management, 53:6, 839-859.

Bersin, (2015) ‘Becoming irresistible: A new model for employee engagement’. Deloitte Review, 16, 146-163

Dicke, C., Holwerda, J. and Kontakos A. (2007) ‘Employee Engagement: What Do We Really Know? What Do We Need to Know to Take Action?’ Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies (CAHRS).

Dromey, J. (2014) ‘MacLeod and Clarke’s Concept of Employee Engagement: An Analysis based on the Workplace Employment Relations Study’. London: Acas.

Gruman, J. A. and Saks, A. M. (2011) ‘Performance management and employee engagement’. Human Resource Management Review, 21, 123-136.

Harter, J. K., Schmidt, F. L. and Hayes, T. L. (2002) ‘Business-Unit-Level Relationship between Employee Satisfaction, Employee Engagement, and Business Outcomes: A Meta-Analysis’. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87: 2, 268–279.

Hodson, R. (2005) ‘Management Behaviour as Social Capital: A Systematic Analysis of Organizational Ethnographies. British Journal of Industrial Relations, 43:1, 41-65.

Kahn, W. A. (1990) ‘Psychological conditions of personal engagement and disengagement at work’. Academy of Management Journal, 33, 692-724.

Lewis, R., Donaldson-Feilder, E. and Tharani, T. (2012) ‘Managing for sustainable employee engagement: Developing a behavioural framework’. London: CIPD.

Purcell, J. and Hutchinson, S. (2007) ‘Front-line managers as agents in the HRM-performance causal chain: theory, analysis and evidence. Human Resource Management Journal, 17:1, 3-20.

Robertson-Smith, G. and Markwick, C. (2009) ‘Employee Engagement: A review of current thinking’. Brighton: Institute of Employment Studies.

Sonnentag, S. (2003) ‘Recovery, work engagement, and proactive behaviour: a new look at the interface between non-work and work’. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88 (3), 518-528.

Tamkin, P. and Robinson, D. (2012) ‘Teams and the Engaging Manager’. Brighton: Institute of Employment Studies.

Truss, C., Shantz, A., Soane, E., Alfes, K. and Delbridge, R. (2013) ‘Employee engagement, organisational performance and individual well-being: exploring the evidence, developing the theory’. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 24:14, 2657-2669

The process of sharing a company’s vision and goals is important to motivate employees to participate in work activities. This stage is essential for a growing company as employees may be unaware of the organization’s vision, and it should be shared effectively. The purpose of this paper is to provide summaries of recent sources in which this problem is discussed in detail.

Folkman’s “8 Ways to Ensure Your Vision Is Valued”

In his article, Folkman analyzes specific strategies that can be applied by employers to guarantee that their visions are valued and followed by their employees. According to Folkman, workers need to understand how their activities or performance can contribute to the development and vision of the company. Referring to data from more than 50,000 employees, the author of the article explains eight ways to make a company’s vision effectively shared, meaningful, and actively followed. These strategies include communicating the vision through several different channels, making the vision motivating, and making it contribute to employee satisfaction. The problem that many companies have when trying to get employees to follow the vision is that the vision is not communicated or shared appropriately. All leaders need to participate in this sharing process (Folkman). More approaches include a focus on innovation, employees’ concentration on actions while being guided by managers, and a focus on the openness and integrity of company leaders. Furthermore, it is also critical to make sure that companies quickly respond to employees’ needs based on their vision; by doing so, the associated benefits can be easily observed.

Harrison’s “Employee Alignment: The Secret Sauce to Success”

The problem of employee alignment based on sharing organizational visions, values, and goals, as well as communicating with employees and developing commitment, is discussed in Harrison’s article. The author provides several examples of how it is possible to ensure employee alignment by focusing on accentuating the visions, missions, and goals of an organization. In her examples, Harrison refers to the experience of Andre Lavoie, the CEO of ClearCompany. According to the article, leaders need to deliver messages directly to receivers, align everyday activities and tasks with the general goals of the company, and ensure that employees know and are committed to the organization’s aims. Besides, it is also important not to organize weekly meetings in situations where all employees share the company’s goals and have demonstrated their commitment (Harrison). However, it is necessary to provide employees with feedback to discuss their strengths. Finally, to achieve employee alignment, leaders need to support transparency in the company.

Lavoie’s “How to Engage Employees Through Your Company Vision Statement”

The purpose of Lavoie’s article is to provide three recommendations on how to motivate and involve employees with the help of a company’s vision. The author emphasizes the idea that the formulation of clear and effective vision statements is essential to leading a company to success because it creates engaged and motivated employees (Lavoie). According to the author, employees should not only learn a company’s mission, vision, and goals but should also follow them while being engaged in the process. Therefore, leaders need to reformulate their vision statements to accentuate the goals that should be achieved by employees. Furthermore, a good vision statement needs to be visible, and Lavoie discusses how this vision should be related to all employees of the company. It is also important to apply the practice of storytelling, with a focus on sharing stories of success, to guarantee that all employees know their company’s vision. These approaches are discussed by Lavoie as an effective means of attracting employees and making them more involved in the process of working on strategic goals as a result of the shared vision.

Martin et al.’s “The Importance of Inspiring a Shared Vision”

In their article, Martin et al. focus on identifying specific advantages of promoting a shared vision concerning the role of the leader in this process. The researchers conducted a mixed-methods study based on collecting data with the help of interviews and protocols. It is important to note that as a result of their research, the authors have some interesting details to discuss. When employees are concentrated on the shared vision, they follow organizational goals more effectively, and their commitment to the company is also high. Leaders need to pay much attention to using the vision as a way to orient employees, help them interact with each other, and help them participate in organizational transformations (Martin et al. 7). The researchers conclude that a vision shared in any company could be viewed as an effective driving force to make employees more focused on achieving the company’s goals while working as a team.

The paper has presented summaries of four sources that can be used while selecting effective methods of sharing a company’s visions and goals with its employees quickly and efficiently. The authors’ ideas are reviewed in detail so that these notes can be used for further research on the problem.

Works Cited

Folkman, Joseph. “8 Ways to Ensure Your Vision Is Valued.” Forbes. 2014. Web.

Harrison, Kate. “Employee Alignment: The Secret Sauce to Success.” Forbes. 2014. Web.

Lavoie, Andre. “How to Engage Employees Through Your Company Vision Statement.” Entrepreneur. 2017. Web.

Martin, Jacqueline, et al. “The Importance of Inspiring a Shared Vision.” International Practice Development Journal, vol. 4, no. 2, 2014, pp. 1-15. Web.

Problem Description

From a broader perspective, this study tries to explore the importance of human resource development on the engagement of employees concerning certain business organizations in India. This is due to a reported gradual increase in the decline of engagement levels of employees worldwide. Studies reveal that whenever employees in an organization find a conducive environment for their growth and development along with their careers, they tend to respond by putting in their time and energy towards their work. They also tend to be involved in their work more psychologically as compared to poor environments. There is a serious need for a mechanism to advance the engagement levels of various employees in different organizations. This study attempts to analyze the relationship that exists between different aspects of human resource development and the levels of employee engagement in an organization.

This study had three main objectives. The first is to be able to analyze the level of engagement of employees in different business organizations. Secondly, is to study the available human resource development in the organizations to be studied. And lastly, examine the influence of human resource development climate and its particular scopes on the engagement of employees. Human resource development helps a business organization to gain a competitive advantage over other businesses. Therefore, according to different study models, investing in human resource development is a vital element that can help both individuals and organizations to build and maintain their employees. Lack of appropriate human resource development has resulted in a decline in the levels of employee engagements as witnessed in earlier studies.

Methodology

Data analysis for this study was done using both correlation and regression analysis. This study targeted a population mainly composed of middle as well as senior-level corporate executives from designated business organizations in India. In total, 85 employees from both the public and private industry as well as the servicing sector took part in the study. Although 100 employees were approached from various business organizations in India, only 87 responded to the questionnaires. Information, which was collected between November 2011 and January 2011, was collected from individuals who were available and interested in responding to the questionnaires. Samples collected comprised of 67 men and 18 females who are aged between 21-50 years. Education levels were not ignored also in the verification. There were 42 undergraduates and 43 postgraduates.

Utrecht Work Engagement Scale was employed in the measurement of employee engagement. This scale contains three sub-scales. These are absorption, vigor, and dedication. The rating was done on all seventeen subjects on a 5-point Likert scale, with 1 implying strongly disagree and 5 strongly agree. However, factor analysis never resulted in a vibrant factor structure. Thus, for regression investigation, a composite work engagement score was used. 38 items of human resource development climate survey equipment were used to measure the human resource development climate existing in an organization. The questionnaire for HRD climate is a five-point scale. A mean score of about 3 implied that there was a moderate tendency of that particular subject existing in the organization. This was done by multiplying the mean score minus one by 25. The percentage score was used to make an inference of how particular subjects exist in that organization as compared to an ideal value of 100. The reliability of the scale was determined as 0.88

Results

The employee engagements mean score was determined as 3.69. This means that there existed a reasonable engagement level for employees in various organizations that were examined. According to the research, there was still more room for advancements due to lower scores obtained from vigor and absorptions dimensions. Also, there was a bigger opportunity for improvements in the HRD climate, which was obtained as 3.61. Considering every item on the 38 items human resource development climate questionnaire, the top management of various business organizations considers human resource to be very useful for an organization and that it should be treated by any means it deserves (Chaudhary, Rangnekar,&Barua, 2011).

Research also revealed that a substantial and positive relationship exists between human resource development and the levels of employee engagement. However, to determine the extent of variation in the levels of engagement as clarified in the HRD climate dimensions, a step by step regression study was done. In this model, the order of entry of analyst variables depended only on the statistical standards. This was considered the most accurate statistical analysis method.

Conclusions

The purpose of the study was to determine the influence of human resource development climate and its different scopes of engagement levels among employees. From the research, both the human resource development climate and engagement of employees on different selected business organizations in India were found to be at moderate levels. Correlation analysis of these assessment variables showed that human resource development climate, as well as all its relevant features, were absolutely and considerably related to the engagement of employees. The most important variables shown by the step by step regression analysis were HRD climate and HRD mechanisms. All in all, the influence of HRD climate was found to be very important for the engagement of employees.

Limitations of the study

Even though the study was conducted successfully, there were some weaknesses. First, all measures of the study depended upon self-reports. This implies that there could be a common systematic bias. Again, the assessment only part information on the relationship that exists between the human resource development and engagement of employees. There should be studies conducted, both experimentally and longitudinally, towards the same to determine how employee engagement is related to the human resource development

In conclusion, lack of enough energy, mental spirit at work, enthusiasm in applying more effort while working, perseverance during difficult times, and lower levels of concentration of employees in what they do contributes to the lower levels of engagement of employees. There is a big agreement on energy and identification, the two major subjects of engagement, both of which are available in the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale. However, more assessments need to be done to determine whether absorption is the main subject of employee engagement or if it is simply its consequence. The findings of the study are in harmony with works that were done by other researchers such as Mauno et al. Besides, research also revealed that professional persons practiced more dedication as compared to their non-professional counterparts. This validates the outcomes of the research since the targeted populations were managers of the selected business organizations in India.

References

Chaudhary, R., Rangnekar, S. & Barua, M. (2011). Relation between human resource development climate and employee engagement: Results from India. Europe Journal of Psychology. 7(4), 665-684.

The process of engaging employees in active work to increase productivity and develop individual professional skills is a pressing task that many managers face. Motivation is the tool that may help to improve performance results and hone personal skills. However, the appropriate stimulation of activity is not always effective, and some employees are indifferent to the competent achievement of their assigned duties.

This, in turn, affects the outcomes of work negatively, and if a business organization is considered, profits can be reduced due to the insufficient quality implementation of a particular development plan. In order to avoid such consequences, it is necessary to develop a relevant mechanism that may allow employees to be involved in the work process and ensure their comprehensive efficiency. For this purpose, the development of a suitable learning culture is necessary, and the leadership of a particular organization is to do everything possible so that subordinates could have an opportunity to assess the range of their capabilities and the need for professional growth.

One of the important criteria that determine the success of employees’ activity is their satisfaction with the current working conditions and opportunities that are provided to them. In case appropriate management initiatives are applied, it is possible to achieve improved performance indicators without the need for substantial financial costs. According to Hanaysha (2016), “encouraging organizational learning culture is a fundamental mechanism to nurture employee’s job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and to ensure a healthy and stable workforce on the long term” (p. 292).

Therefore, changes need to be made to the mode of operation if the staff demonstrates indifference to the qualitative performance of immediate responsibilities and is not interested in increasing the profits of their company. For this purpose, it is essential to create the environment that will facilitate employees’ training and stimulate their growth, which is aimed at strengthening the intellectual base of a particular enterprise and retaining talented specialists. In case such principles are encouraged by the management, the company’s personnel will most likely be interested in increasing their personal working results, which will have a positive effect on the overall profit.

In addition, it is essential to develop such a plan that will facilitate the active engagement of not only employees but also managers. As Park, Song, Yoon, and Kim (2014) note, a supportive culture associated with learning and involving leaders will contribute to allocating resources rationally and coaching the staff, enhancing workers’ participation in their company’s activities. To implement such a strategy, it is significant to provide the staff with appropriate resources, for instance, access to educational materials to improve their skills.

Specific courses aimed at the comprehensive training of employees and their learning the new aspects of professional activity can be part of the methodology for encouraging engagement. As a technical base, modern media tools may be applied, for example, online testing, video conferencing with colleagues from different company’s branches, and other digital technologies. An appropriate learning culture can help increase employee engagement and enhance professional performance outcomes.

References

Hanaysha, J. (2016). Testing the effects of employee engagement, work environment, and organizational learning on organizational commitment. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 229, 289-297. Web.

Park, Y. K., Song, J. H., Yoon, S. W., & Kim, J. (2014). Learning organization and innovative behavior: The mediating effect of work engagement. European Journal of Training and Development, 38(1/2), 75-94. Web.

Introduction

Employee engagement is defined as “Employees are engaged when many different levels of employees are feeling fully involved and enthusiastic about their jobs and their organizations. It is the willingness and ability to contribute to company success to the extent to which employees put discretionary effort into their work, in the form of extra time, brainpower and energy” (Esty, 2008). The problem of having engaged employees has become very crucial to firms and according to a recent Gallup study on employee engagement, about 54 percent of employees in the United States are not engaged and 17 percent are disengaged and only 29 percent are engaged (Harris Interactive Inc. 21 January 2009). Employees who are not engaged also have to be paid salaries, benefits and other perks and non contributing employees only increases the burden on the firm. Besides, there is a colossal waste of resources as 54 percent of the employees are wasted.

Research Problem and Objectives

The research problem is “To understand why employees are disengaged and to research methods that can increase employee engagement and participation”.

Objectives of the research are:

• To understand the financial impacts of the issue, both positive and negative
• To examine the causes and precedents that makes employees to be disengaged
• To find ways and means on how the management and organisation can modify its internal processes to increase employee engagement.

Literature Review

Highly engaged employees outperform their disengaged colleagues by 20 to 28 percent. A 2005 study by Serota Consulting of 28 multinational companies found that the share prices of organizations with highly engaged employees rose by an average of 16 percent compared with an industry average of 6 percent. There are also costs associated with a disengaged workforce. Disengagement has been found to cost between 243 to 270 billion dollars due to low productivity of this group according to a 2003 Gallup poll. In one 2003 study by ISR, companies with low levels of employee engagement found that their net profit fell by 1.38 percent and operating margin fell by 2.01 percent over a three year period. Conversely, companies with high levels of engagement found that their operating margins rose by 3.74 percent over a three-year period (Etsy, 2008). Thus it can be seen that firms with engaged employees show better financial results and also offer cost reductions and increase in profits.

Seijts (2006) comments that the onus on increasing employee engagement is first on the management. Some of the main causes that reduce employee engagement are: mistrust in the management, vitiated and stressful environment, a management that cannot be trusted. According to the author, the management can increase employee engagement by following the ’10 C’s’ approach. The approach is: Connect – Leaders must show that they value employees; Career, Leaders should provide challenging and meaningful work with opportunities for career advancement; Clarity, Leaders must communicate a clear vision; Convey, Leaders clarify their expectations about employees and provide feedback on their functioning in the organization; Congratulate, Exceptional leaders give recognition, and they do so a lot; they coach and convey; Contribute, People want to know that their input matters and that they are contributing to the organization’s success in a meaningful way; Control, Employees value control over the flow and pace of their jobs and leaders can create opportunities for employees to exercise this control; Collaborate, Great leaders are team builders; they create an environment that fosters trust and collaboration; Credibility, Leaders should strive to maintain a company’s reputation and demonstrate high ethical standards and Confidence, Good leaders help create confidence in a company by being exemplars of high ethical and performance standards.

Conclusion

The paper has examined the meaning of employee engagement and the financial impacts of having disengaged employees. Obviously, there is a lot of potential in having employees who are engaged. The paper has also examined how to increase employee engagement and the steps that the management can undertake to increase employee engagement. It is recommended that the objectives mentioned in the paper should be further explored to find how employee engagement can be increased.

References

Esty Katharine, 2008. Creating a culture of employee engagement. NEHRA – The voice of HR.

Harris Interactive Inc. 2009. Problems at the Top – Apathy, Contempt for Managers, PR Newswire, New York.

Seijts Gerard H, Crim Dan. 2006. What engages employees the most or, The Ten C’s of employee engagement. Ivey Business Journal Online.

For this semester, the author would like to explore the topics of employee engagement and retention. It is part of the social pillar of sustainability, as it involves stakeholders and their personal considerations.

The author is interested in the topic because it is essential for many aspects of companies’ long-term performance. Employee engagement drives innovation, with motivated and productive workers generating new ideas and voicing them so that they can be implemented in the workplace. As a result, the company can continuously develop new products and stay ahead of the market, retaining its advantage. Moreover, improved staff retention enables the company to keep skilled workers and benefit from their competencies. Meanwhile, a company with poor retention can struggle to succeed in its projects and lose employees to competitors. Understanding how to prevent the dangers and benefit from these two traits’ positive aspects is essential to long-term success and, therefore, sustainability.

The author hopes to learn more about the concepts of employee engagement and retention throughout the semester. They intend to obtain a more precise definition of the terms and understand their various aspects. Additionally, the author expects to review the latest research regarding the different benefits that companies with excellent practices in the area can generate. It is critical to understand how a business can capitalize on the creation of an engaging environment that motivates one to remain in the workplace. Lastly, the author wishes to review the practices that leaders in the field use to achieve their excellent performance in the two aspects. The topic is complicated, and a list of best practices would be highly beneficial for successfully implementing the necessary policies at the author’s future workplace.

As the first alternative, we recommend Mr. Chua pay assiduous attention to building a robust and conducive corporate culture in the company. In particular, considering the increased turnover rate of newly hired personnel, indicating the acute lack of motivation and commitment, Mr. Chua can develop a strategy that enhances employee engagement. This fundamental approach means providing workers with the opportunity to participate in decision-making processes, including policy and strategy formation. Engaged employees are regarded as ones who are entirely immersed in and passionate about their work, clearly understanding that their and the company’s reputation and interests directly pivot on their appropriate behavior.

To improve the involvement, we highly recommend cultivating a feeling among staff that their work is meaningful, which allows them to realize their value within the organization. Osborne and Hammoud (2017) also advise that it is beneficial to encourage younger workers with monetary compensation and job security to increase their loyalty. Furthermore, the best ways to heighten employee engagement include promoting rewards and recognition, developing an ideological bond between leaders and employees, and empowering workers. Herewith, we are fully aware of the tremendous work he performed for the company’s benefit and value his effort that promoted our fast development and expansion in recent years.

Advantages

The first significant privilege of employee engagement is its ability to enhance the job satisfaction and productivity of the workforce, which was confirmed by a literature review by Barik and Kochar (2017). Barik and Kochar (2017) also specify the second advantage of this concept, that is, much better employee retention and, thus, turnover rate. Finally, employee engagement ensures the steady professional development of management-employee communication via participation in decision-making and shared zeal for growth.

Disadvantages

Perhaps, the most significant drawback of alternative work is the possibility of disorganization. The company should provide regular, time- and cost-consuming training to address this issue, especially for entered personnel. Besides, there is a necessity to assess employees’ demographic and mental characteristics to match their abilities to the company’s vision. The final disadvantage is the need to perform systematic employee engagement and performance surveys to determine whether outcomes meet the established objectives.

References

Barik, S., & Kochar, A. (2017). Antecedents and consequences of employee engagement: A literature review. International Journal of Latest Technology in Engineering, Management & Applied Science, 6(4), 33-38.

Osborne, S., & Hammoud, M. S. (2017). Effective employee engagement in the workplace.International Journal of Applied Management and Technology, 16(1), 50-67. Web.

The nature of the relationship between a company and its employees defines the level of workers’ satisfaction and the performance of the organization. In this paper, this relationship, also called employee engagement, is discussed through an example of Holiday Snacks. Aiming at a varied audience and producing a wide range of products, including healthy snacks, this company is considered highly competitive in its business sphere with its thought-out distribution channels. For Holiday Snacks, which provides workplaces for about 600 workers, employee engagement is essential for increasing performance and enhancing its positions in the market.

Employee engagement is a fundamental business concept describing to what extent workers are committed to the organization. Its driving factors may vary depending on the business sphere, the company’s products, corporate culture, and other aspects. In order to understand what contributes to encouraging and motivating employees, it is necessary to introduce the analyzed company. Holiday Snacks is a food production organization operating in the Caribbean and Central America. Owned by the Bermudez Group, it also collaborates with the West India Biscuit Company, which purchases Holiday’s products and distributes them to different regions, for example, Barbados and Jamaica. The mission of Holiday Snacks is to attract customers by a wide range of manufactured products, which are exported to thirteen markets in the Caribbean. The company’s operation in several regions is likely to contribute to its cultural diversity. The inclusion of employees from different cultural backgrounds is believed to increase their motivation and performance. Therefore, the geographics of Holiday Snacks may positively influence employee engagement.

Factors contributing to employee motivation can also be connected to Holiday Snacks’ position in the food and beverage sector. According to Chathoth et al. (2020, p. 1), employee engagement can be “considered from the perspective of the creation of value for the customers and the firm.” Since the organization operates throughout the Caribbean and is aimed at a diverse audience, employees can expect the company’s products to be in high demand. Working on Holiday Snacks, they may feel the importance of their contribution leading to higher motivation. Therefore, the company’s competitive position may play a positive role in increasing its prestige, and consequently, enhancing employees’ performance.

Not all factors contributing to employee engagement are related to the peculiarities of a company’s business industry: some of them depend on the organizational culture within a company. According to Al Shehri et al. (2017), workers’ training, communication within an organization, rewards, and appreciation of employees are some of the most important factors defining engagement. In order to stimulate employees’ contribution and commitment to the company, Holiday Snacks should pay special attention to workers’ recognition. Besides feeling involved in the creation of value emphasized in the previous paragraph, employees need to understand that their work is appreciated. It can be expressed through financial bonuses, positive feedbacks from supervisors, effective communications within the team, and other factors. Therefore, the fair treatment of workers is not company-specific but a universal condition of their engagement.

It is possible to conclude that the stable position of Holiday Snacks in the market, as well as the specificity of its business sphere, contribute to an enhanced employee engagement. As a large producer of snacks, the organization can be a desired workplace. At the same time, recognition and reward are essential for maintaining workers’ motivation. Therefore, for Holiday Snacks, it is important to pay attention to its corporate culture in order to increase employee engagement.

Reference List

Chathoth, P. K. et al. (2020). ‘Situational and personal factors influencing hospitality employee engagement in value co-creation.’ International Journal of Hospitality Management, 91, pp. 1-10. doi:10.1016/j.ijhm.2020.102687

Al Shehri, M. et al. (2017). ‘The impact of organizational culture on employee engagement in Saudi banks.’ Journal of Human Resources Management Research, 2017, pp. 1-23. doi:10.5171/2017.761672

Introduction

Employee engagement has become one of the most important concepts in modern HR management because it is closely related to individual and organizational performance. First, it reflects the degree of employees’ satisfaction with their work and their willingness to help the management.

Secondly, employee engagement is a significant factor that affects turnover rate in a company and influences its financial performance and customer relations. Furthermore, this concept has far-reaching implications for business administrators because the degree of employees’ engagement impacts their motivation, attention to workplace duties, and their willingness to support the initiatives of a manager.

This is why this concept has attracted attention of researchers, managers, and corporate executives. The paper will provide a definition of employee engagement. More importantly, it will examine empirical evidence that illustrates implications of employee engagement for workers, managers, and organizations. Finally, it will show how management should act in order to increase employee engagement.

Definition of employee engagement

It is possible to provide varying explanations of employee engagement. For example, Simon Albrecht (2010, 351) defines it as the degree of employees’ motivation and their willingness to contribute to the success of the organization.

Therefore, one can argue that employee engagement is an indicator that reflects people’s attitude toward their job, professional growth, and the organizations in which they work. Yet, such researchers as Sange and Srivasatava believe that it can be interpreted as “a positive attitude held by the employee toward the organization and its values” (2012, 38).

Other researchers such as Solomon Markos and Sandhya Sridevi (2010, 90) also believe that this concept can be identified as involvement and enthusiasm for work. Overall, the second definition suggests that this term has positive connotations.

Thus, the existing interpretations of this notion can be grouped in two categories: 1) the definitions that describe engagement as an indicator or a measurement of a person’s attitude and 2) the definitions that view engagement as a positive mindset.

Nevertheless, in both cases, scholars attach importance to such elements as employee’s attitude toward the job, their company, or its organizational goals. Moreover, one can speak about such components of engagement as enthusiasm, loyalty to the company, job satisfaction, and willingness to take extra effort in order to help the company succeed.

Overall, the study of this concept goes in two directions. First, the researchers attempt to determine how employee engagement impacts the performance of individuals and companies (Sange and Srivasatava, 2012).

Yet, much attention is also paid to those factors that determine the extent of employee engagement, for instance, organizational culture, compensation, or empowerment (Anand and Banu, 2011). This paper will explain why engagement is important for organizational and individual performance. Yet, it will also discuss the strategies of improving employee engagement.

Critical literature review

The researchers, who examine the implications of employee engagement, pay special attention to organizational performance which includes retention, productivity, and customer relations. For example, the meta-analysis done by Sange and Srivasatava (2012, 40) indicates that the companies which invest in employee orientation programs have higher rates of employee engagement.

Most importantly, they have a lower turnover rate (Sange and Srivasatava, 40). One has to bear in mind that reduced turnover can be the key to the company’s success because as a rule, organizations can perform more productively provided that their employees know each other very well and are able to work in a team.

Admittedly, the rate of turnover can also be determined by the compensation policies of a company. This is an important variable that should not be overlooked. However, the research carried out by Paul Fairlie (2011, 513) shows that workers may attach great importance to professional growth, self-actualization, and empowerment.

These factors are determinants of employee engagement and they are reflected in the retention rates of organizations. Therefore, these studies indicate that there is a significant relationship between turnover rate and engagement.

Furthermore, it should be noted that employee engagement is believed to be crucial for establishing good relations with customers (Sange and Srivasatava, 2012, 40). In particular, the companies or business units where employees’ engagement is higher usually receive better evaluations from customers, in particular, they had “86 % higher success rate” (Sange and Srivasatava, 2012, 40).

Again it is possible to say that customer satisfaction is a very good indicator of a company’s performance. Admittedly, the exact relationship between these variables needs further examination. The thing is that customer satisfaction may be shaped by other organizational variables such as bonuses that the company provides, its after-sale services, or quality control.

One cannot say that employee engagement is always the most powerful driver of a company’s relations with its clients. Nevertheless, even well-crafted policies can fail provided that workers do not have the stimuli to attend to the needs of clients.

The second aspect of employee engagement is related primarily to the individual behavior of workers. The thing is that the employees, who had a higher engagement rate, were more likely to accept those tasks that were not within the scope of their responsibilities (Anand and Banu, 2011, 119).

In contrast those people, whose engagement rates were lower, focuses only on those tasks that were directly related to their duties (Anand and Banu, 2011, 119). As a rule, such people do not like to take initiatives. Therefore, managers cannot always find an effective approach to them.

The problem is that such people want to stay within certain boundaries or comfort zone. Additionally, employee engagement enables a manager or a leader to motivate workers and inspire them. Without engagement, it will be very difficult for a company to achieve its long-term objective or achieve any growth.

In part, lack of motivation can be explained by individual characteristics of a person. However, such problems can also be attributed to managers’ inefficiency because it is one of their duties to enhance employee engagement. These people have to understand the factors that make employees engaged or disengaged.

To better understand the importance of employee engagement, one has to understand how disengaged workers usually behave in an organizational setting. For example, the research carried out by Markos and Sridevid (2010, 92) shows that such individuals usually have higher annual absence rate.

Moreover, they do not attach great importance to the company’s relations with its customers, and this attitude can result in the loss of competitive advantage. So, the significance of employee engagement can be made more evident when it is absent. Certainly, absenteeism and low productivity can be explained by other factors such as family conflicts, health, or emotional problems.

Secondly, inattention toward duties can be attributed to the lack of company rules or regulations that distinguish proper and improper behavior in the workplace. Therefore, organizational structure and policies can also be important variables that shape people’s attitude toward their work.

However, this possibility does not eliminate the premise that employee engagement can influence individual performance. It can be related with absenteeism but, this relation should be examined more closely.

Overall, the discussion of this concept must disregard those studies which examine those factors that determine the degree of employee engagement. Researchers distinguish several important predictors of engagement, in particular, performance appraisal methods, availability of training, ability to receive a feedback from a manager (Saradha and Patrick, 2011, 81).

Furthermore, one can mention such factors as employee compensation, opportunity for promotion, and ability to achieve professional growth (Fairlie, 2011, 513). The survey conducted by Paul Fairlie (2011, 513) shows that there are several opportunities that engaged employee have, in particular, self-actualizing work, autonomy, task variety, creativity, managerial recognition, and efficient policies within a company.

The findings of this survey indicate that compensation definitely affects the level of engagement, but employees tend to attach more importance to professional growth, task clarity, and feeling of personal accomplishment (Fairlie, 2011, 513).

Moreover, the scholars believe that the sense of being valued by the management is also a powerful driver of engagement (Sahadra and Patrick, 2011, 78). These are the main drivers of employee’s motivation, enthusiasm, and attitude toward work.

HR managers and corporate executives have to take these results into account while developing the policies of their organizations because increased employee engagement can become the cornerstone of a company’s long-term growth.

Overall, the scholars, who examine the role of engagement, have to ensure that their research takes into account every variable that affects organizational performance, such as its structure, policies, products, or HR practices. These variables are significant determinants of performance.

Nevertheless, engaged workforce is also a powerful contributing factor that may impact the performance of a company and its competitive position. Moreover, it is necessary to better understand the drivers of employee engagement, in particular, performance appraisal, opportunities for professional growth, or empowerment. Despite these challenges and limitations, there is sufficient evidence supporting premise the premise that engagement is instrumental for better work of a company, regardless of its size, structure, or business goals.

Evaluation

Admittedly, there is a necessity to further examine the influences of employee engagement. Those factors that affect employees’ attitudes should also be studied in more detail. However, at this point, one can say that employee engagement is related to better motivation of workers, increased productivity and improved organizational performance.

In this regard, the main task of managers is to develop a set of strategies that positively affect the degree of engagement. First, they should focus on the development of employee orientation and training programs. New hires have to see that the company wants to help them.

Mentorship and orientation programs positively affect employee engagement, these strategies can help companies recruit and retain talented candidates (Sange and Srivasatava 2012, 37). Moreover, these people must see that work in a company enables them to achieve some degree of professional growth. Therefore, the development of training programs has to be one of the topmost priorities for the management. These are the first steps that HR practitioners and managers need to take.

Secondly, they need to ensure that the company’s compensation system adequately assesses the individual contribution of a worker. Managers have to document the tasks that were successfully completed by an employee or the initiatives that he or she took. Without such recognition, a person will be more likely to lack motivation to perform better. As it has been said before, recognition can be the key to increased motivation and engagement.

Furthermore, they should focus on allocation of work responsibilities. Employees must have a chance to display and develop their knowledge, skills, and creativity; otherwise, it is unlikely that these people will become engaged.

The task of managers is to avoid such pitfalls as work or information overload because they often result in role confusion or inability of a worker to understand his or her major tasks. These are the main recommendations that one can make to people who are responsible for managing employees. These strategies may not yield short-term results, but they can contribute to long-term development of any organizations.

Conclusion

Overall, various studies of employee engagement indicates that it is closely linked with organizational and individual successes. As it has been noted before, it influences retention rates within a company and its relation with its clients.

Secondly, the degree of employee engagement is a good indicator of an employee’s attitude toward the goals of the company, its competitive position, and products or services. It also influences a person’s attitude toward work responsibilities and job tasks.

These findings have significant implications for modern businesses since they should adopt strategies and policies that ensure the engagement of the personnel. The task of managers is to create an environment in which a worker feels that his or her contribution is recognized, appreciated, and compensated.

Overall, this assignment has shown to me how employees’ attitudes can shape organizational behavior. While writing this paper, I learned more about those things which can affects people’s engagement and their willingness to stay with the company. This information is also important, because it shows how business administrators should act. Overall, this paper has been of great use to me.

Reference List

Albrecht, Simon. 2010. Handbook of employee engagement: perspectives, issues, research and practice. New York: Edward Elgar Publishing.

Anand, Vijay, and Vijaya Banu. 2011. “Employee Engagement: A Research.

Study with Special Reference to Rane Engine Valve Ltd. (Plant – I), Chennai, India.” Journal Of Marketing & Management 2 (2):117-135.

Fairlie, Paul. 2010. “Meaningful Work, Employee Engagement, and Other Key Employee Outcomes : Implications for Human Resource Development.” Advances in Developing Human Resources 13(4): 509-525.

Markos, Solomon, and M. Sandhya Sridevi. 2010. “Employee Engagement: The Key to Improving Performance.” International Journal Of Business & Management, 5, 12: 89-96.

Sange, Rabiya, and Shri Srivasatava. 2012. “Employee Engagement and Mentoring: An Empirical Study of Sales Professionals.” Synergy 10 (1): 37-50.

Saradha, H., and Harold Andrew Patrick. 2011. “Employee Engagement In Relation To Organizational Citizenship Behavior In Information Technology Organizations.” Journal Of Marketing & Management 2 (2): 74-90.

Today, there are four major impediments that may affect the level of productivity in any given organisation. These challenges include call to satisfy clients, need for innovation, call for a speedy response to the ever-shifting market requirements, and augmented levels of competition. Consequently, both managers and workers ought to be committed to the attainment of a company’s objectives in order to overcome these impediments.

It is, therefore, necessary for management to come up with effective strategies to deal with the issue at hand, for instance, management should ensure that all aspects of a company’s operations are supportive and encouraging to employees. They can achieve this by first ensuring that the organisation’s basic requirements are put in place.

Such requirements may include high quality of goods and services that employees can easily advocate for. An excellent system of delivery that guarantees that pledges and promises made to the customers are met, effective practices which are sincere, clear-cut, and executed with honesty.

Most importantly, management should consider the manner in which it should provide thrust to motivate workers as this influences their level of commitment to the company (Miller 2011, 377).

Even though technology is known to dominate the current corporate section throughout the world, a lot of focus has recently been put on employees as well as the manner in which they are handled by their seniors. It is often said that the best managers produce the best results from their employees.

As a matter of fact, throughout history, managers have devised several approaches and strategies which have been aimed at enhancing performance of employees. In addition, a lot of research has been carried out with regards to employee engagement. For this reason, there is need to critically examine employee engagement as well as roles played by managers and relationship between employees’ self-efficacy and managers’ effectiveness.

This will help to explain the impacts as well as benefits of enhancing employee engagement. Moreover, it will help to illuminate on various ways that may be used to enhance employee engagement. This paper attempts to add to this body of knowledge and more specifically, it attempts to critically examine managerial implications of employee engagement (Tammy 2003, 24).

Effective management largely depends on the foundation of the management principle as well as the process of management being used. On the other hand, the concept of employee engagement is a management approach that has been employed to boost individual as well as organisational activities.

Moreover, scholars have shown that there exists a relationship between employee’s activities and organisational dedication, employment fulfillment as well as employee engagement. Research has shown that there exists a direct relationship between employees’ engagement and managers’ effectiveness.

In general, it is important to note that employees engagement incorporated with managers self-efficacy is imperative ingredients of a company’s success that are likely to improve managers’ effectiveness. Consequently, effective management is vital in order to achieve considerable development in any organisation (Miller 2011, 381).

Employee Engagement

The main challenge experienced in understanding employee engagement lies in several conceptualised definitions. As a matter of fact, there has been no agreed definition of employee engagement. This not withstanding, employee engagement can be defined as a situation whereby individual employees within a given organisation are totally occupied and passionate about their work (Tammy 2003, 26).

Employee engagement can also be used to refer to an intrinsic aspiration within the employees to add something valuable to their places of work (Stewart 2007, 20). The above definitions seem to bring out a connection between high degree of employee engagement and improved employee as well as organisational performance.

A lot of research has been done with regards to employee engagement, ranging from issues regarding advantages of raising the level of employee engagement as well as the means of improving employee engagement. The extensive research, good indicator that enhancing employee engagement, plays a major role in employees as well as organisational performance.

Employee engagement in any organisation is vital as disengagement of employees is a major cause of lack of enough dedication and drive in workers. Indeed, research indicates that employee engagement is highly associated with workers’ returns, customer fulfillment, reliability, security, output as well as effectiveness.

For these reasons, if an organsation effectively handles employee engagement, then it is highly likely to achieve a high level of performance index (Meyer 2010, 29).

Benefits of Employee Engagement

• Engaged employees often become promoters of an organisation, its products as well as its services, hence, contribute to the organisations overall financial success.
• Engaged employees are more enthusiastic about their work and often execute it in a better manner.
• Employee engagement boosts the workers’ zeal, and obligation to the company’s objectives.
• Employees’ engagement boosts the employees’ faith in the company.
• Employees’ engagement builds the workers to become effectual brand representatives of the organisation.
• Employees’ engagement creates a positive attitude among employees which is then transferred to the organisations’ customers and thus improving their fulfillment (Miller 2011, 384).

Nevertheless, engagement approaches which have no proper direction are not likely to attain these benefits and may even fail and lead to poorer employee morale as well as uncertainty. Thus, supervisors who embrace employee engagement should carefully reflect on their reasons of advocating for employee engagement, how well they can effectively execute the same (Miller 2011, 385).

Even though research has shown that employee engagement has recently been embraced in several organisations, a recent survey has shown that about 42% of contemporary employee engagement strategies were predicted to be futile.

Thus, employee engagement should be executed with a lot of precaution for the attainment of positive outcomes. In case it is properly executed, employee engagement can be a splendid way to motivate employees and also ensuring that an organisation’s objectives are met (Miller 2011, 385).

Ensuring that Employee Engagement Facilitates the Achievement of an Organisation’s Goals

Managers should ensure that they connect the employee engagement strategies with the realisation of the company’s objectives. As a matter of fact, employee engagement should be seen as a means to an end but not an end in itself. Consequently, managers should ensure that they first establish the company’s main objective as it is pointless to have employee engagement without linking it to the organisation’s goals (Mintzberg 1998, 48).

In addition, managers should ensure that they show their commitment to the ideas of engaged employees, for instance, they should always make sure that they respond and act on employees’ propositions for improvement of the organisation’s performance. It is, indeed, very exasperating to employees when they are asked for suggestions and their responses disregarded (Mintzberg 1998, 58).

Moreover, supervisors should always volunteer to teach employees more about the business or organisation itself. This is because of a lack of enough knowledge on how a company runs may influence employees to give unsuitable suggestions. Ideally, knowledgeable and empowered employees are likely to produce best outcomes from employee engagement programs (Tammy 2003, 94).

Drivers of Employee Engagement

Even though we can determine the level of employee engagement through employee surveys, we may not be in a position to identify necessary areas that need to be improved within an organisation through surveys. It is, therefore, important for managers to consider a variety of factors, which are also referred to as drivers, which are said to improve general employee engagement.

In case these drivers are effectively handled, a company can successfully deal with increasing employees’ degree of engagement.

These drivers include effective communication, performance intelligibility and response, organisational values, incentives as well as appreciation, excellent relationships between employees and managers, professional advancement prospects and familiarity of a company’s objectives are some of the major aspects that enhance employee engagement as discussed below (Stewart 2007, 39).

Employee perceptions of his/her job and company

According to a recent study, a worker’s attitude towards his/her work in a particular organisation has a major influence on his/her on loyalty to the organisation which has a tremendous impact on customer satisfaction (Lehman 1985, 52).

The clarity of job expectations in the employees

In case the management’s expectations are not clearly outlined to employees, and the entire fundamental resources are not adequately provided, unenthusiastic feelings such as boredom or bitterness may crop within employees and they are, therefore, likely to shift their attention from the organisation’s general wellbeing to survival mechanisms (Lehman 1985, 58).

Professional development opportunities

Research has shown that career improvement opportunities often have a positive impact on workers attitudes as it contributes to employee motivation. As a matter of fact, in many organisations, this is often suggested by employees and made effective through management. In most cases, career improvement has a positive impact on organisations’ general performance (Suk and Seung 2006, 86).

Regular and effective communication between employees and managers. Management should always strive to present an opportunity for dialogue where employees air their views, are appreciated and reminded of management’s expectations. This way, employees are likely to develop a feeling of belonging and, hence, likely to influence their productivity positively (Henessy 2004, 49).

An effective relationship among workers and with superiors: An effective relationship among employees and with their superiors is a vital ingredient in the organisations’ general performance. In case employees do not relate with their fellow employees as well as managers in a cordial manner, they are not likely to perform at their best.

As a matter of fact, employee engagement is a direct manifestation of workers feeling towards their relationship with their colleagues and superiors. In addition, such a relationship moves management closer to workers and they are, thus, in a better position to understand workers grievances and respond to them appropriately.

In such instances, management is able to depict when performance is not at its best in good time and, thus, act promptly (Henessy 2004, 56).

Perceptions of an organisation’s culture and values

An organisation’s culture and values postulate a vital inspirational factor of employee engagement. Absence of the two is likely to affect a company’s performance negatively (Meyer 2010, 37).

Reward for engagement

In any organisation, it is important for managers to reflect on the benefits that an organisation stands to gain if they offer incentives to employees. This is an important way of improving employees’ drive and, thus, improves their engagement.

In order to achieve this, it is important for supervisors to set sensible goals for employees, pick the most appropriate rewards for the incentive program, constantly address reward issues, come up with several and different winners and different rewards, support constant effort, present awards in a transparent manner and assess incentive programs on a regular basis (Meyer 2010, 45).

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is evident that there is a higher probability of engaged workers presenting a transparent and excellent behavior within their work place. Research has proved that employee engagement is often associated with an attitude or a discernment that develops impression of being appreciated and involved in an organisation’s well being which consequently leads to improved organisational performance.

Furthermore, it is clear that managers within any company should constantly look for various ways through which they can enhance performance of their workforce. Employee engagement is one way though which they can achieve this. However, managers should be actively involved in formulating and executing effective strategies as well as practices that will completely influence employee engagement.

In addition, employee engagement can only be consequential if management and employees have a more authentic accountability while addressing organisational issues, for instance, it is important for workers to be presented with an opportunity to air their views to management. Clearly, employee engagement can only be efficient when used with an appropriate purpose and by those who have the appropriate skills in executing it.

Reference List

Henessy, Whitney. 2004. Employee engagement in organisational development. London: Prentice Hall.

Miller, Kathy. 2011. Employee Engagement: Why Do It If You Can’t Do it Right? Journal of Management Development 21 (5): 376-387.

Lehman, James. 1985. Human Resource Management: Employee contributions in organisations. USA: Simon and Schuster Inc.

Meyer, Richard. 2010. Human Resource Management. Croatia: Zrinski.

Mintzberg, Henry. 1998. Human Resource Management: Employee engagement. London: Prentice Hall.

Stewart, James. 2007. Essentials of Human Resource Management. New York: Routledge.

Suk, Kim., and Seung, Kim. 2006. Human Resource Management: Principles and Practice Australia: Blackwell Publishing.

Tammy, Sturge. 2003. Strategic Human Resource Management. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.