Global Trend in Employee engagement

Employee Engagement & Facebook

Organizations are gradually using social media as a new way to reach customers more effectively, and to spread news of their activities more rapidly (Diercksen et al. ,2007 cited in Daniel, Isaac and Janet, 2017). The rapidity in the rise of social media is changing how organizations operate and handle their communication as Facebook can be considered as a fantastic resource to the working place and Research has shown that employees who use social media are nine percent more productive in the workplace (Daniel, Isaac and Janet, 2017). Social networks allow people to build up the relationship in society (Bridge Consulting, 2009) help employees to think outside the box which enables to increase employee engagement, foster employee ideas, and innovation enhance customer relationships and employee productivity, and enhance customer relationships (Flynn, 2011) Social media not only help employees to become more productive as they also allow employees to stay current with market trends and issues which are important to consumers as well as the general public (Daniel, Isaac and Janet, 2017).

Global trend in Employee engagement context

According to the global survey conducted by ORC international in 2014, Employee engagement index is increasing gradually in the last years.

Figure 04: Global trend in Employee engagement context in index

This improvement has been mirrored in all countries except Switzerland and Singapore Netherland, Sweden, and Austria (ORC international survey, 2014).

Employee Engagement in Global Companies

The concept of employee engagement is identified by the founders - Google (Larry Page and Sergey Brin) as the foundation to make Google a great place to work through valuing their employees. Google keeps people inspired by providing them the freedom to manage their work in a flexible way to allow employees to work from home when needed, adopt flex schedules, and increase the amount of personal time employees get each year or allow employees to take their personal time in hours not days. Google ensures employees are given the most inspirational, Flexible unique work environments to think out of the box & generate new ideas to succeed Google’s goals (Culture Summit.com, 2019).

Figure 05: Google Office Environment

Source: Andrea Loubier, 2017

Conclusion

The concept of employee engagement that evolved in the recent era is a positive attitude held by the employees towards the organization and its values. Engaged employees lead to individual performance, increased productivity, retention, customer loyalty and profitability ultimately to the organizational performance. Engaged leadership plays a main role in employee engagement as it is impossible to have engaged people in organizations where there is no engaged leadership. At the same time, it is very important to have an appropriate organizational culture & job design in order to successful employee engagement. Employee engagement should be a continuous process of learning, improvement, measurement, and action as it has been proven throughout this article that employee engagement is a main aspect of Enhancing organizational performance through individual productivity.

List of References

Bridge Consulting (2009). How companies are using social media tools to build connections. Retrieved from: http://bridgecnslt.com/documents/BridgeConsulting‐SocialMedia Report.pd

·       Daniel, E., Isaac, E. and Janet, A. (2017). Influence of Facebook usage on employee productivity: A case of university of cape coast staff. African Journal of Business Management, 11(6), pp.110-116.

·       <https://engageforsuccess.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/ORC-Global-Perspectives-2015-worldwide-trends-in-employee-engagement.pdf>

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·       Flynn J (2011). How social media affects HR: Uses, abuses and selfprotection. Retrieved September 15, 2016 from http://docplayer.net/42058377-Impact-of-social-networking-on-employ ee-performance.html

Leadership and Employee Engagement

The most important component of effective leadership is that leaders treat their employees genuinely & it encourages creativity and achieves continuing outcomes in organizations (Kouzes and Posner, 2002 cited in Wang and Hsieh, 2013). He further suggested that authentic leadership may positively affect employee engagement, attitudes and behavior, job commitment, creativity, and organizational citizenship behavior. When employees notice their supervisors as being consistent between words and actions and holding moral perceptions, they are more likely to be engaged in their work (Wang and Hsieh, 2013). Leaders’ openness and consistency between beliefs and actions play an important role in manipulating employees’ decisions to provide voluntarily comments or suggestions intended to spark organizational improvement, which in turn help them to learn and to be engaged at work (May, Chan, Hodges, & Avolio, 2003 cited in Wang and Hsieh, 2013).

According to Kompaso and Sridevi (2010), the concept of employee engagement begins from the top as it is impossible to have engaged people in organizations where there is no engaged leadership. Further Kompaso and Sridevi (2010) states that managers should enhance two-way communication and ensure that employees have all the resources they need to do their job. The leadership is responsible for providing appropriate training to employees to increase their knowledge and skill and establish reward mechanisms to reward good employee works as well as creating a distinctive corporate culture that encourages the hard work of employees. Leadership plays a big role in creating such an environment & keeps success stories alive while developing a strong performance management system. Any organization that has committed leadership can achieve the desired level of engagement with less cost of doing it.

The management of the company I work for always welcomes employees’ ideas & suggestions by creating an open-door culture & making them comfortable. They always keep the eye on the company vision & work according to it. As well as they trust their employees & provide almost all the facilities to make them engaged employees to achieve organization expectations. 

Video 04: 11 Things leaders say to drive Employee engagement

Source: Blessingwhite, A Division of GP strategies

Barriers to Employee engagement

There is also a growing focus upon identifying those factors that will limit employees’ ability to engage. Bureaucracy and heavy workloads can be identified as key factors (Robertson-Smith and Markwick 2009). Bureaucratic behavior in organizations severely slows down the potential of an organization to engage its employees, as well as being over‐worked, as both increase an employee’s vulnerability to stress (Lockwood, 2007). Workload pressure along with poor management and poor communication were key barriers to engagement. This was particularly true during times of change, with bureaucracy and lack of time to achieve workload being the biggest de‐motivators, and workload is one of the biggest causes of stress (Sinclair et al., 2008). The reliability and stability of the measures are in doubt as the individual’s level of engagement fluctuates with employees’ situation & environment (Fletcher and Robinson, 2014 cited in Purcell, 2014).

List of References

·       Lockwood NR (2007), ʹLeveraging employee engagement for competitive advantage: HR’s strategic roleʹ, Society for Human Resource Management Quarterly, ¼

·       Robertson-Smith, G. and Markwick, C. (2009) Employee Engagement A review of current thinking, Brighton: INSTITUTE FOR EMPLOYMENT STUDIES

·       Sinclair A, Robertson‐Smith G, Hennessy J (2008), The Management Agenda, Roffey Park Institute

·       Purcell, J. (2014). Disengaging from engagement. Human Resource Management Journal, 24(3), pp.241-254.

·       Wang, D. and Hsieh, C. (2013). The effect of authentic leadership on employee trust and employee engagement. Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal, 41(4), pp.613-624.

·       Kompaso, S. and Sridevi, M. (2010). Employee Engagement: The Key to Improving Performance. International Journal of Business and Management, 5(12 )

Keep Your Employees

Design Work to Focus on Employee Engagement

The engaged and innovative workforce of the organization is an essential partner in each innovation process as they are the sources of ideas, responsible for the implementation or can reduce innovation attempts unsuccessful when dissatisfied. Therefore “Job design” is identified as a crucial factor in work engagement and Innovative Work Behavior (Spiegelaere et al., 2015). In recent research suggests that the design of people’s jobs is one of the most significant factors influencing engagement levels & jobs which offer such experiences as variety, challenge, and end-to-end responsibility to facilitate high levels of engagement (Shantz et al., 2013). Work contexts create environments in which individuals can personally engage with their work (Kahn, 1990) & he further states that when people were doing work that was challenging and varied, they were more likely to be engaged.

Figure 03: The mediating effect of engagement on the job design to performance relationship

Source: Shantz, A., Alfes, K., Truss, C. and Soane, E. (2013)

Hackman and Oldham (1980) states the presence of five key characteristics named job: task variety, identity, significance, autonomy, and feedback within jobs facilitate the development of internal motivation for effective performance via employee engagement.

Job Design is the process of structuring work and designing work for the specific job in Toyota as two dimensions of job design include job scope and job depth. Job scope refers to the number and variety of tasks performed by the jobholder in the Toyota Motor Company which most jobs have high job scope. In a job with less scope, the jobholder has to perform a few tasks & it can be the reason for the dissatisfaction of the particular job. Job depth refers to the freedom of the job holders to plan and organize their own work. Toyota’s management gives freedom to its employees up to his control or limit and works at your own pace and communicates according to your need (UK essays, 2018).

Design Workspaces To Enable Engagement

Many organizations are interested in creating spiritual workplaces that engage the hearts and minds of their employees to promote and create high levels of employee engagement (Saks, 2011). Working environment which people work affects both job performance and job satisfaction of employees, such workspace decisions seek to create an investment in employees’ quality of life, the argument being made that measurable productivity increases will result researchers are increasingly finding links between employee health and aspects of the physical environment at work such as indoor air quality, ergonomic furniture, and lighting (Vischer, 2007). Today more than 70 percent of employees work in an open space environment (Phillips et.al, 2016) with this open office concern that will come up with privacy and interrupt frequently.

·       Remote and Flexible Working

Flexible working policies are normally designed to give employees a degree of choice over how much, when and where they work and to help them achieve a more satisfying work-life balance (Kelliher and Anderson, 2009). Further, Kelliher and Anderson (2009) emphasize that employee experiences of working from home for part of the week and working reduced hours show employee’s work intensification.

Video 3: Flexible Worker #Work Smarter

Source: Cisco UKI

The company I work for was relocated a few years ago to an area where limited public transportation & infrastructure. After the relocation of office premises, almost all the employees have to face many problems physically, mentally & financially while arranging their transport every day. Employees are started to get demotivated & the productivity of the employees was declining. Considering the situation, the top management announced the options of flexible working hours & work from home facility with providing collaborating tools. After that, the productivity of the employees started to increase & it let them manage their work-life balance. As well as the positive mindset of employees leads to generate innovative & smart ideas for the company. They become more engaged employees than they were at the previous location.

List of References

·       Hackman, J.R., and Oldham, G.R. (1980), Work Redesign, Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley

·       Kahn, W. A. (1990. Psychological conditions of personal engagement and disengagement at work. Academy of Management Journal, 33(4), p. 692–724

·       Kelliher, C. and Anderson, D. (2009). Doing more with less? Flexible working practices and the intensification of work. Human Relations, 63(1), pp.83-106

·       Saks, A. (2011). Workplace spirituality and employee engagement. Journal of Management, Spirituality & Religion, 8(4), pp.317-340.

·       Shantz, A., Alfes, K., Truss, C. and Soane, E. (2013). The role of employee engagement in the relationship between job design and task performance, citizenship and deviant behaviours. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 24(13), pp.2608-2627

• ·       Spiegelaere, S., Gyes, G., Witte, H. and Hootegem, G. (2015). Job design, work engagement and innovative work behavior: A multi-level study on Karasek’s learning hypothesis. management revu, 26(2), pp.123-137.

·       Vischer, J. (2007). The effects of the physical environment on job performance: towards a theoretical model of workspace stress. Stress and Health, 23(3), pp.175-184.

·       <https://www.ukessays.com/essays/management/background-of-toyota-motor-company-limited-management-essay.php?fbclid=IwAR15vGVXAkh2UDInvniMW0XMU9W6s0c5SRyXVM9BuieK-9dETC4A6qHzZBw>

Employee Engagement & Organizational performance

Figure 2.0 Integrated Model of Employee Engagement

(Source: Bedarkar and Pandita, 2014)

According to Bedarkar and Pandita (2014), there are 3 specific factors which are assumed to lead employee engagement which ultimately result in higher organizational performance. Leadership research shows that positive leadership behaviors have a clear association with engagement constructs such as motivation, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, proactive behaviors and organizational citizenship behavior, Trust in leader, support from the leader, and creating a blame-free environment are considered as components of psychological safety, a condition proposed by Kahn, (1990), which leads to employee engagement (Bedarkar and Pandita, 2014). He further states, when employees notice their supervisors as being consistent between words and actions and holding moral perceptions, they are more likely to be engaged in their work. Leaders must develop their self-awareness , understand their own merits and demerits, show consistency between beliefs and actions and become role models for communication in the organization as trust depends mainly upon consistency of both communication and action and is the emotional glue that binds followers and leaders together as well as this facilitates a feeling of pride in their employees due to the employees’ dependence on the leaders’ professional competencies and affective behavior (Wang and Hsieh, 2013). Internal communication plays an important role in ensuring employee engagement, which effectively carries the organizational values to all employees and thus obtains their support in reaching organizational goals (Beauregard and Henry, 2009).

Work-Life Balance is an important driver of employee engagement whereas the ability of the employee to find time for his work and family was a crucial factor to the success of his performance at the workplace (Bedarkar and Pandita, 2014). Organizations can implement various work-life balance initiatives that may assist employees in better work-life balance such as  flexible working hours, job sharing, part-time work, compressed workweeks, parental leave, telecommuting, on-site childcare facility, as well as employers, may provide a range of benefits related to employees’ health and well-being, including extended health insurance for the employee and dependents, personal days, and access to programs or services to encourage fitness and physical and mental health (Ioan, Codruta & Patricia, 2010).

Those employees who were more favorable toward their organization’s efforts to support work-life balance also indicated a much lower intent to leave the organization, greater pride in their organization, a willingness to recommend it as a place to work and higher overall job satisfaction (Kompaso and Sridevi, 2010). But, Beauregard and Henry (2009) state that employees are often demonstrably concerned that using flexible working arrangements will damage their promotion prospects and perhaps their relationships with co-workers and managers.

The employee engagement significantly impact on financial results of organizations as several studies observe that employee engagement initially results in greater employee performance, which further leads to enhanced organizational performance (Tower Perrin, 2006; Gallup, 2006 as cited in Beauregard and Henry, 2009).

The organization which I work in is a leading multinational courier company and the company follows the following strategies according to figure 1.0 to engage company employees. The leadership of the organization much aware of the company goals & works by heart to active it while communicating it to the company employees clearly. As well as leaders of the company have created an open door & family culture where employees can easily approach their management in order to communicate their ideas or suggestions & resolve problems related to the organization. Leadership provides continues support to carry out more employee engagement actives with creating an environment where an employee can balance their work & personal life well of every employee in the organization.  Flexible working hours, work from home and telecommuting are introduced to employees by the leadership.

As well as the training program about “positive thinking” was conducted by the organization in order to create a positive mindset of employees. This may help to overcome the situation of employee dissatisfaction & demotivation. At the same time, leaders facilitated special training programs including foreign training to each department which enable employees to be experts in their tasks. This environment with engaged employees lead to improve the performance of the employees in line with productivity. High productivity eventually makes organization performance high & profitable. This company was ranked amongst the Top 25 Great Workplaces in Sri Lanka, by the Great Place to Work® Institute, for the 4^th consecutive year in 2019.

Video 2

(Source: Mountain Hawk Express Pvt Ltd, 2018)

List of References

·       Bedarkar, M. and Pandita, D. (2014). A Study on the Drivers of Employee Engagement Impacting Employee Performance. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 133, pp.106-115.

·       Kahn, W. A. (1990. Psychological conditions of personal engagement and disengagement at work. Academy of Management Journal, 33(4), p. 692–724

·       Wang, D. and Hsieh, C. (2013). The effect of authentic leadership on employee trust and employee engagement. Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal, 41(4), pp.613-624.

·       Ioan, A. Codruta, O and Patricia, R. (2010). The Role of Work-Life Balance Practices in Order to Improve Organizational Performance. European Research Studies, 10(1), 202-212.

·       Beauregard, T. and Henry, L. (2009). Making the link between work-life balance practices and organizational performance. Human Resource Management Review, 19(1), pp.9-22.

·       Kompaso, S. and Sridevi, M. (2010). Employee Engagement: The Key to Improving Performance. International Journal of Business and Management, 5(12 )

Positive Impacts of the Employee Engagement

Video 1

Why employee engagement matter?

Source: No author, 2013

Employee engagement is truly important in any organization because it has a direct impact on organization/business outcomes (Kompaso and Sridevi, 2010). The positive impacts of the employee engagement and it has been categorized into two main aspects such as Organizational outcomes as well as employee outcomes. Organizational outcomes are listed as customer loyalty, employee retention, employee productivity, Advocacy of the organization, Manager self-efficacy, Organizational Performance, Bottom-line profit, Successful organizational change (Robertson-Smith and Markwick 2009).

Satisfied & happy employees create loyal customers to the business (Robertson-Smith and Markwick 2009). Research has shown that service quality is ultimately related to customer loyalty and retention and, eventually, to higher profits for the organization through positive customer perceptions of service quality (Salanova, Agut and Peiró, 2005). Successful employee retention is crucial to an organization’s stability, growth, and revenue. BlessingWhite (2008) reports that 85 percent of engaged employees plan on sticking around compared to 27 percent of disengaged employees. In addition, 41 percent of engaged employees said that they would stay if the organization is struggling to survive. According to Lockwood (2007) Engaged employees work harder, are more loyal and are more likely to go the ‘extra mile’ for the corporation. Considering the employee productivity, engaged employees are more productive & achieve the expected quality level with few mistakes, fewer accidents and good safety records (Evans & Lindsay, 2012).

Today, society and business are witnessing unprecedented change in an increasingly global marketplace, with many companies competing for talent (Lockwood, 2007). In such a situation employee engagement plays a key role hence the concept of employee engagement leads to successful implementation of organizational change & adapt to the changing market quickly (Graen, 2008)

Considering employee outcomes with regard to employee engagement is quit broad (Lockwood, 2007). In today’s rapidly changing environment, workplaces have brought a more transnational approach to the relationship between employer and employee. Employees expect good salary & promotion in return for their loyalty and commitment as well as employer tend to offer higher salaries and increased today (Lockwood, 2007). Gallup (Crabtree, 2005, cited in Lockwood, 2007) Stated that increased health and well-bing in engaged employees, with 62 percent of engaged employees reporting a positive effect of work upon their physical health. Physical healthfulness of the workforce may lead to mindfulness, intrinsic motivation, creativity, authenticity, non-defensive communication, playfulness, ethical behavior, increased effort and involvement and overall a more productive & happy employee (Kahn, 1990) 

List Of References

BlessingWhite(2008) The State of Employee Engagement, s.l.: BlessingWhite

Evans, J. R. & Lindsay, W. M., (2012). THE MANAGEMENT AND CONTROL OF QUALITY. EIGHTH EDITION ed. New Delhi: Cengage Learning India Private Limited

·       ·       Kompaso, S. and Sridevi, M. (2010). Employee Engagement: The Key to Improving Performance. International Journal of Business and Management, 5(12 )

 Lockwood, N., 2007. Leveraging Employee Engagement for Competitive Advantage: HR's Strategic Role. HR Magazine, Volume 52 (3) Special section, pp. 1-11.

·       Robertson-Smith, G. and Markwick, C. (2009) Employee Engagement A review of current thinking, Brighton: INSTITUTE FOR EMPLOYMENT STUDIES.

·       Salanova, M., Agut, S. and Peiró, J. (2005). Linking Organizational Resources and Work Engagement to Employee Performance and Customer Loyalty: The Mediation of Service Climate. Journal of Applied Psychology, 90(6), pp.1217-1227

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Drivers of Employee Engagement

There are some factors that affect employee engagement which is necessary to understand. Mainly there are antecedents and drivers which are given below (Crawford, et al., (2013). 

• Job challenge - Challenging job provides an opportunity to strengthen, develop, and learn skills applicable to the work world and personal growth for an employee. 

• Opportunities for development – Development opportunities make work meaningful to the employee because they provide pathways for growth and for fulfilling personal objectives (Penna, 2007). 

• Autonomy – This provides the right or condition of self-government. Allow employees to schedule their work at their own procedures. 

• Variety – Being able to perform different activities which required different skill levels makes the job interesting 

• Feedback – Providing regular feedback to the employees about the effectiveness of their performance. 

• Fit - The existence of compatibility between an employee and a work environment allows individuals to work in a confidant. 

• Rewards and recognition - Incentives, rewards, and recognition are the major factors that impact employee motivation (Danish and Usman, 2010). Often, rewards and recognition take the form of extra compensation for employees who carry out the activities.

Many researches have tried to recognize the factors leading to employee engagement and developed models to draw implications for managers in order to determine the drivers that will increase employee engagement level (Kompaso and Sridevi, 2010). A strong manager-employee relationship is a crucial factor in employee engagement and retention formula (Penna, 2007). Further Penna (2007)  states meaning at work has the potential to be a valuable way of bringing employers and employees closer together to the benefit of both where employees experience a sense of community, the space to be themselves and the opportunity to make a contribution, they find meaning. Employees want to work in the organizations in which they find meaning at work (Penna, 2007). Development Dimensions International (DDI, 2005) mentions that a manager must do five things in order to create a highly engaged workforce. They are 1. Align efforts with strategy 2.Empower 3. Promote and encourage teamwork and collaboration 4. Help people grow and develop 4.Provide support and recognition where appropriate.

List Of References 

• Crawford, E. R., Rich, B. L., Buckman, B. and Bergeron, J.(2013) Employee Engagement in Theory and Practice. 1st ed. London: Routledge.

• Danish, R. Q. and Usman, A. (2010) Impact of Reward and Recognition on Job Satisfaction and Motivation: An Empirical Study from Pakistan. International Journal of Business and Management, 5(2), pp. 159-167

• Development Dimensions International. (2005). (Predicting Employee Engagement MRKSRR12-1005 Development Dimensions International, Inc., MMV. [Online] Available:www.ddiworld.com (October 30,2008)


• Kompaso, S. and Sridevi, M. (2010). Employee Engagement: The Key to Improving Performance. International Journal of Business and Management, 5(12 )

• Penna (2007). Meaning at Work Research Report. [Online] Available: http:// www. e-penna.com/ newsopinion /research.aspx (November10, 2008) proposalʹ, Industrial and Organisational Psychology, 1, 74–75