Employee engagement
1. The concept of Employee Engagement
As
stated by Byrne (2015) employee engagement is “
investing oneself , being authentic in the job and delivering ones work
performance with passion persistence and energy.
According to Khan(1990) a
dynamic , dialectical relationship exists between the person who drives
personal energies (physical cognitive , emotional and mental )into his or her
work role on one hand , and the work role that always this person to express
him , or herself on the other.
2. Evolution
of employee engagement
Even before Kahn’s rationalization on this subject during year 1990 ,
other characteristics of employee engagement had been implied in many other
ways when perusing literature. Even though it is not described in the term as “
Employee Engagement” , authors have shown similar characteristics that
describes same as to “ concentrate on work” , and also describes as promoting
of human integration through
satisfaction and an extended commitment
to the company through constant progression, behaviors strengthened through
financial rewards, and thereby increasing job satisfaction and repeating same.
2.1 Khan’s Model on Employee Engagement
As stated by Khan (1990) the
term, “Engagement” was named as “The
Psychological Conditions of Personal Engagement and Disengagement at Work”
Figure 1.0 : Khan’s Model
On Employee Engagement.
Source
Kahn (1990) has introduced the above model of employee engagement
which is considered to be the oldest model of an employee participation. His
model emphasizes that there are three psychological conditions involved in personal
involvement and disconnection of work namely meaningfulness, availability and
safety . For the purpose of his study,
Kahn has interviewed his summer camp counselors and organization members of an
architectural firm in its moments participation and disconnection at work. He has
proven through the study that workers were more involved in work situations when
offered with more psychological meaning and psychological safety, when they were psychologically available.
Therein he has also defined “Employees
Engagement” as a exclusive and unique set of emotional, cognitive and
behavioral factors, all of which are linked to each other .
2.2 Khan’s Model – How the model is applied.
Appling the above model introduced by Khan (2009),to a practical
scenario makes it easy towards understanding the practical applicability on the
same. It has been applied to the company where I am engaged in, under the
project “Uma-Oya” being conducted at Uva Province in Sri Lanka, in order to get
an apparent knowledge on the model Khan (2009) has introduced.
Upon many years of discussion and negotiation the project
construction activities initiated during year 2008 , and the project had been
funded by Iran
Figure 2.1 : Khan’s Model application
to a present work scenario.
|
Meaningfulness |
Availability |
Safety |
|
Made the local employees feel
valued about their work by themselves and by higher level managerial
employees |
Emotionally and psychologically
involves in performing duties. |
Building up a cordial employee-
employer relationship within work environment. |
|
Communication gaps between Iranian
Officials and local employee had been mitigated by deploying a translator
in-between who can handle both languages (English and Sinhala). Through that
people had been clearly made aware on their job roles and had created a
pleasant work environment and the capacity for the employee to act in
accordance with objective morality. Employees had been given the freedom
towards creativity, which helped them to adopt local methodologies which
helped the company to get the things done more productively. Local employees
had been assigned with viable targets and a reward system which increased the
productivity. |
The company has always made aware
on the local employees security even during the time there had been a social
unrest against the project in society,
which in result has improved the
quality of work of the employees and
deliberately conducted activities with full awareness. Social system
in Sri Lanka is quite different from Iran, and it had been assured that the
company made themselves in align with the Sri Lankan social system, which
helped the employees do their jobs effectively. The company always treated
local employees with a feeling of trust on the employees abilities, qualities, and judgments. |
The company has always shown
genuine interest in its employee lives and living standards and , always ask
them for opinions and caring about them. Company assures to build trust
with local employees and involve them in projects prior to commencing and
collaborate on ideas. The company made a good impression on staff
members the commanding community and respected their social norms. A very
socio friendly management style had been conducted by Iranian officials and
there had never been labor constraints throughout the project. |
Psychology Press.
Byrne, Z. S.
(2015). Understanding Employee Engagement: Theory, Research, and Practice.
New York: Routledge.
Catherine T,
K. A. (2014). Employee Engagement in Theory and Practice. New York:
Routledge.
Dagher, G.
C. (2015). The historical evolution of employee engagement and self-efficacy
constructs: An empirical examination in a non-western country. Journal of
Management History , 232-256.
Department
of National Planning. (2013). Public Investment Strategy, 2014-2016.
Colombo: Ministry of Finance and National Planning.
Khadilkar,
S. (2017). EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT INITIATIVES IN INDIAN COMPANIES.
Maharashta: Laxmi Book Publication.
Khan, A. W.
(1990). Psychological conditions of personal engagement and disengagement at
work. Academy of Management Journal , 33,692,734.
Sharma, N.
C. (2019). Management Techniques for Employee Engagement in Contemporary
Organizations. Bihar: IGI Global.
Turner, P.
(2019). Employee Engagement in Contemporary Organizations. Gewerbestrasse:
Macmillan.
Zinta, S.
(2015). Understanding Employee Engagement: Theory, Research, and Practice.
New York: Routledge.
Engagement takes place when people are committed to perform their work and are motivated to achieve high levels of performance. According to Harter et al (2002) engagement is the individual’s involvement and satisfaction as well as the enthusiasm for work. Research conducted by Perrin (2003) showed that enhancing engagement is a process that never ends. Further some of the elements found to be fundamental for engagement were strong leadership, accountability, autonomy, a sense of control and opportunities for development (Armstrong, 2014).
ReplyDeleteThank you for the replay. In addition to this, based on Balain and Sparrow , it has been stated that engagement appears when employees obligation in work for their organisation are in a proper level , as well as it depends on their motivation to gain company target.( Armstrong , 2010).
DeleteHi Ebrahim, agreed with your post. Simply engagement is employees making improvements and need to focus on below things (Allen and McCarthy,1950,2)
ReplyDelete1. Most employees have more and better ideas than you might imagine.
2. Most are more willing to become involved than you might expect.
3. Most will enjoy learning new skills and finding ways to improve the
work.
4. Most will voluntarily offer extra effort if they receive acknowledgment
(recognition) for their ideas.
Hi Ebrahim, Bakker and Leiter (2010) define work engagement as a motivational concept. When engaged, employees will be forced to reach a challenging goal. They want to succeed. Engaging in work goes beyond responding to an immediate situation. Employees acknowledge personal commitment to achieving these goals. Furthermore, engaging in work reflects bringing private energy workers to their work. Not only do employees have the ability to be energetic, they also use that energy enthusiastically for their work.
ReplyDeleteHi Ranga, thank you for your comment. I agree with your comment. However most significant researchers believes that energy and idintification dimensions existing in engagement. Thus " engagement is characterized by a high level of vigor and strong identification with one's work"(Letter& Bakker, 2010).
DeleteThe focus on employee engagement is on the rise globally. And it is not an issue relegated only to the HR team of an organization. It is a business concern that requires serious consideration. Simon Sinek, the author of “Start With Why,” describes employee engagement in the simplest of terms: “When people are financially invested, they want a return. When people are emotionally invested, they want to contribute.”
ReplyDeleteThank you Janaka I agree with your comment.In addition it this an important factor for organisations for boosting people engagement at their business is that the company has recruited the right employees who really like to work through company desires while achieving company's targets. On the other hand every needful thing should be provide by company " It works like this people whose careers empower them to feel aligned with what they believe they have been put on earth to do, care more than those who aren't" ( Efron,2017).
Delete2. Evolution of employee engagement
ReplyDeleteIn order to reduce the staff retention and also to motivate the team members SHRM Teams have implemented the reward systems, according to Taylor’s motivational theory employees are motivated to perform well if paid well (Lapiņa et al. 2014). However, this theory is not mandatory with all employers. The credible organizations and leaders understand the effort of their team members and provide reasonable wages, increments accordingly.
Hi Romesh , Thank you for your comment. I agree , in fact that the reward system is one kind of motivation to speed-up employee engagement in organizations, although it is not mandatory . The nature of employees when they observe that a reward system is available within the organisation , they use their entire potential and competencies on the specific targets ,which ultimately cause the organisations ,achieve their target (William H . Macey, 2011).
DeleteAccording to Robinson et al (2004), engagement is one step ahead of commitment. At the same time, it has been reported that employee engagement is on the decline and there is a deepening disengagement among employees today (Richman, 2006).
ReplyDeleteHi Romesh, I do agree with you . Although ,over the past decade engagement has become increasingly mainline in management, .according to Gallup( 2014 ), as cited in Beresin ( 2015) is as follows, "disengagement is a worldwide trend and only 13% of employees were "highly" engaged , and also 26% were "actively" disengaged".
DeleteEmployee engagement is a different and incomparable theory which is a collection of knowledge, emotion and behaviour (Saks, 2006). Cha (2007) defined employee engagement as the employee’s active participation in work and the shape of full physiology, cognition, and emotion that attend the work engagement, including three dimensions of work engagement, organizational identification, and sense of work value.
ReplyDeleteThank you Chamila. In addition employees with a high degree of identification feel gratified when engaged in their work because they believe organizational success is benifieial for their development ( Kesen , 2016).
DeleteExplained well. In addition, according to Vance (2006), Recruitment, Selection, Training, Rewards, Performance Management and Career Growth, work and task design. The level of dedication of workers would be affected.
ReplyDeleteThank you Malinga. Work engagement is one of the recent job structure that draw academic's attention . It is described as a positive and job - related satisfaction mentality with vitality, dedication and absorption ( Schaufeli ,2002).
DeleteAccording to Ward (2018), an empowered employee have a voice, and companies must ensure that mechanisms are in place to make sure their voices are heard. Engaging line managers, who ensure proper supervision and feedback is provided is also a driver of employee engagement.
ReplyDeleteResearch has regularly demonstrated that when employees feel empowered at work,it is associated with stronger job performance , job satisfaction , and commitment to the organization ( Lee , 2018).
DeleteEmployee Engagement has been conceptualized in many different ways. There is no single agreed definition and research has shown that however, engagement is defined it is a multi-faceted construct (Kahn, 1990). Engaged employees have a sense of energetic and effective connection with their work activities and see themselves as able to deal well with the demands of their job (Schaufeli & Bakker, 2004)
ReplyDeleteIn everyday life, "engagement" refers to involvement, commitment, passion, enthusiasm, absorption, focused effort, and energy. For instance, Merriam-Webster dictionary describes engagement as “emotional involvement or commitment” and as “the state of being in gear.”
DeleteEmployee engagement first emerged in business. Although the origin of the term is not entirely clear, it was first used in the 1990s by the Gallup organization ( Schaufeli, 2012).
The need for a two-way communication is necessary in the process of establishing a good relationship between employee and organization in order to support and develop engagement (Robinson, et al, 2004). Engagement again speaks volumes of the inner commitment of employees towards achieving organizational goals (Allen, 2014). Employee engagement strategies when successful brings about a decrease in employee turnover, better productivity, finer efficiency and win customer centricity/loyalty (Robertson-Smith and Markwick, 2009).
ReplyDeleteFoundationally, communication involves a two-way exchange of information. Internal communication occurs between managers and employees. Employee engagement, which internal communication promotes, is “the degree to which an individual is attentive and absorbed in the performance of their roles” (Saks, 2006).
DeleteWhile agreeing with you and wish to comment, one of the most important factors for an organization is its engaged employees, who act as the backbone of any organization that brings positive vibes such as productive ethics and accountability (Levinson, 2007: Cleland et al, 2008).
ReplyDeleteThank you Sohan.Studies reveals that employees' commitment and loyalty towards the organization leads to several positive results such as high level of commitment which leads performing of jobs eith more order in and a greater desire to stay in the organization.
DeleteIn fact, organizational commitment is having a negative co- relation to the tendency to leave the job and absenteeism(Colbert and Conn ,2000).
Employee engagement is a good tool to help every organization to strive to gain
ReplyDeletecompetitive advantage over the others. People is one factor that cannot be duplicated
or imitated by the competitors and is considered the most valuable asset if managed
and engaged properly. This point has been emphasized by Baumruk (2004), in that
employee engagement is considered to be the most powerful factor to measure a
company’s vigor
Thank you Asanka.In addition to your comments today's organizations are under constant pressure from competition and this competition is becoming more and more difficult. In such a situation, using all organizational capacities, especially employee engagement, is a key and effective requirement and has become a competitive advantage. Exploiting employee involvement through knowledge management is important for organizations and actions.
DeleteHuman resources are the main approaches to inferring and strengthening the knowledge of employees and specializing the basic needs of the organization (Collins 2003).
Khan’s model of employee engagement is considered the oldest model of engagement. He found that, workers were more engaged at work situations that offered them more psychological meaningfulness and psychological safety, and when they were psychologically available ( Padhi & Panda, 2015).
ReplyDeleteIn fact participation is one of the strategic human resource actions, that may led to positive attraction of employees and their involvement in knowledge management and learning activities( Nonaka, 1995).
DeleteEmployee engagement is a relatively new concept (Macey & Schneider, 2008) and the factors that produce engagement may be different from those that produce more traditional employee outcomes such as job satisfaction and organizational commitment (Macey et al., 2009).
ReplyDeleteThank you Kelum I agree with your comment. Although employee engagement is a relatively new theory ,it has been heavily marketed by human resource (HR)consulting firms that offer advice on how it can be created and leveraged. Academic researchers are now slowly joining the fray,and both parties are saddled with compet-ing and inconsistent interpretations of themeaning of the construct ( William , 2008).
DeleteI agree with above comments. Employee engagement is seen as a motivational factor towards organization’s achieving its objectives. The good environment that is offered to the worker enables him to offer the best that the organization needs for its achievement of goals and objectives (Paluku, 2016).
ReplyDeleteThank you Madura, morever according to a global survey among CEO's, engaging employees is one of the top-five most important challenges for organizations (Wah, 1999).
DeleteAs a huge topic area, employee engagement has grabbed the attention of many scholars since it has a direct link with organizational performance. That is why when an organization works of effective alignment between HR strategy business strategy. Also when creating the organizational design, leaders tend to focus more on employee engagement as it is one of the most crucial aspects of a business (Boxall and Purcell, 2006; Storey. 2007).
ReplyDeleteEmployee engagement has become a dominant part of the vocabulary of human resource management (HRM), however there has been little investigation of the implications of this for HRM in organisations,
Deleteequaling HR with business strategy can enhance employee concurrence and efficiency, ensure teams are aligned to help the business gain its strategic targets, and extension their influence and decision-making power the across the organization (Arrowsmith,2013).
As per Perrin (2003), the employee engagement can be defined as the “employees’ willingness and ability to help their company succeed, largely by providing discretionary effort on a sustainable basis.” According to the study, engagement is affected by many factors which involve both emotional and rational factors relating to work and the overall work experience.
ReplyDeleteThank you Kanishka . Engagement is also known as a way to allow employees to use their abilities , think about their creativity, and be involved in decision _ making and engagement , instead of always being managed and led. Organizations with higher engagement levels tend to have lower employee turnover , higher productivity , higher total shareholder returns and better financial performance (Baumruk , 2006).
Delete
ReplyDeleteRobinson et al. (2004) define employee engagement as “a positive attitude held by the employee towards the organization and its value. An engaged employee is aware of business context, and works with colleagues to improve performance within the job for the benefit of the organization. The organization must work to develop and nurture engagement, which requires a two-way relationship between employer and employee.” This verdict and definition forwarded by Institute of Employment Studies gives a clear insight that employee engagement is the result of two-way relationship between employer and employee pointing out that there are things to be done by both sides. Furthermore, Fernandez (2007) shows the distinction between job satisfaction, the well-known construct in management, and engagement contending that employee satisfaction is not the same as employee engagement and since managers can not rely on employee satisfaction to help retain the best and the brightest, employee engagement becomes a critical concept. Other researchers take job satisfaction as a part of engagement, but it can merely reflect a superficial, transactional relationship that is only as good as the organization’s last round of perks and bonuses; Engagement is about passion and commitment-the willingness to invest oneself and expand one’s discretionary effort to help the employer succeed, which is beyond simple satisfaction with the employment arrangement or basic loyalty to the employer (BlessingWhite, 2008; Erickson, 2005; Macey and Schnieder ,2008). Therefore, the full engagement equation is obtained by aligning maximum job satisfaction and maximum job contribution. Stephen Young, the executive director of Towers Perrin, also distinguishes between job satisfaction and engagement contending that only engagement (not satisfaction) is the strongest predictor of organizational performance (Human Resources, 2007).
Researchers have found positive relationship between employee engagement and organizational excellence outcomes: employee retention, profitability, productivity, safety and customer loyalty. Studies also show that the more engaged employees are, the more likely their employer is to exceed the average industry growth in its revenues. Employee engagement is found to be higher in double-digit growth companies. Research also claims that engagement is positively related to customer satisfaction (Markos 2010). Engaged employee consistently demonstrates 3 general behaviors that improve organizational performance: • Say – the employee publicly recommends the organization to potential employees and customers
Thank you Surendra.Further it is also known that highly engaging organizational culture may also have an attractive employer brand , being an employer of choice which attracts and retains the best talent ( Martin, 2006).
DeleteEngagement can affect employees’ attitudes, absence and turnover levels and various studies have demonstrated links with productivity, increasingly pointing to a high correlation with individual, group and organisational performance, a success measured through equality of customer experience and customer loyalty (Hemsley Fraser,2008,cited in The HR Director,2008;The Conference Board,2006).
ReplyDeleteReply
Thank you Dilini . In addition to this, by building a culture that enables employees to engage in their work organisations may benefit from staff who are willing to go the extra mile and achieve better financial performance ( Baumruk ,2006).
DeleteEven though Employee engagement may seem a relatively recent concept but actually, it goes back over 28 years when the term first appeared in an academic journal in 1990. Prior to that, during the 70’s and 80’s, HR’s focus was on employee satisfaction. But this had little or no connection with performance and was more about the employee than the organization or the employee’s relationship with it. The focus then moved from satisfaction to commitment in return for a job, and possibly a job for life, the employee would be loyal and commit himself to the organization. Whilst commitment is an important element of and predictor of engagement it cannot replace engagement. But then things started to change. Increased global competition and the shift from a manufacturing economy to a service one meant employers needed to be more flexible, leaner and competitive. Traditional industries closed or were severely cut back and employees learned the hard way that there were no jobs for life, that to progress in their careers they too needed to be more flexible and move to where the opportunities were (Chandel, 2018).
ReplyDeleteFurther to this, there is an increasing awareness that employee engagement is pivotal to successful commercial and business performance, where engaged employees are the ‘backbone of good working environments where people are industrious, ethical and accountable’ (Levinson, 2007).
DeleteAggress to your post and the exploit of advanced skilled labor, technologies, best practices, education and satisfaction has assisted to increase the efficiencies of an organization and it will be determined by skilled employees’ efforts and engagement with the employer (Osborn and Hammoud 2017). More engaged employees helps to increase the productivity and performance of the organization and it will reduce the operational cost of the organization and the management must provide a reasonable good working environment for employees for a better engagement (Paluku 2016).
ReplyDeleteThank you Dimuthu , in addition ,Towers Perrin (2007)has found that organizations with the highest percentage of engaged employees increased their operating income by 19%, and their earnings per share by 28% year to year.
DeleteI agree with your post and please note Robinson et al. (2004) define employee engagement as “a positive attitude held by the employee towards the organization and its value. An engaged employee is aware of business context, and works with colleagues to improve performance within the job for the benefit of the organization. The organization must work to develop and nurture engagement, which requires a two-way relationship between employer and employee.”
ReplyDeleteMercer (2007) defines employee engagement as ‘a state of mind in which employees feel a vested
ReplyDeleteinterest in the company’s success and are both willing and motivated to perform to
levels that exceed the stated job requirements. It is the result of how employees feel
about the work experience – the organization, its leaders, the work and the
work environment’.
Here are some creative Online employee engagement games for corporate companies through you can keep their remote workers engaged and excited.
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