In present
organizational context employee plays a vital role and contemporary
organizations should consider them as an asset instead of direct
cost (Beer et al, 1984). Further Boxall and Purcell (2016) discuss
that Human Resource is dynamic and unique resource it varies person to
person therefore it must be managed very carefully further he explains Human
Resource is very sensitive and reacting to either positively or negatively to
the way of managing it. Therefore it is very important to recognize of
people and invest in them as a source of ‘human capital advantage’ rather than
applying cost cutting initiatives (Boxall and Purcell, 2016).
In contemporary organizations
Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) mainly focuses on following themes
(Itika, 2011).
• Strategic
resourcing and talent management
• Learning
and Development
• Employee
Relations
• The
Design of Work
• Rewards
and Employee Engagement
• Organisational
Culture
• Ethics
and HRM
• Managing
Diversity
• Change
Management
Human Resource Management in a contemporary
organization is built on these theories and each of them are equally important
and failure of one area may be cost failure of whole organisation (Itika,
2011). Among these themes Employee relation plays vital role in SHRM because as
per Daniel (2003) “If relationships are strong, then employees are more likely
to be satisfied with their jobs and more productive as a result” (Daniel, 2003,
p. 56) according to Daniel (2003) final outcome of a succeed employee
relationship is having a highly engaged workforce. Engaged employees are always
satisfied with their job and
will stay with the company for long time and they
always look for new effective ways of value addition to the organization
therefore
the end result is a high performing company where people are flourishing and productivity is increased and sustained
(Catteeuw et al., 2007).
As per Catteeuw (2007) defining only satisfaction and
long term employment will not meet the Employee Engagement threshold but most
important criteria is looking for new effective ways of value addition to the
organization. In Sri Lankan Public-sector organizations above two criteria of
Long term employment and employees satisfaction can be seen
abundantly but value addition to the organisation cannot be seen. As an example
Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) Employees have satisfaction with their jobs
because relatively their salary scales are higher than other government
organisations and they have relax working environment due to plentiful number
of workforce. Further they are having good recognition within the society as
well. However, these employees are not actively engaged contributing little
value to the development of the organisation. Therefore Customer Loyalty, one
of main outcome of an Employee engagement cannot be seen towards these
organisations.
Kahn (1990) defines Employee Engagement as
“the harnessing of organization members’ selves to their work roles; in
engagement, people employ and express themselves physically, cognitively, and
emotionally during role performances” (Kahn,1990, p.694). Further Saks (2006)
says it is not merely an attitude but it is degree to which an individual is
focused to their work and become success of their role. Employee Engagement
shows the level of commitment and involvement of an employee towards their
organization and its values. Engaged Employee is having positive feelings
toward his work, find their work to be personally meaningful and manageable,
and he has the confidence about the future of his work (Saks, 2006). Kenexa
Employee Engagement Index shares four emotional states which an actively
engaged employee is having as follows (Kenexa, 2008),
1. I am proud
to work for my organization.
2. Overall, I
am extremely satisfied with my organization as a place to work.
3. I would
gladly refer a good friend or family member to my organization for employment.
4. I rarely
think about looking for a new job with another organization.
According to the
Karsan and Kruse (2011) Employee Engagement is the level of employees’
motivation to contribute to organizational success and are willing to apply
unrestricted effort to accomplishing tasks on achievement of organizational
goals. Further they reveal that employee engagement can be measured and it is a
combination of pride, satisfaction, advocacy, and retention
(Petracoach,2017)
List of References
Beer, M., Spector, B., Lawrence, P. R., Mills, Q. D., and Walton, R. E.
(1984) Managing Human Assets. New York: Free Press.
Boxall P and Purcell J (2016) Strategy and Human Resource
Management. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Catteeuw F, Flynn E, Vonderhorst J (2007), ʹEmployee engagement: boosting productivity in turbulent timesʹ, Organization Development Journal, 25 (2), 151–
157
Daniel, T. (2003). Tools for Building a Positive Employee Relations
Environment. Employment Relations Today, 30(2), 51-64.
Itika, J.S. (2011) Fundamentals of human resource management
Emerging experiences from Africa. RB Leiden: African Studies Centre.
Kahn, W.A. (1990) Psychological conditions of personal engagement and
disengagement at work. Academy of Management Journal, Vol 33,
pp692-724.
Karsan, R. and Kruse K. (2011) We: How to Increase Performance
and Profits through Full Engagement. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.
Kenexa (2008), Engaging The Employee: A Kenexa Research Institute World Trends
Report., Kenexa Research Institute.
Maslow, A. H.
(1954) Motivation and Personality: NY: Harper.
Petracoach (2017) Employee Engagement
Impact [Online video] Available
from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mv5PEAa1Aw [Accessed on 2nd October
2018]
Saks, A.M. (2006)
‘Antecedents and consequences of employee engagement’, Journal of
Managerial Psychology, 21 (6), pp.600-619.
Employee Engagement has become a slang word mostly among the managers due to its desirability as an instrument in getting work done. Job well done Suresh, find it interesting as there is a continuous flow to your blog. However additional piece of knowledge from (Vance, 2006) which outlines ten ways of measuring Employee Engagement in a direct manner –
ReplyDelete1. Pride in employer
2. Satisfaction with employer
3. Job satisfaction
4. Opportunity to perform well at challenging work
5. Recognition and positive feedback for one’s contributions
6. Personal support from one’s supervisor
7. Effort above and beyond the minimum
8. Understanding the connection between one’s job and the company’s mission
9. Prospects for future growth with one’s employer
10. Intention to stay with one’s employer
Very important and valuable findings Bernadine, Kenexa Employee Engagement Index also shares four emotional states which an actively engaged employee is having as follows (Kenexa, 2008),
Delete1. I am proud to work for my organization.
2. Overall, I am extremely satisfied with my organization as a place to work.
3. I would gladly refer a good friend or family member to my organization for employment.
4. I rarely think about looking for a new job with another organization.
Employee commitment is a comparatively wide concept, directly related to enthusiasm, which gives a useful focus for people supervision strategy. However, dimensions of employee engagement can be challenging, as they often try to condense too much. Rather than a single score metric, it’s better to use a range of specific relevant metrics as these will be more enlightening and actionable.
ReplyDeleteYes Shantha it is valid point, I think Hewitt Survey (2017) covers this. In addition to measuring employee engagement, this study also measures 15 work experience dimensions: Employee Value Proposition (EVP), Reputation, Career Opportunities, Collaboration, Diversity and Inclusion, Empowerment/ Autonomy, Enabling Infrastructure, Learning and Development, Manager, Performance Management, Rewards and Recognition, Senior Leadership, Talent and Staffing, Work Fulfillment, and Work/Life Balance.
DeleteHi Suresh, you have well explained the employee engagement and its impact to the organization. Employee engagement can be considered as a strategic tool to enhance performance and employee engagement improves employees’ and organizations’ competitiveness. Employee engagement includes social, intellectual and emotional engagement in the work and work environment at large and these are the different dimensions of employee engagement (Jha and Kumar, 2016). Hence, employee engagement should be viewed as an important strategy involving all the levels of organization (Frank et al, 2004).
ReplyDeleteYes Dinuka as you correctly said Employee engagement is not only for organization, but it help employees in many aspects by helping their innovative thinking Lockwood (1997) and providing better working environment (Anitha,2014). Further it helps employee Work-life balance as well (Baral & Bhargava,2010)
ReplyDeleteNice post
ReplyDeleteEngaged employees care for the company, they’re not simply working for salary and promotions but they also work effectively and efficiently for the growth of the company. Online employee engagement activities have become the most popular topic for leaders and HR professionals, because of the pandemic conditions. Filled with unique fun virtual entertaining games that help employees connect with others
Nice Article! If you're the HR or manager of any organization, get inspired with 50+ unique Online employee engagement activities for remote employees. Implement these proven activities now and improve the bonding between an organization and its remote workforce.
ReplyDelete