Employee Engagement

Topics to be covered in this presentation

Working definition of the term Employee Engagement.

Drivers of engagement – things that lead to employee engagement and Understanding the work of the pioneers in their field

Understanding the of who is holding the key to engagement – the organisation, the Manager or the Employee.

Finally, an attempt to build a few basic pillars.

Working Definition of Employee Engagement

• “Employee Engagement” is not exactly a recent phenomenon. Researched from 1920s, a succession of management and behavioral thinkers have delved deep into this subject and have added significant insight in this area.

• Employee Engagement is variously known as Employee ownership, Employee Motivation, Employee Involvement, Commitment, Loyalty, etc.

• Definitions: Productive members of an organisation who are

psychologically committed to a role in the organisation in which they use their talents.

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“A state of emotional and intellectual involvement that workers have in an organisation.”

“Say (speak positively about the Organisation to co-workers, potential employees and customers), Stay (an intense part to be part of the organisation) and strive extra efforts and take on work that contributes to employer success.”

How to measure Employee Engagement

• Key Ingredients by which Employee Engagement can be measured are:

Tenure with the organisation Display of emotional involvement in what they do Doing in more than what is expected. Displaying pride in the place they work.

Drivers of Engagement

• Elton Mayo, 1932 – The Hawthorne Effect Started originally to examine the physical and

environmental influences of the workplace.2. Abraham Maslow, 1943 – Maslow Hierarchy of needs He saw 5 set of goals which he called as Needs. He called

the Needs as Physiological Needs, Safety, Love, Esteem and Self – Actualisation.

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3. Douglas McGregor, 1957 – Theory X & Theory Y Theory X Management assumes employees are inherently lazy and will

avoid work if they can. Because of this, workers need to be closely supervised and comprehensive systems of controls developed. A hierarchical structure is needed with narrow span of control at each level. According to this theory, employees will show little ambition without an enticing incentive program and will avoid responsibility whenever they can.

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• Theory Y In this theory management assumes employees may be

ambitious, self-motivated, anxious to accept greater responsibility, and exercise self-control, self-direction, autonomy and empowerment. It is believed that employees enjoy their mental and physical work duties. It is also believed that if given the chance employees have the desire to be creative and forward thinking in the workplace. There is a chance for greater productivity by giving employees the freedom to perform at the best of their abilities without being bogged down by rules.

Models of Employee Engagement

• Since the Names of the Models are not mentioned, we will name them as A, B, C, D.

Model A Employee engagement is seen as the outcome of 4

dimensions: Basic needs: Clarity work, materials and equipment Management Support: Encouragement, caring, supervision,

recognition, person-job-fit. Teamwork: Best friend, co-workers, commitment to quality,

clarity of organizational purpose, value for one’s opinion. Growth: Opportunity to learn, tangible progress.

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• Model B Engagement is seen as discretionary effort and as the result

of 7 dimensions:1. Understanding how work contributes to the company’s

overall success.2. Being personally motivated to help the company succeed.3. Being willing to put good deal of effort of what is expected.4. A sense of personal accomplishment from the job5. Recommend company to friends as a good place to work.6. Company inspiring one to give the best7. Company values being aligned to personal

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• Model C Engagement is seen as a measure of emotional and

intellectual commitment that employees have to their organisation. In this model, the drivers of Engagement are seen as:

1. Compensation2. Opportunities3. People 4. Procedures5. Quality of Life6. Work

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• Model D This model looks at engagement as translating into a great

workplace. There are 5 drivers of a great workplace:1. Credibility: Communication, Competence, Integrity2. Respect: Professional Development and appreciation,

collaboration in decisions.3. Fairness: Equity in rewards, impartiality, justice.4. Pride: In ones work, in team output, in Organization's

products5. Camaraderie: Being oneself, friendly workplace, sense of

family / team.

Who really holds the Key

• Organizations: Organizations would like employees to be engaged but may itself choose to get merged.

• Managers: Managers see care and concern for employees as almost coming in the way of task accomplishments, something for which he is paid.

• Employer: Employer engagement somehow does not seem to be a matter to be considered.

Basic Pillars for further thought

• Engagement cannot remedy the macro level shortage of talent.

• Security will be the number one driver of engagement and motivation based on all of the above. The most basic engagement driver and the starting point for engagement for employees will be Security.

• Managing the Lows as well as highs• Start early in building maturity.• Finding the balance between HRM & HRD.• Need for further thought leadership.

Thank You