What is Employee Engagement?
The Business Dictionary defines it as the “emotional connection an employee feels toward his or her employment organization, which tends to influence his or her behaviors and level of effort in work related activities.” Whereas, employee engagement is also a workplace approach ensuing in creating the perfect environment for the entire associates of an organisation that enables them give their best every day, by being dedicated to the objectives and principles of the organization, working motivated to add to the organisational success, with a better sense of their own interests.
Moreover, employee engagement is founded on conviction, integrity, reciprocated commitment and communication between an organisation and its employees. It is an approach that augments the probability of business success, being causal to organisational and individual performance, output and well-being. Employee engagement can be gauged. It ranges from poor to great. It can be fostered and significantly increased; it can even be lost.
For Workers
Employee engagement for workers is having a happy mindset to go to the workplace and the clarity about what they are to do for the day, with an innovative plan of execution. It is again about the individual’s interest in meeting the team and supporting them work well for the day”.
Moreover, employee engagement is about understanding one’s role within an organisation, and playing the right part with an energized involvement, wherever it fits in fulfilling the business purpose. Inclusivity of employees in offering ideas and expressing views that are considered for decision making adds to employee engagement. Getting engaged as an employee is about being included completely as a team member that is focused on clear goals, trusted and empowered, who regularly receives productive feedback, support in obtaining new skills, appreciated and acknowledged for achievements.
While every organization progresses based on its own strengths, organizations that have robust employee engagement system in place have seemingly concrete values that are founded upon trust and inclusivity on mutual respect where there is a concerted effort from the employees and the employers to understand and fulfill the promises with mutual dedication.
What’s in it for employers?
Employee engagement is the key to create positive attitude and behaviour in employees that lead them to prompt and support each other in achieving improved business productivity. It makes employees feel proud of being associated with the organization. Further, it develops loyalty and raises them as the ambassadors of the organization that pitches well with the clients, going a further mile to accomplish a work. Surprisingly, when the employee engagement is well, it reduces unreasoned or absence of employees for trivial reasons, grievances and conflicts dip; whereas, productivity sees an increase.
Employee engagement is well sustained in organisations that are steady with keeping their values promises, and that provides an explanation when they are not kept.
Where employee engagement fails!
Employee engagement is hard to be achieved through a mechanized approach, which attempts to extract discretionary exertion through influencing employees’ loyalty and feelings. Moreover, it takes no time for employees to become aware of such attempts and it can result in them becoming skeptical and disappointed.