As organisations grapple to achieve objectives amidst the varied challenges that exist in the 21st century working environment, there is considerable emphasis on strategies to address issues regarding employer-employee relationships. Human resource management has been revolutionised to punctuate the importance of employee engagement to realise optimum organisational performance and to counteract the challenges of underperformance.

While there has been much discussion as well as development and implementation of initiatives surrounding this very critical issue, the effectiveness of these are influenced by our understanding of what employee engagement really is all about. It is imperative for every organisation to understand what engages its employees, bearing in mind that the factors that drive engagement differ from person to person.

The world’s top-performing organisations understand that employee engagement drives business outcomes. Researchers have described engagement as the “harnessing of organisational members’ selves to their work roles” and “a sense of energy”. In engagement, people employ and express themselves physically, cognitively, and emotionally during role performances. Another related element to engagement in organisational behaviour is the notion of flow which is defined by researchers as the ‘holistic sensation’ that people feel when they act with total involvement or a general feeling that people seem to move forward with full participation.

Engaged employees are more productive, customer-focused, and more likely to withstand temptations to leave the organisation. In the best organisations, employee engagement transcends a human resources initiative; it is the way they do business. Employee engagement is a strategic approach supported by tactics for driving improvement and organisational change. The best-performing companies recognise that developing an employee engagement strategy, and linking it to the achievement of corporate goals, will help them to acquire well-needed market share.

It has been suggested that an engaged employee is aware of business context and works with colleagues to improve performance within the job for the benefit of the organisation. The organisation must work to develop and nurture engagement, which requires a two-way relationship between employer and employee. Employee engagement is therefore a ‘barometer’ that determines the association of an individual with the organisation.

The engagement challenge has a lot to do with how an employee feels about the particular work experience and how he or she is treated in the organisation. It encompasses emotions which are fundamentally related to drive bottom line success in a company. There will always be people who never give their best efforts no matter how hard HR and line managers try to engage them. The negativity of actively disengaged employees is contagious and can seriously damage a team and the organisation. They erode an organisation’s bottom line while breaking the spirits of colleagues in the process. Most employees, however, want to commit to companies because doing so satisfies a powerful and a basic need to connect with and contribute to something significant.

Aspects of employee engagement

According to a recent Gallup report, the three basic aspects of employee engagement are:

1. The employees and their own unique psychological make-up and experience.

2. The employers and their ability to create the conditions that promote employee engagement.

3. Interaction between employees at all levels.

The report further explained that engagement can be determined by the “three S” engagement model: say, stay, strive. The manner in which an employee speaks about the organisation to co-workers, potential employees and customers, their level of belonging as well as the motivation exerted toward their own success are key indicators of their level of engagement. It is largely the organisation’s responsibility to create an environment and culture conducive to this partnership, and a win-win equation. What can organisations do to engage employees? Research studies have confirmed that engagement will be achieved through Growth, Trust, and Recognition.

Growth

Employees need to be constantly learning, for their own edification and the company’s benefit. It is unfortunate that training and development is often considered optional by some business owners as it is viewed more as an expense than an investment. Studies have proven that quality learning opportunities positively influence employee engagement. It should be noted also that when employees feel that they are no longer learning, they disengage themselves. Highly engaged organisations relate their success to coaching and development, emphasising a “learning culture”. In addition, when leaders learn, it instils a sense of confidence in the organisation’s future and develops trust. Leaders must therefore engage themselves before they can engage others.

Trust

Employees need to trust that leadership has a plan for business and that their best interests are being looked after. This will allow employees to be more willing to invest themselves. Leadership must provide a narrative that clearly expresses the organisation’s purpose, why it has a broad vision, and how an individual contributes to that purpose; employees will then understand how their job links to the overall organisational objectives.

Recognition

Employees should be appreciated at work and recognised for their performance. Recognition programmes have the potential to create a positive cycle of increasing employee engagement and motivation, improving performance and behaviour, through limited financial investment. The following principles have been highly recommended:

* Develop a recognition strategy that encourages employees to undertake projects that reflect a company’s objectives and cultural values.

* Use formal and informal acknowledgement to build a culture of recognition in the company.

* Emphasise recognition of increased quality rather than increased quantity of performance.

* Recognise workers frequently.

* Measure the cost and correlation between recognition and ROI

Studies have identified the following best practices for employment engagement.

1. Strategic communication planning: Within the best-performing organisations, there is a cultural alignment between the employees and the company, paired with a strategic alignment between activities and company goals. These organisations use their corporate communication touch points to reinforce their commitments to employees and customers.

2. Wellness necessary for engaging employees: Researchers have found that workplace health and well-being can have a major impact on the engagement, retention, creativity, and productivity of employees and, ultimately, on the financial performance of the organisation as a whole. What can an organisation do to promote a culture of wellness and drive engagement? Organisations should take a system-wide approach that begins by making wellness a strategic imperative.

3. Measure current level of employee engagement: Employee engagement needs to be measured at regular intervals in order to track its contribution to the success of the organisation. The employee survey is a diagnostic tool of choice in the battle for the hearts of employees. Customisable employee surveys will provide a starting point towards the efforts to optimise employee engagement. Employee engagement should be viewed as a continuous process of measuring, analysing, defining and implementing. Employers should listen to employees as the information employee’s supply will provide direction and also allow them to become more engaged.

Proven return on investment

Some of the advantages of having engaged employees are as follows:

* They remain with the company, are an advocate of the company and its products and services, and contribute to bottom line business success.

* They will normally perform better and are more motivated.

* They build passion, commitment and alignment with the organisation’s strategies and goals.

* Provides a high-energy working environment.

* Makes the employees effective brand ambassadors for the company.

Raising and maintaining employee engagement lies in the hands of an organisation and requires a perfect blend of time, effort, commitment and investment to craft a successful endeavour across all generations, personality types and functional areas in the workplace. Are is your company there yet?

Audrey Jean Allen is an educational administrator and a PhD candidate focussing on organisational psychology. Send comments to: audreyjean001@yahoo.com.