What is Employee Engagement and Why is it Important?

The relationship that the employees share with the organization that they are working for connotes to the concept of employee engagement. An enthusiastic employee who has faith in the organization and strives to work in the place with full potential forecasts his/her engagement in the business. Employee engagement not only enables the companies to retain their employees but also helps to increase the overall production and profits. Developing positive attitudes in the employees regarding the organization that they are working for would promote a better working environment that is an important employee motivation. The employee engagement in ABC Company has been very effective for the company to be successful in its operations and progress with time. However, in recent times the employees are getting demotivated and leaving the company. This serves to be a major threat for the company to progress in a competitive market situation. Employee engagement serves to be a fundamental aspect in both quantitative and qualitative ways for the growth of the company. Thus, the company is trying to bring back the lost employee engagement that would help it to regain back the lost repute and long-term success. 

Engaged employees serve to be the boon for the company’s marketing efforts. They are very active and tend to participate in events as non-profit volunteers. Better engagement implies better production. An engaged employee acts in a way so that the actions benefit the productivity and future of the organization (Anitha 2014).  As in the case of ABC Company, with engaged employees the company could easily enhance the bottom line profit. The engaged employees and stakeholders rendered massive support to the company to function effectively because of their full participation and enthusiasm. The role of engaged employees is very important because not only it increases the productivity of the companies but also because it accelerates progress in the company, enabling it to adopt changes whenever needed. The person is responsible in his duties and is equally helpful and respectful to the colleagues. Thus, the working environment becomes very positive for the employees to work in an integrated way.

The enormous employee participation had led ABC Company to occupy the highest position in the market place. The employees performed 20% better than the ones who did not engage themselves fully into the organizational processes. These employees tend to work a mile extra for the development of the organization and aims to make the business prosperous and productive in the future (Truss et al. 2013). A good employee engagement also indicates that the employees in an organization are less likely to leave the company. Mutual trust between the employees and the companies makes the entire process progressive (Payne 2014). Employee relationships are equally valuable since it acknowledges employee engagement. Getting appreciation for work and feeling motivated makes the employees more connected sustaining their involvement in the companies (Cascio 2018). Maintaining employee relationships reduces the risks for companies to face the number of employee quits. Moreover, feeling needed and wanted by the company makes the employees work in a more productive way that ultimately leads to the development of the companies. Engaged employees also stand out to be more productive compared to the other employees. They are more focused and are more enthusiastic in saying positive things about their work place. It shows that they enjoy their work and are satisfied with it. They feel to have a career growth in the companies that they are serving for are happier than employees who are not engaged in their companies. It also reduces employee absentees and makes the working place a very happy and cheerful one to work in a collaborated way. Engaged employees also take opportunities like volunteer grant programs more readily and foster their company’s engagement in community service. They also donate their time and money to the worthy causes that their companies provide without any force or compulsion. An atmosphere of corporate philanthropy prevails in the atmosphere promoting greater fulfillment at work in both the employees and the companies as a whole (Wang and Hsieh 2013). The engaged employees also act as better communicators who communicate effectively with co-workers and supervisors (Mishra, Boynton and Mishra 2014). This helps in stimulating discussions and results to productive sessions. Employee relations also enable employees to be more productive and connect with one another leading to new ideas and innovations as well.

The Benefits of Employee Engagement for Companies

A strong employee engagement would always protect organizations from collapsing, serving as the core base on which the productivity and success of the company depends. The employees feel more satisfied and content to work productively and give in their best potential that helps the companies to incur profits (Goetsch and Davis 2014). Considering the important aspects of employee engagement, it is very much essential for businesses to adopt measures so that they can accelerate employee motivation and engagement in the business and promote good employee relations. Some of the factors that drive the need of employee engagement and relations are as follows-

To reduce absenteeism-

Disengaged employees tend to be absent from their daily works, that affects all the processes in the company. It thus affects the overall production to a significant extent.

To increase production-

The most important criteria for the functioning of a company is to render greater production and incur profits (Mone and London 2018). Employees serve to be the basis for production. Thus, the companies need to strategize methods to increase employee engagement so that they work with greater concern and effectiveness.

To set in a good working environment-

Good employee relations also increase the productivity of the company. Intra communication within the companies with greater transparency renders a very good working environment that ultimately leads to progress and development (Hasan 2013).

To accomplish goals-

Increase in employee engagement directly influences employee participation. Every company has a set of goals and objectives to be fulfilled and attained. With demotivated employees and poor employee relations, a company can never expect high productivity. This ultimately proves to be a downturn for the companies, as is observed in ABC Company. It leads to the rising risk factors for the companies to collapse anytime. Thus, there is a vital need for all the companies to promote employee relations and increase employee engagement in order to accomplish their goals and objectives and be successful in the business markets. 

Some of the challenges that the companies face in managing employee relations and engagement are as follows:

Employees inform about all their issues to the managers of the company. However, in certain situations these issues are not properly transmitted to the ear of the managers. There is a lack of controlled way to exchange the input and output (Awadh and Alyahya 2013). In some cases, the messages also get misinterpreted that hampers the employee relations and makes the employees feel disconnected from their organization.

Challenges Companies Face in Managing Employee Engagement

It is not always possible for the companies to aid to all the requirements of the employees. It is also not possible for the companies to incur profits throughout its operations. Thus, it fails to offer appraisals and promotion (Menguc et al. 2013). This affects the employee motivation largely and serves to be a major challenge for the companies to keep the employees engaged in the business.

Due to improved technologies and the cloud technology, there has been a rapid increase in employee’s expectations about work. They feel it to be unnecessary to be bounded in the desk. They tend to work from anywhere at any time and aspire for flexible work schedules and access. However, it often makes the processes disorganized and confusing. Thus, it becomes challenging for the companies to bring a balance between the work procedures and the expectations of the employees.

In some processes in the company, the employees need to redo their work in case of rejections and escalations. They get impatient for working on projects that are meaningless and boring. They often feel to be doing something that is wasting both their energy and time. Moreover, long and repetitive processes make the employees feel less connected making the productivity suffer to a significant extent.

One of the major challenge of managing employee relations is the different kinds of people who come together on a common platform for the accomplishment of a common objective. The companies cannot change the though process of the people. One’s casual behavior can be misinterpreted by another one leading to unnecessary issues. This affects the entire working environment and leads to distorted employee relations.

In order to improve the employee engagement and relations, a company needs to strategize certain measures that would benefit both the employees and the company. Some of the strategies that the companies such as ABC can adopt in order to increase the performance level of the employees and regain profits are as follows-

It is very important for all the organizations to provide the employees with feedback. This not only updates them about their work but also encourages them to work with greater interest and zeal (Bal, Kooij and De Jong 2013). In meetings and discussions as well, the communication between the supervisors and workers also becomes very beneficial to proceed with the business processes. 

Every company must recognize the productive work that the employees give to them (Alfes et al. 2013). They must be rewarded for their brilliant performances that encourage them to be more engaged in the work. They must also be encouraged to share ideas with the colleagues and help each other in need. The supervisors must also deviate from unnecessary interventions in the works of employees (Supanti, Butcher and Fredline 2015). Freedom to work independently would increase employee engagement and collaborative work in teams would promote better employee relations as a whole.

Ways to Improve Employee Engagement and Foster Good Employee Relations

Transparent operations within a company make it more appealing to the employees. Employees become more engrossed when there is a circulation of written communications in the companies. The trust and reliability of the employees increase when important issues, agendas, orders and schedules are circulated along through emails (Karanges et al. 2015). The companies must also try to understand the requisites of the employees. They must communicate directly in an informal way so that the employees feel free to interact and forecast their concerns. This helps the company to address to the issues of its employees and function accordingly. In a broader aspect, effective communication also develops employee relations and understandings, leading to greater progress and good reputation of the companies.

No employees would like to stay in the same designation forever. Thus, the companies should strategize methods to provide career development path for the employees (Wang et al. 2013). With the incurring of profits, if ABC Company promotes career development opportunities for the employees, they would never feel like leaving the company and enroll in other places. This would increase employee engagement that would automatically increase production. 

Conclusion:

From the entire report, it can be concluded that it is very important for companies to foster measures to improve employee engagement and employee relations in the company. The employees being the basic of every production that the companies make needs to feel an oneness with the companies. Thus, various motivational factors must be present in the companies that would enable them to retain their employees. In the case of ABC Company, it shows that the company has the potential to be a very successful one in the market. However, it needs to strategize methods and incorporate them in its working environment so that it does not lose its employees. It must provide better opportunities and communicate with the employees to address their issues. With these, they must implement certain changes in the company’s structuring and functioning that would enable it to regain back its lost position with employees preferring the company like before. 

References:

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Anitha, J., 2014. Determinants of employee engagement and their impact on employee performance. International journal of productivity and performance management, 63(3), p.308.

Awadh, A.M. and Alyahya, M.S., 2013. Impact of organizational culture on employee performance. International Review of Management and Business Research, 2(1), p.168.

Bal, P.M., Kooij, D.T. and De Jong, S.B., 2013. How do developmental and accommodative HRM enhance employee engagement and commitment? The role of psychological contract and SOC strategies. Journal of Management Studies, 50(4), pp.545-572.

Cascio, W., 2018. Managing human resources. McGraw-Hill Education.

Goetsch, D.L. and Davis, S.B., 2014. Quality management for organizational excellence. Upper Saddle River, NJ: pearson.

Hasan, H.A., 2013. Promoting organizational citizenship behavior among employees-the role of leadership practices. International Journal of Business and Management, 8(6), p.47.

Karanges, E., Johnston, K., Beatson, A. and Lings, I., 2015. The influence of internal communication on employee engagement: A pilot study. Public Relations Review, 41(1), pp.129-131.

Menguc, B., Auh, S., Fisher, M. and Haddad, A., 2013. To be engaged or not to be engaged: The antecedents and consequences of service employee engagement. Journal of business research, 66(11), pp.2163-2170.

Mishra, K., Boynton, L. and Mishra, A., 2014. Driving employee engagement: The expanded role of internal communications. International Journal of Business Communication, 51(2), pp.183-202.

Mone, E.M. and London, M., 2018. Employee engagement through effective performance management: A practical guide for managers. Routledge.

Payne, H.J., 2014. Examining the relationship between trust in supervisor–employee relationships and workplace dissent expression. Communication Research Reports, 31(2), pp.131-140.

Supanti, D., Butcher, K. and Fredline, L., 2015. Enhancing the employer-employee relationship through corporate social responsibility (CSR) engagement. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 27(7), pp.1479-1498.

Truss, C., Shantz, A., Soane, E., Alfes, K. and Delbridge, R., 2013. Employee engagement, organisational performance and individual well-being: exploring the evidence, developing the theory.

Wang, D.S. and Hsieh, C.C., 2013. The effect of authentic leadership on employee trust and employee engagement. Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal, 41(4), pp.613-624.

Wang, P., Walumbwa, F.O., Wang, H. and Aryee, S., 2013. Unraveling the relationship between family-supportive supervisor and employee performance. Group & Organization Management, 38(2), pp.258-287.