‘Employee engagement is a property of the relationship between an organization and its employees. An “engaged employee” is one who is fully absorbed by and enthusiastic about their work and so takes positive action to further the organization’s reputation and interests’ – Wikipedia.
The concept of employee engagement is existent from time immemorial and implementing ideas to engage employees dates back to a long time when music and dance concerts, game of chausar etc. were organized for courtiers in kings’ courts so that the courtiers could get relaxed through entertainment after their hectic day’s work. These relaxation techniques created a positive environment and improved productivity the next day.
With the fall of empires and coming up of industrialization, came the law of personnel management. Personnel management later came to be known as human resource development and then as human capital. The term once categorized as liability in the book of accounts, is now called as human assets.
With advancement in work culture, many methods of employee satisfaction emerged in 1990 for giving better work life to employees. Employee satisfaction is better known as Employee Engagement now. It focuses on better association of employees with the organization so as to achieve organizational goals.
It’s not only a task in the to-do list of an organization’s HR department, but a process to develop more positive ecosystem for an employee so that he enjoys living in it. Without discussing some core methods of employee engagement, this write up would be incomplete. So, here they are:
- Connecting employees with organizational goals – Each and every employee should know and should be able to connect with the vision of the company. Citing a famous example; President Kennedy once asked a janitor at NASA as to what he does there? He replied, “I help send rockets to the moon.”
So regardless of an employee’s position, he should know his purpose of being with the organization. This purpose incites commitment and drives employees to achieve their goals. Unawareness about the company goals can lead to disengagement and ultimately under-performance. - Understanding one’s personal life: In this fast changing world, nuclear families are on the rise, and so everyone is struggling with one thing or the other. Organization should try to understand these challenges and find ways to provide possible flexibility and solution where ever possible.
- Allowing a break: To avoid burnout, there should be a provision for employees to take break from their work. An organization may feel that this will lead to time wastage, but it’s a good method to restart the work with increased energy and enthusiasm. Break not only helps employees to complete the work in time but also adds creativity to their work and thus betters their output.
- Acknowledging work: Even a toddler wants to be acknowledged for the very first steps that he takes. He doesn’t know that he has done something great, but when others clap for him, he feels encouraged to take the second step! Similar thing happens in the life of an employee. Even a slight pat for a small achievement can make one feel good. He may get motivated to do much better next time.
- Training and Development: There is always a scope of improvement, always some room for a person to grow. Organization should have well-planned training programmes for career growth of employees. This further helps an organization to fill the gaps for trained employees within a system.
- Clear and honest Communication: A clear communication about the company’s policies and its vision, connect employees with the organizational goal. There may be times when organization is not able to achieve its goals but a clear and honest communication in case of such situations, connects employees with company further. When employees have an emotional attachment with the place where they work, they work with more zeal and perform better.
Team leaders play a vital role for employee engagement as best managers come up with suggestions as to what can be done for betterment of a particular employee. Employee engagement is nothing but a tick mark in the KRA of an HR, but for an employee it translates to a happy workplace, an improved work life balance and thus a satisfied life. There’s no set formula to make employees happier at their work places but we can all try together to achieve it.
Are any employee engagement ideas implemented at your workplace? Do let me know in the comments below.
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