Solution
- Meaning, Principal Dimensions and Components of Employment Engagement
Adopting the definition of Macey and Schneider (2008), the employee engagement is a combination of commitment to the organization and its values and a willingness to assist out colleagues (organizational citizenship). The process scope beyond job satisfaction rather than only the motivation of the employees. In this case, the outcomes of engagement include performance, employee/employer brand, motivation/commitment, enhancing learning and development and generation of new ideas/improvements. There are three principal dimensions which include intellectual, effective, and social. According to Saks (2006), emotional demonstrates involvement in work while cognitive is focusing at work and lastly physical represents going an extra mile at work. Employee commitment can be identified as the extent to which employees are bound emotionally to their organization while employee engagement is the degree to which employees are passionate about their practices, their work, and commitment to their coworkers and t their organization. This is evident from General Electric CEO Jack Welch who noted that employee engagement is the first characteristic that determines the health of a company followed by customer satisfaction and free cash flow. In regard to commitment, in my active practice, I have noted that employee commitment is used in reducing turnover of employees hence reducing the recruitment, hiring and training costs. Engagement is equally different from job involvement as it dictates the psychological and emotional extent to which an individual actively participate in their work, profession and company. For instance, top performers are actively engaged in their work and have reported a significant job involvement. However, as shown in figure 1 below, all these factors have an influence on the employee job satisfaction which dictates the manner in which the employees are willing to take an active role in their organization.
Figure 1: Employer practices that influence business results
Source: Summarised by the Study
2.1,2.2 Principal Drivers and Business Benefits of an Engaged Workforce
The principal drivers include opinions on management, employee voice, meaningfulness of work, and employee well-being. In this case, all these principal drivers revolve around assuming a sense of feeling valued and involved. For instance, in my previous organization, I noted that the workforce is actively engaged in decision making, they have a feeling of being in a position of voicing their ideas, managers listening to their views and valuing employee’s contributions. In order to understand the correlation between the identified principal drivers, it is ideal to take into account of below employee engagement model.
Figure 2: Relationship of Principal Drivers of Employee Engagement
Source: Summarised by the Study
Taking into account of the figure 2 above, it is worth noting that the components of feeling valued and involved and the relative strength of every driver are highly likely to be varying based on the organization of focus. Also, different employee groups within one entity will have a high likelihood of possessing a slightly distinct set of drivers. From my active practice, I have noted to the fact that there exists a clear link between the employee’s experiences and general perceptions of working life and their sense of being valued and involved. From this dimension, I have noted that in most organizations, the engagement is an improvement of commitment which has been noted to have a positive impact on the business outcomes. It is also associated to an increased intention to stay with the organization. In this case, it makes great sense for any entity to carry out a monitoring process of the employee’s engagement levels and take appropriate action for increasing the engagement levels. In terms of practice, the principal drivers of employee engagement can be segmented into connection which demonstrates the need for building relationships with others, contributions for doing something meaningful, freedom which identifies the need of having a choice and autonomy, growth which is the process of personal and professional development and lastly having fun which is a practice of enjoying work.
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