I came across this term ‘employee engagement’, and didn’t quite understand what it means. Is it a new concept?
It is not really a new concept, but it is probably being looked at closely only recently. Till a few years ago, companies were looking at more basic concepts, such as employee satisfaction, employee motivation and so on.
So it is very different from employee satisfaction?
It is more comprehensive than employee satisfaction. And it is important because it has been found to have a close correlation with the company’s performance
Sounds interesting, so can you tell us a little more about this concept?
Let us start with what a company looks for from its employees. At the most basic level, the company will, quite naturally, expect that employees do their assigned tasks with dedication and attention.
Next, the company would also expect that the employees stay on for a reasonably long period. Most companies invest a fair amount of time and energy in training and orienting employees to the nature of the work, and that investment would go waste if the employee were to leave too early.
Other basic expectations would be that the employee should attend office regularly, will not steal or misuse office equipment and supplies, and behave with dignity at all times.
A more evolved expectation leads us to the term ‘engagement’. Even a person doing the most mechanical task is likely to do the job better if his heart is truly in the work. This is part of what we call engagement.
Engagement has one more dimension to it — that of attachment to the organisation. The employee must not only put his heart into the work, but must also feel that he is working in a great place, and that the organisation is worthy of the effort.
Is the difference between engagement and satisfaction clearer now?
Yes, it is. And I can see why high levels of employee engagement lead to better business performance – engaged employees put their heart into their work and work better, not just do the work required of them, right?
That is absolutely right.
But how can companies ensure employee engagement?
Companies need to do everything possible to ensure employee satisfaction, plus a little more. Essentially, they need to keep the following principles in mind.
At the basic level, the employee must have a sense of safety and comfort – this would be ensured through good infrastructure, proper seating and working conditions, safety norms if it is a factory, salary paid on time, and being treated courteously and with consideration by the boss, among other things.
Employees who are in non-executive positions often look for one more factor from their organisations — a sense of belonging and being taken care of. This can be achieved through such initiatives as employee cooperative stores, special deals with nearby schools and nursing homes, loans at a lower rate for family events such as weddings — basically, making the employees feel the company is there for them, and will look after them.
Professionally qualified employees tend to have slightly different expectations. . They tend to look mainly for learning and career growth opportunities. They tend to become disengaged quickly if they don’t see the company adding value to their career path.
Money per se has not been mentioned. Money is such a basic variable and is obviously the main reason why people go to work at all, but money on its own cannot ensure engagement. It suffers from the law of diminishing utility beyond a point.
If the above principles are kept in mind, specific strategies and tactics to increase employee engagement can be devised, though they may vary widely from company to company.
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