Employee engagement; a top priority for modern day organisations.
Statistics show that organisations which have engaged employees outperform others by more than 100%. Engaged employees are more committed, motivated and stay longer in organisations. They are self-motivated and the productivity levels of them are at a very high level. It obviously sounds good and will definitely fetch positive results for any business that operates in the market.
Having realised that, many organisations have worked on increasing their engagement levels with employees. It has become a top priority for some organisations, but for some it does not mean anything. The value and benefits of it is not considered by these organisations and employee engagement comes last in many instances. This could push the organisation to a really bad situation. Consequences are that organisations may even experience reduction in productivity, efficiency, effectiveness. Ultimately these would affect the organisation’s profitability and customer confidence.
What is employee engagement exactly?
Let’s see what exactly is meant by employee engagement. There are many authors spoken about employee engagement and many definitions are given by each of them. However the simplest way to explain it is “An employee’s commitment and relationship with the organisation and its goals and objectives”.
This commitment basically means that they don’t just work for their salaries or for any other benefits. They will work towards achieving corporate goals and objectives. When employees are engaged they care for the organisation more. They take care of the business like it’s their own.
How do we measure it?
Measuring employee engagement gives us a better idea of employee perception on the organisation and their commitment towards the business. When employee engagement levels are low they do not work or represent their own organisation. For them it is merely an ordinary job.
An employee engagement survey helps organisations to measure it. Carrying out informal one to one interviews will also be an effective way to measure engagement levels.
Why should it be a top priority for organisations?
Many people think that employee engagement is same as employee satisfaction, but it is different from each other. Employee satisfaction captures only on how happy they are about the organisation, work environment and processes. Employee engagement determines the emotional commitment and motivation levels of employees.
They are highly motivated by themselves. This means that they will work extra hours to get things done even if they are not asked to. Supervisors do not have to overlook them all the time to see whether they are working on what they are assigned to do. Operations of the organisation run smoothly. Processes are in place and the purpose of the organisation is well understood by everyone. All the employees will work on one direction driving towards common objectives set by the business.
They will always be concerned on quality of products and services, productivity and highly customer oriented. Customer satisfaction will be increase and would increase the rate of repeat sales as well. Eventually it positively contributes towards the profitably of the organisation. in return the emplyees will be benefitted and helps to increase employee satisfaction as well.
