Assignment – 5ENG PART A (250 Words)
There are many examples of organizations that clearly misunderstand the concept of employee engagement. Often levels of employee engagement are measured in a very superficial way that potentially adds very little value – for example, by the use of employee engagement surveys. Your recently appointed C.E.O, in the past has been a very strong advocate of engagement surveys. He has come to you (in HR) for advice and has asked for a proposal for how levels of employee engagement can be effectively measured. He/she has asked for an initial report which should provide explanation covering the concept and components of employee engagement and evidence showing its contribution to achieving business outcomes.
Your report should be structured under the key theme of:
An overview of the concept of employee engagement and why your C.E.O., together with all other key stakeholders, should recognize its significance. Specifically, you need to address the following issues:
An analysis of ‘Employee Engagement,’ including its principal dimensions and components, together with a comparison with related concepts. (AC1.1) (approx. 250 words)
STATUS (REFER) 2
Date
Work
Assessor Comments
2022-06-23
Employee engagement is a measure of employee commitment and passion for their work (Motyka, 2018). It is also a measure of how much employees feel motivated to remain in the firm for a long period. Employee engagement involves various elements that are vital to ensuring the employees are satisfied with the work setting and remain loyal to the organization. One of the most effective components is employee wellbeing, whereby the organization must ensure it has the physical and mental interests of the staff at heart. The failure to ensure the employees work in a setting that encourages their health could lead to higher cases of absenteeism through sick leaves, £16.2 billion in economic costs recorded in Great Britain and an additional 38.8 million working days lost (Thompson, 2021). Another issue is leadership, which plays a vital role in the employees being retained in the organization. According to Hyacinth (2017), 75% of workers leave their jobs due to the bad managers, with these leaders using their positions to control almost every aspect of the employees rather than considering their roles and value in realizing the organizational goals. Employees need to connect with their leaders in order to develop the trust required to collaborate and coordinate effectively. They need to see their leaders as role models and be confident they can assist them during challenges associated with the roles and responsibilities. Additional components of employee engagement include the personal and professional development, which encourages progress and avoids the feeling of stagnation and routine where the employee completes same activities daily. Feedback is also avital component as it encourages the employees to realize their strengths and improve on their weaknesses, while they can also provide insight to the managers. Employee engagement leads to job satisfaction based on the increased value since they are part of the decision-making process. They are no longer a means to an end as they are considered before the company introduces policies or any changes.
You have not fully taken account of the previous feedback – you have still only written about the components of EE. We will ACCEPT this – please DO NOT change it.
However, you still need to comment on the principal dimensions (there are 3 of these), and also compare EE with related concepts, such as job satisfaction.
Note – we only need BRIEF explanations – this additional content should be no more than about 150 words.
STATUS (REFER) 1
Date
Work
Assessor Comments
2021-08-18
Employee engagement is a measure of employee commitment and passion for their work (Motyka, 2018). It is also a measure of how much employees feel motivated to remain in the firm for a long period. Organizations should invest in establishing incentives to boost employee engagement as a way of developing their careers. Further, improving employee engagement translates to better customer services, which translates to increased brand loyalty. Subsequently, stakeholders increase their investments, which enables it to fund its research, development, innovation, and expansion programs.
Organizations should adopt credible, reliable, and accurate techniques to determine the level of employee engagement, such as the use of polls and interviews (Osborne & Hammoud, 2017). The management should integrate expert advice from consultants and relevant stakeholders in aligning employee engagement and other corporate components, such as financial and human resource management. In the long run, enhanced employee engagement results in the adoption of ethics and leadership skills among employees, which are vital for career and personal development.
Some of the methods of determining the level of employee engagement include conducting interviews, polls, surveys, and performance analysis. Primary data provides firsthand information about the level of commitment of employees towards their work, which influences decision-making and policy formulation. Primary data assists managers to formulate strategies for boosting the productivity and performance of workers, such as incorporating monetary incentives. After obtaining information regarding the level of employee engagement, the management integrates strategies that have a positive psychological impact on employees, resulting in improved performances. High employee engagement scores translate to better financial results posted by the organization. As a result, investors commit more resources to the firm, which enables the organization to fund its innovation, research, and marketing strategies. Therefore, managers should strive towards improving the level of employee engagement and motivation.
Whilst this narrative has value to the assignment as a whole, it does not meet the criteria for this particular task – please delete and start again.
The task asks you to analyse EE – explaining its principle dimensions and components – as covered in class. You then need to compare EE with related concepts such as Job satisfaction.
A justification of the need for alignment between engagement practices and other corporate components (e.g. mission) if the full benefits of high engagement are to be realized. (AC1.2)
STATUS (PASS)
The result is high profitability and high returns on stakeholder investments. Aligning engagement practices and other corporate components of the organization is imperative because it establishes a sustainable and effective organizational culture (Osborne & Hammoud, 2017). Aligning such components entails an elaborate process that begins with deliberations and consultations with relevant stakeholders. The aim of obtaining expert advice is to inform stakeholders about the intention to establish a change of operational procedures, which enhances accountability.
After informing internal and external stakeholders, the alignment process requires a policy and legal framework to guide the operations of employees. The policy framework outlines the conduct of employees during the transition and inculcates morals and ethical codes to enhance stakeholder relations. By aligning engagement practices, such as conducting interviews, integrating effective communication, and analyzing employee feedback with corporate activities, such as employee motivation and human resource management, save the organization’s time and resources. Aligning the procedures minimizes time spent on administering each event, which also results in high savings. As a result, the organization channels the extra resources in other meaningful and viable projects, such as diversification and marketing. As aforementioned, the formulation of a uniform policy, legal and regulatory framework after alignment enhances efficiency by coordinating and streamlining activities in the organization. The alignment of employee engagement strategies also assists managers to develop effective performance appraisal systems.
Employee engagement involves enhancing the level of commitment of workers. By definition, employee engagement refers to the level of passion, communication, and satisfaction of employers towards their employers (Kang & Sung, 2017). Employee engagement shows how the organization caters for the monetary and intrinsic needs of an employee, which boosts their morale and motivation. Employee engagement also influences the retention rates of employees, which implies that the organization may influence the time that employees offer their services. An organization that has high employee engagement develops specialization, which results in high retention rates. Further, such firms also develop leadership skills in their work and improving their positive social impact. On the other hand, organizations that have low employee engagement also have lower retention rates for workers.
An identification of the principal drivers of employee engagement and offer an evaluation of the business benefits for key stakeholders – customers, employees, managers. (AC2.1)
STATUS (PASS)
The principal factors of employee engagement include automation, employee feedback, employee relations, financial capability, and equity. Regarding the first driver of employee engagement, organizations should invest in technology to enhance the efficacy of operations by eliminating errors and discrepancies occasioned by human intervention. Automation enables the administration to obtain accurate results regarding employee engagement levels and develop interventions to correct the anomaly. Managers also evaluate the effectiveness of strategies and psychological factors to enhance employee motivation (Jena, Pradhan & Panigrahy, 2018). Employee feedback is a critical driver of employee engagement because it identifies setbacks that inhibit employee productivity. The firm incorporates strategies to solve issues affecting workers from their feedback.
Employee feedback also enhances relations between the management and lower cadre employees, resulting in better coordination of activities. Employee feedback reveals the level of commitment and satisfaction in their work, prompting the management to develop interventions to improve their morale and motivation (Albrecht, Breidahl & Marty, 2018). Employee relations is another driver of employee engagement. Organizations that improve employee relations have higher levels of employee engagement, which translates to improved customer service.
Further, organizations whose employees have exemplary interactional skills also have higher job satisfaction levels. Another driver of employee engagement is financial capability. Organizations that have a large capital outlay have sufficient resources to invest in employee motivational strategies, such as integrating flexible working hours, allowing free meals and optional dressing codes. Such organizations also have sufficient budgets to allow employees to participate in team-building activities to develop their interaction, socialization, and leadership skills (Albrecht, Breidahl & Marty, 2018). Equity and inclusivity in the organization is a driver of employee engagement. Firms that integrate inclusivity and diversity policies have higher levels of employee engagement compared to those that do not integrate inclusivity and equity. An evaluation of the benefits for stakeholders such as customers, managers, and employees includes the following. Customers benefit from high levels of employee engagement by obtaining high-quality products and exemplary services. Managers benefit from a high employee engagement environment by developing their leadership and management skills. Employees benefit by developing their careers and boosting their productivity.
An explanation of how job design, discretionary behaviors, role autonomy and organizational citizenship contribute to employee engagement (AC2.2)
STATUS (PASS)
Job design contributes to employee engagement in the following ways. Employees who perform roles that suit their job descriptions have higher likelihoods of success. They also have a higher retention rate because they are passionate about their roles. Further, the alignment of employee skills and roles enhances employee engagement because they feel motivated. Discretionary behaviors enhance employee engagement in the following ways. Integrating flexible working hours and dressing codes allows employees to focus on their work. They also enjoy their work, which improves productivity and performance. Discretionary behaviors also enhance employee engagement because it enhances control and self-drive. Such behaviors also develop leadership abilities among employees (Kang & Sung, 2017). Role autonomy contributes to improved employee engagement because it allows employees to exercise freedom and independence.
Although employee independence is limited, it enables them to be innovative and creative. Role autonomy also enables employees to be effective planners, which is an essential attribute of leadership. Role autonomy also improves accountability of employee roles and the positive psychological impacts of role autonomy result in improved employee engagement (Jena, Pradhan & Panigrahy, 2018). Organizational citizenship contributes to enhanced employee engagement in the following ways. First, it enables employees to be proactive, by allowing them to participate in voluntary activities. Voluntary activities enable employees to learn various roles within the organization and enhance their capacity to handle various responsibilities. Voluntary participation in organizational activities also demonstrates that employees are unselfish and have low voracity for money. Such positive values are vital in enhancing employee engagement.
Discretionary behavior is a significant concept in employee engagement, defining the employee activities that are vital to normal operations of the firm and are not categorized explicitly or directly within the reward system. This behavior involves the employees giving more than the bare minimum required for their roles, going the extra mile to ensure the organization realizes its goals (Duyar & Normore, 2012).
ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS: Please also comment on how you will transfer the new knowledge and skills gained during this assignment into working practices. You may also use this reflection for your CPD.
STATUS (PASS)
From this assignment, I was able to link how employee engagement is more than rewards since it requires developing a work setting and culture that also supports the physical and emotional health of these critical stakeholders. Hence, this knowledge can be effective when setting communication strategies as a manager since it requires a focus on ensuring honesty and openness. For instance, even if the company is experiencing some issues, I would still communicate to the staff with the potential solutions in place to avoid them hearing it from other sources causing panic and low morale. This approach can also include setting social situations that encourage feedback and sharing of ideas regarding company operations, which can be possible both in face-to-face meetings and virtual to ensure that it covers all staff and their characteristics.
Another insight from this assignment is that employees need to feel aligned to the organization’s mission. For this reason, while in any form of leadership or while part of a team, I will always strive to incorporate corporate social responsibility initiatives attached to the goals and outcomes of projects. As a team, it is vital that members feel the deliverables can bring change to society, such as through a service or a product. For this to be possible, some activities might be incorporated, such as creating one activity or objective that is directed towards giving back solely without any profit-generating goals. For instance, weekly or monthly volunteering initiatives that allow employees to interact with the clients and community. This approach could also support the interaction among themselves, ensuring they can identify each other’s strengths and weaknesses, and apply them in the work setting for better team coordination. The objective is to ensure they feel like they have a purpose and are working for a company that contributes toward positive change.
You should also include 3-5 references from up to date and relevant sources in order to support your findings.
Albrecht, S., Breidahl, E., & Marty, A. (2018). Organizational resources, organizational engagement climate, and employee engagement. Career Development International. https://fardapaper.ir/mohavaha/uploads/2018/03/Fardapaper-Organizational-resources-organizational-engagement-climate-and-employee-engagement.pdf
Jena, L. K., Pradhan, S., & Panigrahy, N. P. (2018). Pursuit of organisational trust: Role of employee engagement, psychological well-being and transformational leadership. Asia Pacific Management Review, 23(3), 227-234. https://isiarticles.com/bundles/Article/pre/pdf/105683.pdf
Kang, M., & Sung, M. (2017). How symmetrical employee communication leads to employee engagement and positive employee communication behaviors: The mediation of employee-organization relationships. Journal of Communication Management. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/313361891_How_symmetrical_employee_communication_leads_to_employee_engagement_and_positive_employee_communication_behaviors_The_mediation_of_employee-organization_relationships
Motyka, B. (2018). Employee engagement and performance: a systematic literature review. International Journal of Management and Economics, 54(3), 227-244. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/330339973_Employee_engagement_and_performance_a_systematic_literature_review
Osborne, S., & Hammoud, M. S. (2017). Effective employee engagement in the workplace. International Journal of Applied Management and Technology, 16(1), 4. https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1239&context=ijam