In today’s competitive business scenario, corporations are looking to generate a competitive advantage over their competitors by hiring and retailing talent staff members. Organisations focus on finding new ways to motive and encourage their employees in order to increase their engagement with the corporation. The companies want their employees to become a part of the decision-making process which assists the enterprise in achieving its goals and objectives (Eldor and Harpaz, 2016). While achieving this objective, the companies focus on adopting employee engagement approach which assists them in ensuring that their employees are working dedicatedly towards achieving their targets. By definition, employee engagement is defined as the process of engaging employees in the organisation so that they are committed towards their work and put extra efforts to achieve their targets (Mone and London, 2018). The purpose of this essay is to evaluate the role of employee engagement in corporations. This essay will critically discuss the importance of the employee engagement approach for both individuals and organisations. Various factors which determine employee engagement will be discussed in this essay as well. It is assumed in this essay that it is not based on a specific organisation or industry.
Employee engagement is determined as an approach which defines the level of dedication which an employee has towards his/her work. It is described as a workplace approach which is designed to motivate employees in order to push them towards achieving organisational goals and contributing in the decision-making process to promote success of the company (Anitha, 2014). This approach also focuses on enhancing the sense of wellbeing among employees while they discharge their duties. Generally, employees have different attitudes and behaviour in the workplace, and they have their own set of personal goals in life and career which they wanted to achieve from their work. Some employees may or may not be proud of their work, and some employees may be dedicated towards their work while others did not care about the work or the company which they work for, and they did not put extra efforts in their work. These different attitudes and behaviours resulted in differentiating the outcomes of the performance of employees. Employees who work dedicatedly are likely to have high productivity, low accident rate, low sickness rate, fewer conflicts and more innovation (Karanges et al., 2015). The companies which implement an effective employee engagement approach tend to have strong and authentic values. They have trust in their employees, and they are fair towards all of their employees as well. Many times, corporations try to manipulate the emotions and commitment of employees in order to achieve employee engagement; however, this is not an effective way which resulted in turning employees against the management. Therefore, the importance of effectively implementing employee engagement policies is becoming crucial for corporations to succeed in their respective industries.
Previously, the management in companies has implemented different types of approaches in order to encourage motivation among employees and achieve efficiencies in the company. However, these steps involve manipulating the feelings of employees, or they are effective for a short period of time which makes them unsuccessful. As per the study of Albrecht et al. (2015), employee engagement has a significant impact on companies, and it influences various aspects which include improved performance, customer satisfaction, efficient operations, reduction in operation costs, establishment of positive workplace environment and others. The research of Rigoni and Nelson (2016) has shown that there are 70 percent less safety incidents occurred in companies which have highly engaged employees. These employees did not focus on worrying what their employer’s views are about them, instead, they focus on the work at hand. They are more likely to work with dedication which establishes a safe working environment in the corporation. In 2017-18, 144 employees suffered fatal injuries in the workplace in the United Kingdom (HSE, 2018a). In the same year, 555,000 employees reported non-fatal injuries in which 135,000 were absent from work for more than 7 days (HSE, 2018b). It shows that accidents are common in workplace which resulted in adversely affecting individuals and organisations. Individuals are affected because they face the risk of losing of a body part or fatal injury caused due to their work and organisations are affected because they have to pay insurance money and it hinders the work of employees (Breevaart et al., 2014). Therefore, employee engagement approach is important for individuals and organisations because it assists in reducing accidents in the workplace which is better for health of employees and companies.
Along with safety opportunities, there are various studies which have shown that employee engagement approach assists in improving health of employees. Obesity is becoming one of the key health issues for employees, especially in the case when employees have to sit for a long time in one place. In the United Kingdom, the Health Survey for English in 2016 showed that 61.4 percent of adults are either overweight or obese (Baer, 2018). This is becoming a significant health issue due to which millions of people are facing negative health consequences. This issue can be addressed by corporations by implementing employee engagement policies. According to Yu and Harter (2013), employees who are engaged in the organisations are less likely to be obese which reduces their chances of suffering chronic diseases. The study showed that employees who are more engaged and satisfy with their work are likely to eat healthier and exercise on a regular basis. The companies which implement employee engagement practices are focused on respecting their employees’ needs which include improving and providing approach care for their health; these policies including providing free fruits and vegetables in lunch, exercise facilities, flexible schedule and others (Bailey et al., 2017). Based on these policies, the corporations are likely to increase the health of their employees which makes them healthier and it increases productivity of the company as well, therefore, employee engagement policies are important for individuals and organisations.
Employee wellbeing is another key concept which is becoming popular among organisations because it assists in increasing productivity of workers. It includes physical, environmental, social and psychological factors which lead to overall development of employees (Mishra, Boynton and Mishra, 2014). These factors influence the productivity of employees and companies in both positive and negative manner. Happiness and job satisfaction are two key factors which drive the performance of employees’ productivity. Employees who are happier are less likely to resort to mechanism like termination, high work stress, peer pressure and others. A happy worker is a productive worker; therefore, companies continue to implement various policies to ensure that employees are able to effectively set a balance between their work and personal life. According to Seppala and Cameron (2015), more than $500 billion from the United States economy is spent on workplace stress, and 550 million workdays are lost by employees due to workplace stress. In the United Kingdom, 59 percent of adults experience some degree of stress caused due to their work (Matejka, 2018). To address this issue, Hackbarth (2017) provided in her research that employees should be motivated by implementing employee engagement policies in the workplace. She provided that practices such as employee recognition, 360 feedback, one-on-one meetings are various ways to increase engagement with employees and make them happier with their job. On the other hand, more than half of the UK workers are unhappy with their jobs; it adversely affects their career growth and productivity of their employer (Stanton, 2018). By increasing engagement with employees, corporations can satisfy their needs to make them happier with their work which resulted in productivity of the company as well.
Another key issue faced by the companies in the United Kingdom is absenteeism rate of workers. An estimated 137.3 million working days were lost in 2017 in the UK due to sickness or injury of workers which is equivalent to 4.3 days per worker (ONS, 2017). Employees are absent from work because they are not able to make a balance between their personal and professional life; It adversely affects their family member as well. To address this issue, companies can implement employee engagement policies which assist companies in addressing the needs of employees which increase their satisfaction level. They are less likely to be absent from the work if they are able to make a balance between their work and personal life. Promotion of healthier life, flexible schedule and less work stress is some of the actions which can be taken by corporations to establish a balance between work and personal life of employees (Slack, Corlett and Morris, 2015). It assists them in reducing absenteeism rate of employees and improves their productivity.
The points mentioned above are from the perspective of individuals; however, there are various benefits of employee engagement policies faced by organisations as well. The corporations are able to increase their profitability and sales through these policies. Satisfied employees provide better customer service, better productivity and better quality to customers which assist companies in increasing sales. According to Robins (2017), organisations with highly engaged employees see an average of 20 percent higher sales than compared to their competitors. Factors such as reduction in working days, higher customer satisfaction rates, efficiency in work and higher productivity rate resulted in increased profitability of companies. As per Sorenson (2013), an average of 22 percent of profitability is increased in corporations which implement employee engagement practices. Increased profitability assists companies in attracting more shareholders and investors which enable them in expanding their operation. Therefore, the growth of corporations is affected by employee engagement policies based on which it becomes a significant part in organisations.
High employee attrition rate is a key challenge faced by companies across the globe. It has become difficult for enterprises to retain talent workers in this competitive environment. Competitors and large corporations pay huge packages to talented and experienced employees in order to retain them in the company for a long period of time. As discussed above, employees who are engaged in their work are more likely to be happier and satisfied with their job. Therefore, companies can use effective employee engagement policies to ensure that they are able to retain talented employees in the workplace for a longer period of time which is crucial for their success (Eldor and Harpaz, 2016). Retention of employees also enables the corporations in building strong teams which are efficient enough to achieve their target while maintaining a balance in their work and professional life. Happier employees also positively deal with employees which lead to better customer service. In today’s digital era, social media sites have provided substantial power to customers because they write bad reviews regarding products and services of companies which are accessible by people across the globe. It adversely affects the brand reputation of companies and ultimately reduces its profitability. Happy employees provide effective services to customers by catering to their needs which enable them in building brand loyal which provides a competitive advantage to corporations. There are various factors which determine employee engagement and result in contributing to the policies of companies. These factors include career development opportunities, flexibility in the work schedule, fair pay structure and learning culture (Shuck and Reio Jr, 2014). Moreover, promotion of cultural diversity, effective communication, inspiration and transparency in the management are key contributing factors in employee engagement policies.
Conclusion
In conclusion, employee engagement is determined as an approach which is implemented by companies to motivate their employees by engaging them in their work and improve their performance. The importance of employee engagement is increasing between corporations because it provides various benefits to individuals and organisations. Firstly, employees who are engaged in their work are likely to be safer and healthier because the company caters to their needs. They are more likely to set a balance between their work and professional life, and they are happier in general. Employee engagement reduces absenteeism rate of employees and assists them in managing workplace stress. Organisations can increase their sales and profitability by implementing employee engagement policies, and it assists them in reducing employee attrition rate and increasing brand loyalty among customers by providing them better quality services. Factors determining employee engagement include flexibility, transparency, career growth opportunities, communication and transparency in management. Therefore, employee engagement is beneficial for both individuals and organisations.
References
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