Previous blog posts have discussed in
detail on the aspect of creating a high-performance workforce via employee
engagement by rationalizing employee engagement's effect on the organization’s
performance. The blog has also explored the drivers for employee engagement by
highlighting the need for employee motivation, satisfaction and its roots
connecting to employee engagement. More importantly, exploring the best manner
of applying the theories such as Maslow's Hierarchy of needs or Herzberg's
2-factor theory on the organization that I work for to improve employee
motivation, and thereby creating a highly motivated and engaged workforce.
Below is a summary of all of these posts, concluding the need for employee
engagement to create a highly efficient, productive workforce.
As per Kompaso and Sridevi (2010),
Employee engagement is an important parameter that has a significant impact on
an organization's productivity, profitability. And also, it is evident that
effective employee engagement in an organization gets established based on a
strong 2-way relationship between the employee and the employer. Therefore, it
is a mandatory practice that an organization has to invest in building a strong
platform for identifying the drivers for engaging employees and facilitating
correct methodologies to increase employee engagement (Singh, 2019).
While there are many factors affecting
employee engagement, Armstrong and Taylor (2014) have grouped these factors
into three main categories in the form of Commitment, Motivation and
Organization citizenship. Further, they have also emphasized motivating the
employees as a key influential category which has a direct impact on the other
two groups.
As per Aruma, (2017), researcher Abraham
Maslow has defined five hierarchal human needs, in the form of Basic needs,
Safety needs, Love and Belonging related needs, Self-esteem needs, and
Self-actualization which can drive employee motivation. Maslow has also stated
that a successful employee motivation strategy should address the lowest levels
of needs first before satisfying the top-level needs (Jerome, 2013). As
described in a previous blog post, an application of Maslow’s theory in the
organization which I work for has provided insights that the theory can still
be effectively applied to a modern-day day organization.
Herzberg’s 2-factor theory is another
useful theory to drive high employee satisfaction and negate employee
dissatisfaction, therefore creating a highly engaged workforce by promoting a
culture of highly satisfied motivated employees. (Baah and Amoako, 2011). As
Owler and Morrison (2015) stated and also evident by applying the theory to the
organization which I work for, finding the correct balance between the Hygiene
factors and the Motivation factors is the key to find the optimum tune to
achieve the maximum success the 2-factor theory.
On the other hand, setting effective
goals can also be taken as a key methodology to focus on when creating high
engagement among employees, resulting in their increased task performance
(Shahin and Mahbod, 2006). According to Hursman (2010), defining the goals
according to SMART characteristics will enable an organization to find the
correct set of SMART goals/objectives.
As a conclusion, employees who feel happy
at work will help to derive a high-performance culture. Motivating the
employees, satisfying employee needs and assigning and assessing the employees
with the correct set of effective goals are the approaches an organization can
follow to achieve the desired outcomes.
References
Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S. (2014). Armstrong's
handbook of human resource management practice, 13th edition. 13th ed.
London: Kogan Page, pp.192-202.
Aruma, E.
(2017). ABRAHAM MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS AND ASSESSMENT OF NEEDS IN
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT. International Journal of
Development and Economic Sustainability, [online] 5(7), pp.15-27.
Available at:
http://www.eajournals.org/wp-content/uploads/Abraham-Maslow%E2%80%99s-Hierarchy-of-Needs-and-Assessment-of-Needs-in-Community-Development.pdf
[Accessed 10 Sep. 2019].
Aktar, A. (2019). EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT:does it
matter for employee performance?. THE COST AND MANAGEMENT, [online]
44(4), pp.27-35. Available at:
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/6695/8b262e1685abdbcf137dec871e4af6ba2988.pdf
[Accessed 9 Aug. 2019].
Baah, K. and Amoako, G. (2011). Application of
Frederick Herzberg’s Two-Factor theory in assessing and understanding employee
motivation at work: a Ghanaian Perspective. European Journal of Business and Management, [online] 3(9), pp.1-7. Available at: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/8120/9583968b25d38e08f353aef4004be7cd099c.pdf
[Accessed 18 Sep. 2019].
Hursman, A.
(2010). Measure What Matters. Information Management, [online]
20(4), p.24. Available at: http://connection.ebscohost.com/c/articles/52725168/measure-what-matters
[Accessed 25 Sep. 2019].
Jerome, N.
(2013). Application of the Maslow’s hierarchy of need theory; impacts and
implications on organizational culture, human resource and employee’s
performance. International Journal of Business and Management Invention, [online]
2(3), pp.39-45. Available at:
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/b0bc/c8ca45193eaf700350a8ac2ddfc09a093be8.pdf
[Accessed 10 Sep. 2019].
Kompaso, S. and Sridevi, M. (2010). Employee
Engagement: The Key to Improving Performance. International Journal of
Business and Management, [online] 5(12), pp.89-94. Available at:
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/0ca0/6a76e3f030dc2b58294498300c121fa4b112.pdf
[Accessed 7 Aug. 2019].
Owler, K. and Morrison, R. (2015). What makes
work enjoyable and motivating for Learning Advisors in Aotearoa-New
Zealand?. Association
of Tertiary Learning Advisors Aotearoa/New Zealand Journal, [online] 1(1), pp.16-33. Available at: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/99a5/eea366617653d0e957e4bbb3cce0b93c6d7b.pdf.
Shahin, A. and
Mahbod, M. (2006). Prioritization of key performance indicators. An integration
of analytical hierarchy process and goal setting. International Journal
of Productivity and Performance Management, [online] 5(3), pp.226-240.
Available at:
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/488f/f5fa5ca4e146f3fe41362b2c77604e03b439.pdf
[Accessed 25 Sep. 2019].
Singh, Y. (2019). Employee
Engagement as a Contemporary Issue in HRM--A Conceptual Framework. International Journal of Engineering and Management Research,
[online] 6(5), pp.364-368. Available at:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309563370_Employee_Engagement_as_a_Contemporary_Issue_in_HRM--A_Conceptual_Framework
[Accessed 7 Aug. 2019].
12 Comments
Hi Kanchana,
ReplyDeleteInteresting topic. I would like to add an important driver of employee engagement, known as “Work Life Balance”. It’s the ability of the employee to make time for himself and his family which becomes one of his crucial KPI’s for his/her success at the workplace (Bedarkar and Pandita, 2014). Those employees who were more favorable toward their organization’s efforts to support work-life balance also contributed to lesser turnover of employees at an organization, greater pride in their workplace, a willingness to recommend it as a place to work and higher overall job satisfaction (Kompaso and Sridevi, 2010).
Thanks
Yes. I might have not highlighted the need of "Work Life balance" at the workplace enough, instead I have emphasized the activities that you can do while at the workplace to improve engagement. However, i agree with you that providing enough freedom for employees to manage both their work life and the personal life is a crucial area to improve employee satisfaction.
DeleteVery helpful to enhance the knowledge and you have established a clear picture in the minds of the readers about the essentially of having an effective and efficient employee engagement system within the organization. Employee is the most valuable live resource of the organization that gives a tremendous output for the organization and at the same time hard to manage.
ReplyDeleteYes, which is why an organization’s employee engagement strategy has to evolve and adapt with time. Bedarkar & Pandita (2014)’s study highlights this in abundance, and goes on to showcase how such flexibility can help both employers and employees achieve mutually beneficial goals.
DeleteVery interesting blog Kanchana. It was very useful for myself as I was conducting a leap transformation process within my department. The one thing that I suggest is to include the impact of digitisation on EE. Since you are working hand to hand with IT, the usefulness of innovative flexibility through digitisation might help you in the long run. Digitisation not only enhance the flexible work environment but also it has the capability to improve the standards of the product (Ahlers, 2016).
ReplyDeleteAgreed. Raj (2018) highlights that technology can be considered an ally in ensuring that employees are productive, satisfied, and well. It can contribute in accelerating the
Deleteculture of engagement by providing the necessary tools for communication and
collaboration to the organization.
Hi Kanchana adding up to same , Engaged employee consistently demonstrates three general behaviours which improve organizational performance:
ReplyDelete-Say-the employee advocates for the organization to co-workers, and refers potential employees and customers
- Stay-the employee has an intense desire to be a member of the organization despite opportunities to work elsewhere
-Strive-the employee exerts extra time, effort and initiative to contribute to the success of the business
( Baumruk and Gorman, 2006)
Very true. Stay-Stay-Strive!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteNYC Blog! The knowledge you share it was really wonderful. Do you know we provide Online Employee Engagement, Online Virtual Party, Team Building Activities and many more services. For more info visit our website sosparty.io!
ReplyDeleteYour blog was very interesting and informative. We run fun online employee engagement activities for organizations around the world. These engagement activities and challenges are designed to be equal parts to improve virtual teams bonding and skill building.
ReplyDeleteWonderful blog! Virtual employee engagement activities are the ways to enhance the relationship between a company and its work-from-home team employees. The objective of these activities and ideas is to boost employees morale and their participation in the company growth.
ReplyDelete