EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT PRACTICES

DEFINITION
Employee engagement is the extent to which

employees

feel

passionate

about

their

jobs,

are

committed to the organization, and put discretionary

effort into their work.

Employee satisfaction vs. Employee Engagement

Employee engagement is not the same as employee satisfaction.
Satisfied employees are merely happy or content with their jobs
and the status quo. For some, this might involve doing as little
work as possible.

Engaged employees are motivated to do more than the bare

minimum needed in order to keep their jobs.

Why Employee Engagement

Better Team Working - Employee engagement is about increasing
the employees connection with the principles, strategies,
processes, culture and purpose of the organization..
Greater Commitment - Engaged employees care about the future
of the organization they work for, they feel proud to work for their
company and they get on better each day with their colleagues.
Lower Employee Turnover - Higher engagement leads to low
attrition, they actively seek out new people who they believe can
help the company get even better.

Steps
Link your engagement efforts to high performance: Employee
engagement is not about employee satisfaction. The last thing you
should want is a team of satisfied but underperforming employees.
Employee engagement starts at the top: Most studies show that a
key employee engagement driver is the actions of senior leaders.
Leaders must demonstrate support for an engaged company
culture by personally living their companys values.
Focus on communication: Successful leaders recognize the power
of a robust communication plan, one built on clarity, consistency,
and transparency.

 Individualize your engagement: Your philosophy should go beyond

treat people they way you want to be treated; the new mantra is
treat people the way they want to be treated.
Create a motivational culture: Leaders cannot motivate employees
long-term. Leaders must create motivational cultures with an
engaged workforce where employees can flourish and motivate
each other.
Create feedback mechanisms: Companies need to ask employees
what they think; employee engagement surveys are a great tool to
assess an organizations pulse.

 Reinforce and reward the right behaviours: Employees are incredibly

motivated by achievement, not money. Money can disengage if
employees perceive unfairness.
Track and communicate progress: Employees are no different than
leadership -- they both want to work for a winning organization.
Leaders need to reinforce line of sight by telling their employees
where theyre going, how theyre performing, and where they fit in.
Hire and promote the right behaviours and traits for your culture:
Although we place much emphasis on ones educational background
and skills, people generally succeed or fail because of their behaviours
and traits.

OUTCOMES OF THE PROCESS

Better Performance - Engaged employees work smarter, not
harder. They keep looking for ways to improve performance at
their workplace.
Better Communication - Engaged employees communicate they
share information with colleagues, they pass on ideas, suggest and
advice and they speak up for the organization.
Greater Customer Satisfaction Engaged employees go out of their
way to meet customers needs. Customers arent slow to notice
and this leads to higher levels of repeat business, at a good cost.

Methods of engaging employees

Communications activities:
Communication forums to provide regular feedback to all people,
including team meetings &conferences.
In-house magazines
On-line communications, including discussion boards and blogs by
company personnel including senior management
Monthly updates on corporate goals and directions
Regular employee opinion and satisfaction surveys
Active soliciting of employee feedback, including opinions

Activities to develop the culture of the organization

Clear and humane HR policies
Pro-social corporate objectives and Corporate Social
Responsibility
Equal opportunities policies and practices
Initiatives to maintain the quality of work life and a balance
between personal/professional lives
Developing a safe, clean and inspiring work environment
Demonstrating a commitment to employees well being

Reward schemes

Compensation and benefit programs

Stock ownership and profit sharing
Recognition programs
Idea collection schemes linked to rewards for idea generation
Long service and good performance awards

Team building activities

Team recreational activities, such as bowling, skating, trips to the cinema
Social activities, such as family gatherings and barbeques
Community outreach activities such as volunteering and fund-raising.
Leadership development activities
Effective Leadership
Fair evaluation of performance
Empowerment through effective delegation
Coaching and mentoring activities to give honest feedback by supervisors
and peers
An open and transparent culture to empower people and develop
entrepreneurs.

Employee Engagement Framework

An employee engagement model based on statistical
analysis and widely supported by industry research.
Engagement with
The Organization

Engagement with
My Manager

High Performance

Strategic Alignment

Competency

Engagement with The Organization

Measures how engaged employees are with the organization as a
whole.
Includes employee feelings about and perceptions of senior
management.
Key components include trust, fairness, values, and respect - i.e.
how people like to be treated by others, both at work and outside
of work.

Engagement with My Manager

A more specific measure of how employees feel about their
direct supervisors.
For most employees, this factor has the largest impact on dayto-day life at work.
Topics include mutual respect, feeling valued, being treated
fairly, receiving feedback and direction, etc.

Beyond Engagement Alignment & Competency

An organization needs more than just engaged employees in order to
succeed. There are two additional areas that relate to employee
performance and that are closely linked to engagement.

Employee Engagement practices

Picnic at regular intervals
Movie at interval of 2 months
A daily column, written by CEO, on the intranet with company
announcements / programs etc.
Update via an overhead paging system, which is used to
recognize employees for significant business achievements.
Employee suggestion systems / quick responses.
Suggestion on the intranet about the presidents / CEOs press
conference.

ONLINE ask the CEO mailbox.

Monthly staff awards
Annual staff awards
Weekly blog related to serious business issues and staff to
read / comments.
Problem solving committee.
Quality assurance committee.
CEO spending time in face to face communication with staff.
CEO based FAQ questions on company business.

 Conducting soft skills training program as well as required

training programs
Online real-time tracking of progress. Employees can view
company progress towards targets / goals.
Provide long term strategic vision for business growth.
Indoor Games as well as Outdoor games, like Chess, Cricket,
Badminton etc..
Celebration of Employees Birthday.

Benefits:
Build satisfaction and motivation through doing something worthwhile
Increase retention
Develop new skills and enhance existing ones (such as communication
skills) with an unaccustomed audience, which may include school
children, people with disabilities, the homeless, or speakers of other
languages
Build relationships with other employees in the same department or
across the organisation
Meet a wider range of training requirements, which can be tailored
specifically to their individual career and development plans
Improve self-confidence and create a sense of enthusiasm by bringing a
project to a successful conclusion.