The involvement of the organization’s personnel in recent years has become an increasingly significant indicator of the success of an enterprise. The subject of the theory of employee engagement is finding ways for the company to be able to achieve its strategic goals and at the same time create a special climate for its employees, in which all of them (both ordinary employees, managers, and the head) will be interested in maximum return.
What is engagement theory?
In fact, it is rather difficult to give any exact definition or clearly formulate the postulates of this theory, since it is based on elementary common sense. The difficulty is also associated with the fact that for a long time, incorrect, ineffective methods and theories were used to organize managerial activities. Today, the development of practices and theories of engagement is finally guided by the real state of things and common sense.
A brief description of the theory is as follows: the main task of the organization’s leader is to create an atmosphere in the enterprise in which employees could demonstrate maximum productivity, that is, they would be present at their workplaces not only because they were obliged, but also of their own free will. Loyalty and employee engagement (VP) means the interest of employees in the work process, their dedication, initiative and responsibility.
For each leader, employees are extremely useful, who relate to their duties in the same way as an entrepreneur to his business or, as each person to personal affairs. In other words, the involvement of staff characterizes how personally employees are interested in activities that fully occupy their attention, and whether they are ready to make every effort to implement it.
Why do you need a theory of engagement?
The desire of almost any employer is ideal, productive employees, but few know how to achieve this. A theory describing staff involvement and methods for enhancing it is needed as a tool to eliminate ineffective management practices that have been ingrained for centuries.
Statistics show that a very small number of employees are fully involved in the work process. A study of employee engagement in Foggy Albion shows that, on average, only twelve percent of employees in most companies are truly interested in their activities. When it comes to European enterprises, the percentage is even lower.
In addition to defining the concept of engagement, the theory makes it possible to identify the means and course for raising this indicator. According to many modern leaders, the success of an organization depends largely on creating a corporate culture. This is a system in which the involvement of staff at all levels is supported automatically.
Value
To illustrate the importance of an indicator such as employee engagement, you can compare an enterprise with a football team. What would be the results of the games with a twelve percent involvement of players? There can be no question of any success in this area if the players are busy not with what is happening on the field, but with upcoming dates, upcoming vacations, news from the Internet and other things. Obviously, with the effective management of football teams, the principles of engagement invariably apply, although they have different names.
What actually represents employee engagement
Personnel engagement management is a set of principles, activities and techniques, a unique approach. With its help, the company management receives a staff of competent, responsible, proactive and active employees. Each of the employees involved shows sincere concern for the company in which he works. He is fully committed to the work process and makes every effort to achieve high labor efficiency.
You should be aware that the involvement of staff is always a mutual interaction, the participants of which are the employer and employee. This type of relationship becomes possible with trust and respect between them. Aiming at high VP, the head or manager of the enterprise is obliged to engage in the formation of a clear and broad communication system. He should also clearly indicate to the employees their tasks, provide them with those powers that correspond to their competence. In addition, increasing employee engagement is inseparable from comfortable working conditions and an appropriate corporate culture.
The difference between company satisfaction and engagement
Since the 70s of the last century , management theory has been constantly updated with new developments designed to improve and optimize the personnel management process. The following theories became the most interesting and widespread:
- Job satisfaction.
- Employee loyalty.
- The credentials of employees.
Their main idea is the motivation and interest of the employee in a particular company. Often these theories are confused with VP theory. This is not to say that they have nothing to do with it at all. Being combined into a single whole and supplemented by newer ideas about management, they can be elements of a fairly reliable theory of engagement. The main difference between these concepts is that, in contrast to high company satisfaction, loyalty and motivation, an increase in staff involvement leads to an improvement in such indicators:
- The quality of service and customer service.
- Product quality.
- Labor productivity.
There is also a significant reduction in the number of absenteeism, lateness and unauthorized absence from the workplace, that is, an increase in the level of employee retention.
Person involved: who is he?
So, the involvement and motivation of the staff make the employees not just people who are present at the workplace, but conscious and responsible participants in the work process. They prefer the search for new methods and ideas to optimize their activities, instead of perceiving existing rules and established methods of work as the only possible ones.
It can be argued that a truly involved employee has the following qualities:
- Absorption by work. For him, the working day is fast.
- Maintaining concentration over long periods.
- Feeling a strong emotional connection with the company.
- Passion for work (enthusiasm).
- The desire to expand the scope of its activities (flexibility).
- Adaptation to changing circumstances.
- The desire to develop work skills.
- No need for reminders and orders.
- Timely completion of tasks.
- Perseverance.
- Initiative.
- Focus on the implementation of plans, goals.
- Good faith.
- Responsibility and obligation.
- Dedication to work.
In many ways, the training of employees with such qualities becomes possible with the help of an appropriate corporate culture.
How to measure employee engagement
In order to improve any indicator, it must first be measured. When assessing phenomena that are influenced by the human factor, it can be extremely difficult to obtain reliable and objective data.
Assessment of staff involvement is carried out by specialists based on a study of the general principles of engagement formation. Knowing how this phenomenon occurs, you can evaluate it and calculate the engagement index (IW).
This technique is based on the fact that the EP includes three components:
- Participation in solving tasks of corporate importance.
- Level of interest in work in general.
- Focus on increasing your productivity, as well as the level of initiative.
All these factors of staff involvement are of great importance for calculating the IW. However, their specific gravity in the numerical indicator calculated for different companies will differ. For example, for the organization's IW with ambitious corporate tasks, the value of the first factor will become decisive. This is due to the fact that such enterprises seek to attract the majority of their employees to solve common problems. However, the subtlety lies in the fact that the optimal value of this factor in IW will not be more than 50 percent, since good ordinary employees are involved in their own labor process.
As a rule, the value of the third factor in evaluating EP is minimal. Of course, it is taken into account, but rarely exceeds 20 percent. This is not surprising, because the effectiveness of innovations depends on how they are implemented and used during the work process.
Questioning: the essence of the reception
The main source of information on the level of VP becomes a survey of company employees in any way. The most informative is the questionnaire, which can be open or anonymous at the request of the employer.
Depending on the size of the company and the size of the research, questionnaires may contain a completely different number of points. Questions are formulated in the traditional way or suggest to agree / disagree with the thesis.
The answer form may contain options (tests) or questions remain open. The nature of the answers gives an idea of the extent to which staff is committed to the organization.
Examples of key questions
There are several universal questions, the answers to which are able to give general information about the level of VP:
- Do you know what results your manager expects to see?
- Do you have the materials and equipment necessary for your work?
- Do you have the opportunity to do what you do very well every day during your working day?
- During the past week, have you been praised or given awards for quality work?
- Does your manager or employee show concern for your personal growth?
- Do you have a colleague encouraging your professional growth?
- Do your employees and manager take into account your professional opinion?
- Do you consider the statement true: thanks to the goals of the enterprise, I realize the importance of my work?
- Are your employees interested in performing work from high-quality positions?
- Do you have a friend at work?
- Have you discussed with anyone in the workplace your progress over the past six months?
- Could you learn something new and gain professional growth over the past six months?
After analyzing the data obtained, the company management makes a decision on making changes to the corporate culture and determines which methods of personnel involvement will be used (more precisely, increasing it).
What can be done to increase engagement
There are several universal methods that allow pretty soon after implementation to achieve impressive results:
- Maintaining involvement at the stage of team formation. Having the opportunity to choose, it is better to give preference to those candidates who are loyal to the company and would like to use the product. Being familiar with the products, they will be able to more flexibly and unconventionally approach unusual situations and help improve its quality. Active and involved employees influence their colleagues.
- Setting specific and clear goals. Workers who know the composition and purpose of their work responsibilities work most productively. Moreover, the general formulation will not have the desired effect. That is, the call to be the best will not work: you should clarify what privileges will follow when the result is achieved. Also, you must initially inform the team about the standards of the company, the algorithms of its work and standards of behavior.
- Timely promotion. A simple and low-cost measure, such as intangible promotion, can be extremely effective leverage to increase engagement. Recognition of the merits of the employee and his contribution to the common cause must be noted with praise, as this perfectly affects the mood of employees and their desire to work. Of course, this should not be a substitute for traditional awards: bonuses, bonuses, certificates.
- Providing each employee with the opportunity to develop. In order to maintain the interest of employees in labor activities, as well as in order to demonstrate to them the general course of the enterprise, experts recommend the organization of trainings, seminars and other public events.
At such meetings, it is recommended that attention be paid to voicing the company's future orientation, its plans and achievements. By the way, it is here that you can get good feedback from the state.
The specified methodology for staff involvement is far from a complete list, since each company chooses a strategy based on its own capabilities and tasks, since in each organization the levels of staff involvement are different.