Employee Engagement

A simple example would be for your employees to show up to work with a sense of purpose, a deep commitment to your organization, having the will & dedication to perform well with a collaborative attitude and to exercise their ability to have good communication with co-workers & leaders which results in an open manner in which they could give & receive feedback in an positive manner which would result in a win-win situation for both employee growth and the development of your organization.

The continued negative impact of the COVID19 pandemic has resulted in deteriorating employees' working conditions, increasing psychological anxiety, and the possibility of losing their jobs (Jin et al., 2022). In such business contexts, organizations need to adopt innovative processes and tactful techniques to ensure adaptability and sustainability. Organizational innovation is a wide area covering Research & Development, Marketing, Processes, Products, and Managerial Innovation. Recognizing the influential role of employees in service industries, we have to focus mainly on employees' Innovative Work Behavior (IWB). The importance of IWB is well-established in organization and human resources management literature. Li et al. (2019) underlined that it is essentials for building organizational sustainability and achieving competitive advantages while Anderson et al. (2014) argued that organizational success is dependent on understanding the factors enhancing employees IWB.

Innovative Work Behavior

Given the importance of IWB’s for organizational success, scholars pay increasing attention to understanding its antecedents and motivational factors to understand innovativeness at individual levels (Wu et al., 2014). According to Grossan and Apaydin (2010), the factors influencing IWBs are divided into organizational (or environmental) and individual factors. The current study employs Work Life Balance and Performance Evaluations as organizational factors, and Equal Employment as individual factor to understand IWBs among Chinese millennials in the service industry.

What Is Needed For Employee Engagement

An employee’s level of engagement is tied to how they feels about their work experience, how they are treated in the organization, whether or not they feel a sense of purpose in the work they do and whether or not they feel that the organization is dedicated to an authentic vision. When it comes to work, some of these needs include technical and managerial competency, autonomy, recognition, a sense of purpose, and feeling that they are a valued member of the organization and that there work is appreciated and is rewarded in an measurable, justifiable manner.

Whether in their personal or professional lives, people have certain needs that must be met to be engaged, enthusiastic, motivated, and committed, as such they must understand that there goals will be met once the level of work expected from them is delivered. 

To make progress and move forward in their careers, employees need general managerial competency. Engaged employees will pursue opportunities for professional growth and development that will help them move forward in their careers. 

This is why making Continious Learning a part of your organization’s culture is important for maintaining of employee engagement which helps employees achieve managerial competency and fulfills the need for growth and development. Engaged employees will pursue opportunities for professional growth and development that will help them move forward in their careers and this intern will also help an organization meet its current and future need of internal talent.

-          This is also known as “Career Pathing.” This process aligns opportunities for an employee to grow and move forward in their career with the organization’s talent needs. 

-          Employee engagement can be measured by the extent to which employees feel passionate about their work and how committed they are emotionally to the organization and its mission. 

Key factors for Employee Engagement 

1.    Psychological Empowerment –

                                                                              Figure 01

Creating an environment in which employees are internally motivated which brings out the maximum potential within them which is powered by self-determination and competence this results in a huge impact on the organizations performance.  

    2.    Recognition -

Figure 02

This is an important component of any engagement strategy. There is strong evidence that suggests recognition is a great way to engage employees because it boosts self-esteem and personal competency.

Recognition is so powerful because it meets a core human need for both the employee and the manager. Meeting this need is a key aspect of a strong company culture because it increases job satisfaction, retention, performance and high quality of work.

3.    Sense of Purpose -

Figure 03

When employees have a sense of purpose and feel that the work they do is important, employee engagement increases. When employees find their work meaningful, they will feel passionate about their work and perform their duties with greater enthusiasm.

Having a shared sense of purpose with their co-workers and feeling connected to an organization’s mission, vision, and values provides a strong foundation for a high level of engagement.

However, to see a real boost in engagement, organizations should authentically demonstrate their dedication to stated core values through real, impactful actions.

4.   Work-life Balance -

Figure 04

It is well recognized that jobs have an impact on and cause stress in the personal life of those who hold them. Stress can arise as a result of work or personal pressures. Stressful conditions have been shown to have a negative impact on a person's health, both physically and psychologically. Workplace pressure, stress, or anxiety can lead to poor social behavior and vice versa. Employees should strike a healthy balance between their professional and personal lives.

Maintaining this balance will aid them in achieving their personal, professional, and organizational objectives. Alternative work arrangements, benefits, support programmers, and health programmers are all examples of work-life balanced environment.

5.    Feeling Valued -

Figure 05

Making employees feel valued is also key. When employees don’t feel valued by their higher management, they will not be as loyal to an organization that views them as expendable and easy to replace. 

Demonstrating care for employees and making them feel that the work they are doing is essential for the success of the organization will boost loyalty and engagement.

When these prerequisites are met, organizations will see more engagement among employees, which will lead to higher rates of retention, improved productivity, and increased profitability on both the long and short run.

We must also understand that there’s more to engagement than just understanding employee needs. Leaders also need to understand the different facets of worker engagement in order to determine how best to meet their individual needs as they will differ from person to person.

Conclusion

References

Jin S., Li Y., Xiao S. (2022). What drives employees' innovative behaviors in emerging-market multinationals? An integrated approach. Front. Psychol. 12, 803681. 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.803681 

Available at : https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.803681/full

[Accessed 17 March 2024]

 

Li XW, Du JG, Long HY (2019) Dynamic analysis of international green behavior from the perspective of the mapping knowledge domain. Environ Sci Pollut Res 26(6):6087–6098 

Available at  : https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11356-018-04090-1

[Accessed 17 March 2024]

 

Anderson L. , et al. , MNRAS,2014, vol. 439 pg. 83

Available at : https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260275534_Innovation_and_Creativity_in_Organizations_A_State-of-the-Science_Review_Prospective_Commentary_and_Guiding_Framework

[Accessed 18 March 2024]

 

Wu, C. H., Parker, S. K., and de Jong, J. P. J. (2014). Need for cognition as an antecedent of individual innovation behavior. J. Manage. 40, 1511–1534. doi: 10.1177/0149206311429862

Available at : https://eprints.lse.ac.uk/51769/

[Accessed 17 March 2024]

 

Crossan, M. M., & Apaydin, M. (2010). A multi-dimensional framework of organizational innovation: A systematic review of the literature. Journal of Management Studies, 47(6), 1154–1191

Available at : .https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6486.2009.00880.x

[Accessed 17 March 2024]