Employee Engagement

I've recently been reading a fair bit about employee engagement because I'm moving to another job overseeing this for my new employer. I know some people find engagement somewhat fluffy, but there's been enough research to prove that engagement is important. Engaged employees care about the future of the company. They are involved in and are fully enthusiastic about their work. They feel a strong emotional bond to the company and will recommend it to others, thus enhancing employer branding. Committed employees perform better, are more productive and are less likely to leave the organisation. It has also been shown that high employee engagement scores have a positive impact on customer satisfaction results. So does it mean I'm not longer engaged, hence my decision to leave the current job? Well, its not that simple. Suffice it to say that its time to go after more than 13 years with my current company.

When I interviewed for my new job, they asked me to do an essay about how to enhance staff communication and engagement, as well as ensure a strong employer branding. I listed 3 areas that an organisation needs to focus on. First, effective organisational leadership is key. It 's not just having a vision, the vision has to be clearly and persuasively communicated to employees. There's also a need to be consistent in striving to achieve the vision. Second, there's a need to involve employees and value their inputs. After all, communication is a 2-way process. This is especially important for change management. We always assume that people fear change. They may not if they're consulted and know what's coming. Third, there's a need to manage the company's reputation. It's important that employees and those outside the company see the organisation as a responsible corporate citizen. If the company is not socially responsible, employees would distance themselves from the business and eventually leave. Its crucial for the organisation to proactively manage its reputation.

As you can see, communication is key to achieving success in the above 3 areas. However, there're barriers to good communication. For a start, few managers see communication as part of their job. While giving people the information and instructions they need to do their jobs is part of the manager's role, communication is still seen as soft stuff. This is regrettable as its the hardest driver of organisational performance managers have at their disposal. Second, more often than not, managers don't have good communication skills. Its one thing to talk to friends and families. Its quite another to talk to reports and superiors at work, especially all at once. Third, there tend to be limited or inappropriate communication channels. While we've come a long way from the days of having an ex-reporter churned out the company newsletter, there's still some distance to go in overcoming poor channel infrastructure, usage and management.

While the above provides a sort of blueprint for any company to ascertain if what it has is working, I'm sure it takes hard work to improve engagement. But I think I'm geared up for it, especially having done HR work for close to 10 years. To be sure, engagement is more than HR. It can be anything from how management manages to how employees embrace the company's vision. For the company I'm joining, they're relatively new to this, so I've a free rein to propose how to get things started and sustained! I must say I'm taking on this new job by faith and trusting that God will lead the way. But I've a good feeling about this ; ) It sure feels like the start of a great new phase in my life. Amen!