Employee Engagement – Last Part – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #690

Employee Engagement – Last Part – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #690

Dear Colleagues!  This is Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #690 for Pharma Veterans. Pharma Veterans welcome sharing of knowledge and wisdom by Veterans for the benefit of Community at large. Pharma Veterans Blog is published by Asrar Qureshi on  WordPress, the top blog site. Please email to asrar@asrarqureshi.com for publishing your contributions here.

Photo Credit: Ivan Samkov

Photo Credit: Ron Lach

Sum Up and Recommendations for Improving Employee Engagement

In the preceding posts, I have presented evidence from multiple sources which not just shows the importance, but also quantifies the gains and losses. It is established beyond any doubt that having an engaged workforce is a winning proposition. The argument against this evidence may be that even those organizations who have poor record on engagement also keep growing. It is a fair argument to the extent of outcome, however, what is not mentioned is the wastage of resources (especially time), and extra effort which is done deliberately in that process. The growth will be even better, and at a lower cost, if engagement is promoted. The dilemma for small businesses is that they are started by individuals, most of whom do not have good education. They work very hard for years to survive and grow and reach a certain position. Their employees do not have the same motivation, and this makes the entrepreneurs jittery and upset and hard and abusive. The sentence that ‘I can do it in 20 minutes, why do you take 2 hours’ is an expression of the same exasperation. Employee engagement concept and principles are totally lost here. Medium to large size businesses and organizations are better placed to practice employee engagement. They have bigger stakes also.

Engagement tools are common, but engagement strategy will be customized for every corporate and business. Following are the essential components.

Have a Documented Strategy

It all starts with understanding and commitment from the top. If yes, then the corporate should have a documented strategy, outlining the measures that would be taken. Who will be the core group that will design, execute, and lead the effort? Who will monitor and evaluate the outcome? It is better to have participation from all functions and departments to gain greater ownership. The first task to be performed should preferably be climate/ engagement survey to assess the present level, opinions, perception, beliefs, and drives. The benefits of documented strategy are that it stays on track, and it moves ahead in incremental steps.

Engagement is not a switch on/switch off kind of thing. It takes time to inculcate it and takes effort to sustain it. 

Start from Onboarding

Well begun is half done is true here also. A good onboarding, according to SHRM, may be effective enough to spark a strong connection and understanding of culture from the start. This will impact the longevity of an employee’s tenure for up to three years.

First day at the job, at all levels, is important for the new joiner as well for her/his staff and coworkers. Impressions are made which last. Senior Managers use first few days of their joining to create the impression of their desire. 

Onboarding includes orientation about organization, its working, its culture, and objectives. This knowledge helps the incoming person to customize her/his plans. The material part is making required items such as computer, stationery, email ID, employee card available on the first day. 

Promote Learning and Development

Gallup has done groundbreaking work in the area of understanding employee engagement through its extensive surveys. Their famous Q12 questionnaire consists of 12 items, out of which 6 are related to learning and development. Their finding is that people remain engaged if they feel they are learning and developing. When this perception stops, the engagement falls down sharply. The evidence is clear: employees of larger, better organized companies accept lot of stress because they know they will develop in the process; employees of less organized companies do not expect to learn much and leave early.

Continuous learning and development benefits both; employees and the corporate. Whatever people learn, is used for the benefit of the corporate.

Include Everyone

DEI – Diversity, Equality, Inclusivity, is the buzzword of today. In its entirety, the concept is to get rid of all kinds of discrimination from the workplace, be it race, gender, ethnicity, orientation, or else. In Pakistan, we do not have different races, but we have plenty of other discriminations. Our patriarchal mentality stops us from including women, and our feudal thinking restricts us from mixing with lower ranks. Our networking remains patchy and incomplete. It is mandatory to include everyone to promote engagement. It is impossible to first create islands of various types and then try to connect them together through engagement. Including everyone is a primary step towards the goal of engagement.

Inculcate Respect and Recognition

Both respect and recognition are in short supply in most organizations. Disrespect is common behavior displayed by the bosses and seniors. Smarp reported that 69% employees would work harder if they were better appreciated. SHRM reports that 79% people leave because they feel unappreciated at work. 

Performance management tools are effective in recognizing performance. Performance appraisal interviews are a good opportunity to appreciate good work. Quality of performance appraisals leaves much to be desired in depth and impartiality. Having said that, the system must be improved and strengthened, not abandoned.

Provide Required Support

A common issue faced by the employees is lack of support. Service departments like Admin, IT, Finance, Supply Chain must provide excellent service to all staff so that they feel at ease and focus on their work. Unfortunately, many organizations do not understand this. Rather, finance, supply chain and admin are under direct control of the top boss, consider themselves above the rest, and fail to provide desired services. Availability of required services on time is a great boost for morale, promotes sense of belonging, and enhances engagement.

Encourage Innovation and Experimentation

Google employees can spend up to 15% of their office time in working on personal projects which are innovative. It is a huge support to motivate innovation, experimentation, and promotes engagement. The questions often raised is that in our business, everything is set already and probably there is no space for innovation. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Innovation does not mean doing something out of this world, it is largely about finding better ways of doing the same things. This is always needed.

Managers are the Key

Gallup’s and other research show that managers are the key link in the engagement or disengagement process. In fact, all the points above are related to managers, and many to direct reporting managers. Managers will do happy onboarding, they will create environment for learning and development, they will recognize and appreciate, they will include everyone, they will give space and encouragement for innovation, and they will arrange all required support. The organization must focus on the managers to enhance engagement. 

Conclusion

This concludes our discussion on employee engagement. We have seen the benefits of high level of engagement, problems of disengagement, factors promoting or hurting engagement, and finally recommendations to increase engagement.

Do share what is the engagement situation in your organization.

Do share what are you doing to increase engagement.

Concluded.

Disclaimer. Most pictures in these blogs are taken from Google Images which does not show anyone’s copyright claim. However, if any such claim is presented, we shall remove the image with suitable regrets.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319262606_Antecedents_and_consequences_of_employee_engagement_Evidence_from_corporate_sector_of_Pakistan 

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259569743_Determinants_of_Employee_Engagement_in_Service_Sector_of_Pakistan 

25 Astonishing Employee Engagement Statistics for 2022 (techjury.net)

10 of the Best Employee Engagement Statistics for 2022 (mambo.io)

20 Employee Engagement Statistics That Impact Your Business (quantumworkplace.com)