Employee engagement has been defined as an approach that ensures employees are motivated and committed to the organisation’s goals and values. That is, it’s about people who are involved in, enthusiastic about and committed to their work and who contribute to their organisation in a positive manner. Or if you prefer, it’s about people coming to work mentally as well as physically! So popular is the subject that there’s no shortage of Human Resource (HR) consultants nowadays extolling the merits of ‘employee engagement’, whilst offering their ‘engagement’ services for the creation of employees that will boost organisational performance.

Engagement is Wasteful

However, more independent sources are somewhat sceptical about the existence and advantages of ‘engagement’, arguing that it’s a fad with little basis in theory or research. In support of this scepticism, the U.S.-based HR Today think-tank reports that lots of HR experts are perplexed by the paradox whereby a billion dollars are spent annually (in the U.S.) on employee engagement programmes, but less than a third of workers adjudge themselves to be engaged at work.

Little wonder then that even otherwise progressive, people-focused organisations question the point of sizeable investments in such an ephemeral notion. Furthermore, time-consuming and sizeable engagement expenditure on employee surveys and engagement software bearing false promises of increased performance do little to enhance the already dubious status of many HR departments. Add to the mix the arrival of what some label the ‘snowflake generation’, as the workplace is populated with Millennials who are notorious for leaving jobs sooner rather than later, the question on many minds is: Can employee engagement really be worth the investment?

Engagement is Necessary

Clearly, for many, the answer to this question is ‘YES’. For example, the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development’s (CIPD) 2018 ‘Human Resource (H.R.) Practices in Ireland’ survey found that organisations are now placing a greater emphasis on improving and maintaining levels of employee engagement, with more than half of the organisations surveyed revealing that employee engagement is the top strategic priority for HR. This is understandable given the Gallup Organisation’s research finding that: ‘The average working population ratio of engaged to actively disengaged employees is near 2:1’, whilst the cost to US employers is more than $300 billion in lost productivity. Gallup’s successive surveys on the topic over a 30 year period – spanning a large number of employees, entities and jurisdictions – with an eye to the impact on customer satisfaction levels, staff turnover rates, productivity and profitability - has led the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development to conclude that: ‘put crudely, the happier a workforce is, the better the service it tends to provide to its customers and the more profitable the business unit tends to be’. For example, according to Gallup, those businesses that have highly engaged teams experience a 20 per cent lift in employee productivity, whilst the Workforce Institute on Absenteeism, reports a drop in absence levels of 41 per cent in those organisations where teams were engaged in their work. Gallup’s extensive research in the area has also concluded that: ‘Actively disengaged employees erode an organization’s bottom line while breaking the spirits of colleagues in the process’,  as they view disengagement as a cancer spreading through the workforce that must be cured if the entity is to survive and thrive.

What To Do?

From an Irish perspective, available survey results are far from encouraging. In 2013 Gallup found that almost 85 per cent of Irish workers are not engaged (or are ‘actively disengaged’).  However, the good news about employee engagement is that when organisations actively pursue this goal, engagement levels have risen to a ratio of 9:1 employees, with concurrent improvements for the organisation’s success criteria. There are a range of practices that Gallup and others have found to be effective in this search for success:

1. See ‘engagement’ as more than a once-off activity. Hence, all interactions, from the moment the job application arrives, right through to subsequent day-to-day experiences on the job, should enable employee engagement. This has major implications for the identification, application and development of core values and competencies at work, as management live the reality that ‘what gets done is as important as how it gets done’.

2. Clearly define the organisation’s vision and the role of each employee in bringing this to reality. Ideally, one would involve the staff in the key decisions and associated planning to bring the entity’s aim(s) to fruition. This means ensuring that the goals of the business are aligned with the employee’s goals, in a process that glues the strategic objectives of the employee and the business together. Such a participative approach also enables shared values and guiding principles, which are important if the workforce is to really perform in an environment that reinforces those values and beliefs. Employees tend to be more effective in organisations where their personal values are in sync with the organisation's stated values and guiding principles. It is a process that includes giving employees what they need to play their part, whilst considering their wants in a fair and reasonable way (e.g. training, support). By acting fairly and respectfully, one can create and maintain the all-important staff-management trust factor.

3. Employee engagement also entails communicating well and often. The importance of communication in a volatile and\or rapidly changing environment should not be underestimated. Timely communication is crucial to countering the grapevine, so that people know what’s happening, thus reducing anxiety about an uncertain future.

4. Of course, directly related thereto is the role of the employee's direct manager. As the saying goes, ‘people don’t leave jobs, they leave people’. Hence, the case for a supervisor\team leader\manager with the requisite ‘people skills’, who can relate effectively to his\her staff, who demonstrates that they are personally interested in and care about them and who elicit and (as appropriate) act on employee inputs\opinions, are key to effective employee engagement. As the C.I.P.D.’s 2018 ‘Human Resource Practices in Ireland’ survey reported, the role of line manager in fostering engagement is critical, with 93 per cent of organisations making use of a line manager open door policy.

5. Whether we like it or not, that intimidating word ‘neuroscience’ is now part and parcel of the progressive HR practitioner’s terminology.  Making it real, it contends that the more safe and secure the work environment is, the more likely that staff are going to engage, dare to innovate and learn. But if staff feel threatened, given a ‘flight or fight’ choice, it is understandable that they would avail of the tight labour market conditions and take flight.

6. Create a coaching culture that accommodates feedback as an ongoing practice. That is, don’t wait for the ‘dreaded appraisal’ review to say ‘thanks’. Related thereto, as Britain’s most successful sports’ manager Sir Alex Ferguson put it: ‘Well done. Those are the best two words in football.’ And even if you’ve no time for Ferguson or football, the evidence is clear and convincing, that the optimal ratio of positive feedback to (constructive) criticism stand at 4:1. So don’t hold back on the praise! As the worldwide management consulting firm McKinsey found, praise from immediate supervisors and attention from company leaders are just as - or more - important than financial rewards.

7. Consult, devise and then implement a reward and recognition or incentive programme. Properly constructed incentive plans – that have been built with the employees’ input, are cost-effective and are jointly monitored - can motivate and engage employees. The longstanding International Society of Performance Improvement has found that incentives can improve both individual and team performance significantly. They can also attract high potential employees who are more likely to stay when such programmes are in situ. Related thereto, whilst employee engagement is ultimately about business results, where those results give rise to real rewards, employees are more likely to be engaged.

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Note: Dr. Gerry McMahon is delivering two of Legal-Island's practical workshop events in May:

Successful Negotiating Skills: Getting to Yes (3rd May 2018, Radisson Blu Hotel, Dublin Airport)

Successful Selection Interviewing (30th May 2018, Radisson Blu Hotel, Dublin Airport)