Employee engagement is a commitment and trust that an employee has towards the company and its mission and values. Engagement of an employee towards his organisation is very important, not only for him but also for the employee. Employee engagement research highlights the engagement levels of employees in a specific company or industry, duration of engagement, consistency, and influence of supervisors and seniors in the engagement process.
Speaking from a perspective of an Oil industry from where I come, engagement research must start by measuring the nature of job of an employee. Engagement level varies as per the job description in Oil industry. An oil-driller and a cost-manager of the same oil and Gas Company would have different levels of engagement. Once the nature of the job is defined, it is necessary to analyse, measure and record their work performance, job satisfaction levels, clarity on organisation’s priorities, intent to stay in the organisation and level of contribution to the growth of the company. Once these parameters are recorded for all the employees, it must be compared and engagement level across divisions, seniority, age and gender must be made. This would provide a comprehensive view of the organisation’s current state and its future with reference to its employee’s engagement.
It is very important that the future talent pool of any organisation and industry be nurtured, trained and equipped with necessary skills and engagement levels required to excel in their organisations. Some of the major areas that need focus are imparting proper training with reference to both technical and emotional skills, developing a culture of trust and effective communication, promoting ethical ways of functioning, providing a mentor in the early stages of work, on the job training and necessary leadership skills. Engagement research must be developed in such as manner that it measures the engagement levels of old and new employees on a continuous and long-term basis. It must be made sure that employees remain unaware that their performance is being evaluated and researched; this would bring out the actual results. The data that is collected needs to be thoroughly analysed and necessary improvements suggested.
References
Ferell, O.C., Fraedrich, J., Ferell. (2011) Business Ethics: Ethical decision making and cases (pp. 4-6)
Industrial Research Institute: Culture People and Innovation. Retrieved February 07, 2014 from Industrial Research Institute Website:
http://www.iriweb.org/
Blessing White: Employee Engagement Research Report. Retrieved February 08, 2014 from
http://www.blessingwhite.com/EEE__report.asp
