The institutional operations continue to be sophisticated and bound in complex ways that are a bit difficult to understand. In many corporate societies, the idea of collaboration among employees has been spearheaded by the management as a way to consolidate the support and unite the employees within the organization. Several companies have applied the concept of employee engagement as a tool to understand quickly the nature of employee activities and get the best of them regarding service delivery to the company. It is appalling that for many years employers did not regard the concept of employee engagement as a weapon for successful organization management. Due to the broader approaches that many managers apply regarding the employee handling, it is apparent that there has been a gap left in infusing the mentality of togetherness (Custers, 2012). However, over the recent years employers have found it increasingly necessary to inculcate the employee engagement programs into the general management programs within their jurisdiction. Given the action, it is evident that employers equally appreciate the importance of employee engagement within the companies.
Many scholars have argued for the concept of employee engagement. As affirmed by many scholars, employee engagement is the best way to get the best out of the organization’s employees (Custers, 2012). In the context of success, they find it necessary for employers to embrace the concept. As asserted by many, different managers use different approaches to achieving employee engagement. But, as put by others, the success of an approach is a combination of very many factors that are sometimes very complex and sophisticated. Such sophistication thus requires that managers are equipped with the necessary skills that will help them identify the best approach that will yield the outcome regarding employee management. In the recent years, many studies have been conducted to understand the enablers of employee engagement. Additionally, there has been the necessity to understand how certain actions of the management can be detrimental to employee engagement or can act a success factor (Custers, 2012). For many centuries, the labor market has been entangled in a tag of war between employees and the employers who each accuse each other of giving little towards the achievement of the common goal.
It is paramount to understand that such entanglement has been a useful weapon in shaping the employer-employee relationship over the recent past. As many employees still demonstrate for their rights, prudent employers recruit managers with high levels of managerial skills that enable them to appreciate the change in mentality and approach towards management and other services that accompany the management activities. There is also sophistication in the understanding of indicators of success in employee engagement. There are variations in the in the approaches that every company deploys towards achieving employee engagement. As employers and managers continually begin to understand the importance of employee engagement, several questions arise as a result of the efforts to appreciate employee engagement (Custers, 2012). Several positive returns are directly realized as a result of successful employee engagement. However, the results are linked to certain enablers of success in employee engagement.
As asserted by management experts, the key enablers of engagement are strategic narrative, employee voice, the integrity as well as engaging the managers (MacLeod & Clarke, 2010). It is paramount to note that numerous approaches can be applied towards the course so are the definitions of the word engagement. Some factors constitute the engagement process. Mostly, behavioral tendencies and attitudes are critical when it comes to the process of employee engagement. In this context, participation can be viewed in terms behavior and attitude so as to understand the behavioral and attitudinal aspects of staff and employers that have a direct influence on the engagement process. In many cases of employee engagement, the enablers of an engagement play critical role in creating the environment that favors the orientations towards the management of employee affairs with the aim of directing their energy towards achieving the goals of the organization (Brajer-Marczak, 2014). It is paramount that many managers get to understand that attitude can be an impediment to achieving the desired levels of engagement in the organization and thus should formulate the ways in which employees can be managed regarding attitude.
There are several aspects of attitude that are a determinant of the efforts an employee puts towards the organization goals. Such manifestations come in the form of commitment and job satisfaction. Behavior also manifests in the form of willingness to put extra efforts towards the achievement of the organizational goals (Brajer-Marczak, 2014). All these factors must be well understood by the management to help create the culture of engagement within the organization. Given the enablers of engagement, it important to focus on how these enablers influence the process of employee engagement in the organization so as to be able to understand how the challenges encountered in the process can be handled effectively to help yield optimal output and result.
Enablers of Engagement
The enablers have often been depicted as the main factors that determine the success of an engagement. Below, we look into the ways in which the enablers influence the process of employee engagement.
Strategic narrative
The strategic narrative is demonstrated well by the organizational culture. In many cases, it is considered a strong organizational culture and as such exhibits elements of transparency. It defines the leadership functions in the setting of the engagement narrative and strategy. It also ensures that the employees are made to understand the engagement narrative and how they can contribute to the same (MacLeod & Clarke, 2010). In this respect, the employees get to have their efforts incorporated into the system and strategy from an early point in the employment so that it becomes part of the culture he/she adopts. Several questions arise as a result of the set organizational culture. The requirement of every organizational culture is that the employees are conversant and obedient to the culture set within. They are thus expected to promote the organizational culture and share in the values presented by the cultures. Therefore, the employee is expected to conform often to the set values as well as identify with the values shared by the employer.
When employees agree to identify with the values projected by the employer, the outcome is always manifested in the underlying strategic narrative and how well the employee understands the narrative (MacLeod & Clarke, 2010). Creation of such understanding can be useful. The narrative gives the employees the line of sight through which they are expected to conduct themselves. It offers an understanding of the visions of the organization against the roles of the employees as stipulated in their services. Such values are a representation of certain fits that organizations attempt to impose on the employees.
Engaging managers
It is important for managers to be engaged in ways that help them offer clarity. Managers should always purpose to appreciate the contributions made by the employees in the organization. In this regard, managers are to foster the culture of respect and healthy work environment that benefits all the parties involved thus makes it easy to understand the culture of the workplace. Managers should also ensure that employees and other affiliate figures of the organization feel valued in their duties as well as being appreciated (MacLeod & Clarke, 2010). In this enabler, the manager should be able to empower the employee or facilitate them in a bid to ensure that they feel acknowledged and respected. It is important that managers that managers find it appropriate to accord staff fairness in the handing of their affairs.
As an enabler of employee engagement, it is prudent for managers to handle their employees with a show of concern for their wellbeing. Such concerns have always lifted the spirits of employees who find it good to work with the in such environments. In many cases, employees have shown gratitude to managers who in equal measure have been able to show respect to them. Employees find pride in managers who engage them in the most respectable manner. Engaging managers are considered to offer managerial values to the employees by creating a culture of appreciation and gratitude in the workplace (MacLeod & Clarke, 2010). These managers make it very easy to get the best out of the staff and thus limit disgruntlement. In a bid to get the optimal out of employees, employees always want their wellbeing to be considered a serious factor that must be factored in the plans of managers. It will ensure that managers also have their way in helping the employees put maximum efforts in the organization and towards achieving the set goals. To successfully engage employees, managers must have an understanding of their behavior as well as the approaches necessary to achieve the goals. However, the strategies and actions taken by the manager should always be aimed at ensuring that employees are supported.
Employee voice
Every employee deserves to be given audience no matter how less significant their views might be regarded. The kind of employee engagement enabler requires that the views of workers are often sought out. On the above enabler, it is important to employers and the management to ensure that the opinions of employees are always taken into consideration. The organization should show elements and tolerance to the views of the employees and respond in ways that tend to lift the morale of workers (Brajer-Marczak, 2014). The enabler is often served through proper communication structures that must be spelled out by the organization. The manager and the employer must also encourage the culture of employee engagement in certain decision-making processes. The decision-making process in the organization should not be an individual show of aptitude and supremacy. Managers should always find it very easy to have their employees cast their opinions on matters that affect their welfare as opposed to draconian approaches where the management craves to make all the decisions in the organization. It is prudent that the organization take advantage of the divergent views presented by employees to make an informed decision and an extensive one (Brajer-Marczak, 2014).
Integrity
In a proper engaging environment, the employee must be given the reason to believe that the organization observes and lives its values as well as adherence to the behavioral values. It will result in trust, and every employee will give maximum effort in helping the organization achieve its goals (Brajer-Marczak, 2014). When the gap between reality and stated values widens, it becomes the culture of distrust sets in the organization. It eventually leads to disengagement.
Benefits of employ engagement
Increased productivity-the employees are always very productive when engaged in ways that foster respect in the organization. Such ways will ensure that they put in their best towards achieving the organizational goals.
Work ethics- engaging employees helps to foster proper work ethics in the organization as every party strives to adhere to the organizational values as well as set culture (Brajer-Marczak, 2014). It will enable the employees as well as employers to have a middle ground for solving disputes thus limiting them.
Better decision making-engaging the employees by offering them the audience and taking into account their points of view regarding a particular issue can lead to better decisions being made (Custers, 2012). Therefore, the organization benefits from all-inclusive decisions that tend to nurture unity within the organization.
Conclusion
Employee engagement has been found to the best approach towards achieving the organization goals. Proper engagement enablers are critical in ensuring the employees are engaged in an appropriate and respectful manner that upholds the integrity of the organization as well as offer tentative solutions to the decision-making models. Employees are a critical part of organizations thus; their contributions cannot be wished away. Engaging them will always ensure that the work environment is conducive to all the stakeholders. Using the discussed enablers of engagement, managers and employers should exercise the requirement and the virtues spelled out in the enablers to help realize the ultimate goals of the organization.
References
Brajer-Marczak, R. (2014). Employee engagement in continuous improvement of processes. Management, 18(2).
Custers, M. (2012). Rethinking existing HR technologies for new gains in employee engagement and benefits. Compensation & Benefits Review, 44(6), 332–335
MacLeod, D., & Clarke, N. (2010). Leadership and employee engagement: Passing fad or a new way of doing business? International Journal of Leadership in Public Services, 6(4), 26–30.
