Employee engagement is seen by a growing number of organisations as a key issue in measuring employee attitudes, managing the behaviours of management, developing operational and human resource policies, and establishing a strong employer brand.
The essence of employee engagement is that given the right circumstances, employees will be prepared to 'go the extra mile' in the service of their organisation, and that’s great for the bottom line; so engagement is essential, as it simultaneously satisfies the needs of the company to be successful, and the needs of the employee, for whom work should be both satisfying and rewarding.
What is employee engagement?
Some commentators emphasise the similarity of employee engagement with concepts like the ‘psychological contract’ or ‘high commitment management’, which seek to understand how bundles of operational and people management practices influence individual employee’s attitudes and behaviours and improve business performance.
Others, focus on the practical surveying techniques developed to measure the key drivers of employee engagement and establish an alignment between the day to day experience of individuals and something that captures the personality of an organisation. Referred to as the ‘employment proposition’ or ‘employer brand’ the idea is that organisations need to offer the same degree of focus, care and coherence in managing the experience of employees at work as they do in managing the customer’s experience of its brand.
A further group might also compare the concept of employee engagement with more established concepts like employee involvement, consultation and partnership. This is supported by its emphasis on a two-way relationship between employees and management and commitment to mutual benefits.
Role of management
What resonates through all these interpretations is the vital role of management. Senior managers have a top level responsibility as the principal role models in the workplace, but line management also have a critical role in delivering the content of both the big picture policy agenda and implementing local practices.
The IPA and Engagement
The IPA has been helping organisations to understand engagement and how it might benefit them and their workforces for some time. We recently published the
IPA Guide to Workforce Engagement, which you can download
here. It describes the IPA approach to engagement, answers some frequently asked questions, and includes a case study showing how one organisation has put engagement at the heart of its business.
IPA director, Nita Clarke, was also vice chair of the MacLeod Review, the report to government on the importance of engagement and how it relates to performance and productivity. The Review reported in July 2009 but Nita and David MacLeod are continuing to take the work forward with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. You can download
Nita and David's report here, or read Nita's article on the Review here.
