Comprehensive Insights on Employee Engagement, Organizational Culture, and Employee Motivation

Hello Everyone,

I am a bit confused at this point in time :( Could someone please let me know if employee engagement activities include team-building activities and activities to build the culture of the organization, or if it's much more than that? Also, what kind of activities are included?

Thanks,
Priyanka

Dear Priyanka,

Engagement is not created by activities; employees decide to engage themselves in their work based on how they are treated by management. If they are treated with great respect by management, employees will choose to become engaged.

Management does this by listening to what they have to say often enough to satisfy their need to be heard. Then management responds to what was said to the satisfaction of the employee or better, and this satisfies their need to be respected. Management at all levels must do this all the time, not just once or twice.

Once employees realize that this will always be done, they realize that they can influence everything in the workplace. This ability to influence everything begets a sense of ownership, a sense that it is their workplace just as much as it is anyone's. In a similar manner, a sense of ownership begets commitment, and that gets you engagement.

A fully engaged workforce is emotionally driven to throw everything they have at their work because they have been treated so well. In this state, they apply 100% of their brainpower to their work, meaning all of their natural creativity, innovation, and productivity, thus making them at least 300% more productive than if partially disengaged.

I hope that helps you, Ben



Leadership is a science, and so is engagement

Hello Prianka,

The objective of employee engagement is:

1) To maintain connectivity with employees.
2) To make them feel that the management empathizes with them.
3) To ensure they feel heard.
4) To make them feel they are part of the organization.
5) To enable them to contribute to the organization's goals.
6) By conducting activities that instill the above feelings, to motivate employees to be productive.

Therefore, all the activities mentioned can be considered part of employee engagement. However, it is crucial to ensure these activities do not merely become social functions or picnics, where the impact fades once the event is over. The effects of engagement activities should have a lasting impact on employees. Hence, it is essential to choose activities thoughtfully.

Best regards,
B. Saikumar
HR & Labour Law Advisor
Mumbai

Dear Priyanka,

This is in addition to what the previous two members have said. Firstly, you may refer to my past replies to the similar query. The links are as below:

https://www.citehr.com/283432-employ...ml#post1278427

https://www.citehr.com/443869-employ...ml#post2003929

Your "Employee Engagement" activities should be all-inclusive. For this, you need to treat all the departments equally. In many organizations, some departments are given undue importance. Due to this, personnel from other departments feel let down. If these people are disgruntled, how will they be motivated?

The second important point is that you should strive to create a "Culture of Justice." In many companies, employee grievances are frowned upon. Giving a chance to the lower rung of employees to vent their grievances is a perfectly democratic process. In many organizations, their voices are muzzled, and a "yes-man" culture is promoted. This is obviously counterproductive to the growth of the organization.

Ok...

Dinesh V Divekar

Hello Everyone,

I am a bit confused at this point in time :(, could someone please let me know if employee engagement activities include team-building activities and activities to build the culture of the organization or if it's much more than that, and also what kind of activities are included.

Thanks

Priyanka

Hello Ms. Priyanka,

In addition tall that so ime professional friends have shared,

I compliment it with this...

One definition say's: Employee engagement is the emotional commitment the employee has to the organization and its goals.

This emotional commitment means engaged employees actually care about their work and their company. They don’t work just for a pay cheque or just for the next promotion, or for ESOP etc., but work on behalf of the organization’s goals. When employers care—that's when the employees feel cared and get engaged—they use discretionary effort.

Employee engagement does not mean employee happiness. Someone might be happy at work, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they are working hard, productively on behalf of the organization. While company some facilities, may be beneficial for other reasons–making employees happy is different from making them engaged.

Employee engagement doesn’t mean employee satisfaction. Many companies have “employee satisfaction” surveys and executives talk about “employee satisfaction”, but the bar is set too low. A satisfied employee might show up for her daily 9-to-5 without complaint. But that same “satisfied” employee might not go the extra effort on her own, and she’ll probably take the headhunter’s call luring him/her away with a 10% bump in pay. Satisfied isn’t enough.

Engaged employees lead to ...higher service, quality, and productivity, which leads to… higher customer satisfaction, which leads to… increased sales turnover, repeat business and more referrals, which leads to…higher levels of profit, which leads to…higher returns (for all its constituent parties).

To win in the marketplace we must first win in the by having an engaged workforce.

TSK. Raman

Dear Priyanka,

This is a two-way process. Employee engagement means emotional involvement with the management, whereas the latter has to reciprocate it with transparency and concern for the workmen. This will also promote team building. For the rest, I endorse the views of my friends as above.

S.K. Johri

Something more...

To me the first step to Employee Engagement starts at the top. Front-line leaders need to be engaged first. The old adage, “employees join great companies." There is also an old adage in Indian traditions, “yadha raja thatha praja” which means “like king...like people.” This is true even now, despite all advancment. Almost all research studies of leadership shows that a key employee engagement driver is the actions of senior leaders. Leaders must demonstrate support for an engaged company culture by personally living their company’s values.

Next is to hire people with the right behaviors and traits and promote the companies vision, mission and culture. Most companies place much emphasis on one’s educational background and skills, which is a vital need indeed, but that's not all. People usually succeed or fail because of their behaviors and traits.

The cornerstone of any engagement, or any relationsip to go froward for that matter, is constant communication, so focus on good communication using the power of a robust communication plan, one that is built on clarity, consistency, and transparency.

Create feedback mechanisms that gives you the informatin needed whether to carry on or alter or amend, by asking employees what they think; what they feel. Be open to raw, unfiltered truths, and offer no defence if there is a fault.

Then link your engagement efforts to high performance. Employee engagement is not about employee satisfaction. The last thing you should want is a team of satisfied but underperforming employees.

Your philosophy should go beyond “treat people they way you want to be treated;” the new mantra is “treat people the way they want to be treated.” Customize your engagement. Create a motivational culture. Leaders cannot motivate employees long-term. Leaders must create motivational cultures with an engaged workforce where employees can flourish and motivate each other. Reinforce and reward the right behaviors. Employees are incredibly motivated by achievement, not money. Money can disengage if employees perceive unfairness.

Finally track, communicate and celeberate progress being made. Employees are no different than leadership -- for everyone wants to work for a ‘winning’ organization. Leaders need to reinforce “line of sight” by telling their employees where they’re going, how they’re performing, and where they fit in. If the employee also recognizes the imporatnce any organization that does all these things to make them feel good and wanted, then employee engagement is assured.

Dear Jabeena Begum,

You should have raised your query in a separate thread. I recommend you refer to my following reply on "Employee Motivation": https://www.citehr.com/455372-techni...ml#post2040493

Thanks,
Dinesh V Divekar

Dear P:

The moment you get your staff to feel that they are - EACH ONE OF THEM - special, that you care for them (and their families), then for them, you, your team, your organization becomes their family. The germs of ownership begin to take root, performance begins to outperform itself. Empowerment, leading to greater commitment and integrity takes hold, and you 'experience' a joyous army of associates at work. Then you just go to the nitty-gritty of do's and don'ts that you can find in HR manual/workshop/text.