Employees are the building blocks of an organization. It is only in the availability of a strong foundation that an organization can sustain the highly competitive environment of the market. Also, employee engagement is the key to achieve desired foundational strength which enables an organization to bear all tremors and climb the ladder of success. This article steers through the concept of employee engagement and also highlights the role of engaged employees in ensuring a balanced work environment.
What is employee engagement?
Employees are said to be the ‘lifeblood of an organization’. It is in the presence of extremely passionate and dedicated employees that an organization takes powerful strides of achievement. Employee engagement is a measure of the extent to which the employees display such traits of engrossment, towards their work as well at the workplace. Additionally, engaged employees are really concerned about the overall growth of the organization. They also realize that their performance is in direct proportion with the success rates of the organization. Thus, they work in a highly meticulous, diligent and zealous manner. This is the reason, they devote their life and soul to their workplace and are constantly driven by their passion to work. Further, a highly engaged employee never steps back from putting all the extra efforts which can yield better results for the organization as a whole. Therefore, it is really important for the management of an organization to devise ways of employee engagement.
How can we keep employees engaged?
· 1. Hire as per motivational fit:
Passion is the driving force which excites a person to work on something. It is a well known fact that a person does not need an external motivation to work on something which he is passionate about. Similarly, employees perform better when they get an opportunity to pursue a field of career, which interests them the most. This implies that recruiters must hire employees as per the person's motivational fit. By doing this, the management promotes employee engagement as the employees remain self-motivated to do their work with perfection.
· 2. Follow reward and appreciation strategy:
It is necessary to appreciate the employees for their good work. This is because little tokens of appreciation give a big boost to the employee’s morale. Thus, the employees can be kept motivated and engaged through simple words of appreciation. Moreover, one can also utilize the reward strategy to ensure high spirits of work in employees. This can include a sponsored dinner outing, an annual award and paid trips as these form the most alluring rewards, through which an employer can achieve the target of high employee engagement.
· 3. Give a sense of belongingness:
Employees put their best foot forward at work when they feel a sense of belongingness towards the workplace. In order to instill a sense of inclusion, the employees must be treated in a highly respected manner. The management must take a good care of all the basic needs of the employees which includes their emotional as well as promotional needs. Therefore, it is essential to supplement the workers with an emotionally healthy environment along with providing them with basic facilities such as availability of washrooms, clean water for drinking and a hygienic place to eat.
· 4. Special behavior on special days:
Employees deserve to be treated in a special manner on their special days such as birthdays and wedding anniversaries. Extending warm wishes along with small gifts such as bouquets and birthday cakes can serve as an impetus to achieve high rates of employee engagement. Therefore, there should be an appropriate provision to make the employee feel really important, by making their special days even more special for them.
How can engaged employees lead to a balanced work environment?
1. Assurance of a happy work culture:
Engaged employees are extremely happy in being a part of the organization. Moreover, happiness is said to be highly contagious in nature, because it is believed to be a wave of energy which travels from one person to another. Therefore, engaged employees transmit waves of happiness to other employees as well. This breeds a lighthearted environment in the organization, which further promotes a happy work culture. Moreover, engaged employees try hard to uplift the energy of their colleagues who feel low.
They use words of appreciation to inspire their colleagues to work in an even better manner. Further, engaged employees also possess the skills of self- improvement which help them boost their work performance. This gives them another reason to rejoice, which again contributes to the creation of a happy work culture.
2. Production of optimistic employees:
‘Optimism’ is a personality trait which helps a person to convert impossible into possible. Engaged employees have a highly optimistic personality. They see failures as stepping stones to success. Thus, they remain engrossed in their work, unaffected by the failures they encounter. It is because of their unwavering optimism that they ultimately covert their failures into success.
3. Practice of teamwork
It has been well said by Ratan Tata, ‘If you want to walk fast, walk alone. If you want to walk far, walk together.’ This statement clearly highlights the importance of teamwork in unlocking the door to success. It is always an engaged employee who acts as a team player. This is because engaged employees serve the organization in a selfless manner, which prevents them from entering into an internal competition with their fellow colleagues. Thus, they enjoy working in teams and also inspire other employees to work together in a synchronized manner.
4. High productivity throughout:
Engaged employees enjoy working on the tasks which are assigned to them. They do not feel burdened by work, rather they are self-motivated to surpass any obstacle which hinders their progress. To every engaged employee, challenges appear as opportunities for growth. Thus, they unleash all their potential to overcome the challenges and yield better results than expected. This leads to the development of a problem-solving attitude which makes them ever ready to devise fruitful solutions to all work-related problems. Therefore, engaged employees display a high level of productivity, even in the most challenging of the situations.
To conclude employee engagement can assertively bring positive transformations in the work culture of an organization. Therefore, an organization should practice the above mentioned ways to ensure high employee engagement and enable its growth charts to soar high in terms of success.
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