Employee Engagement Importance During A Pandemic

Happiness is definitely part of the formula for successful employee engagement, but there are many other elements to consider as well. For example, a happy employee can cheerfully turn up to work and get on with the tasks of their job, but still put not put any extra effort into their role, or care about the overall success of the company. You need your employees to feel an emotional commitment to the business and its goals. This is one of the key drivers of employee engagement.

Kahn (1990: 894) defined employee engagement as ‘the harnessing of organization members’ selves to their work roles; in engagement, people employ and express themselves physically, cognitively, and emotionally during role performances’. There have been dozens of definitions since the explosion of interest in the concept during the 2000s. Harter et al (2002: 269) stated that engagement was ‘the individual’s involvement and satisfaction with as well as enthusiasm for work. A later definition was produced by Macey et al (2009: 7) who defined engagement as ‘an individual’s purpose and focused energy, evident to others in the display of personal initiative, adaptability, effort, and persistence directed towards organizational goals’.

Definition 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 paycheck, or just for the next promotion, but work on behalf of the organization's goals.

Employee Engagement Importance: The New Rules?

If the way that employees think about their work has changed, what does that mean for the effectiveness of current employee engagement strategies?

It maybe time for organizations to go back to basics. Whenever there has been a substantial change, organizations tend to adapt their tactics to achieve the same results in different ways. Engage For Success states that there are four key employee engagement priorities during the period of change: good communication; trust; transparency; and empowerment. These are all fundamental elements that feed into the psychological contract between the employee and employer. Employee engagement is important because it supports and grows the positive aspects of the employee-employer relationship.

Employee engagement initiatives need to be reviewed following transitions such as those caused by the pandemic. Some questions to ask include:

• Is the organization really communicating with its employees regularly? Are its communications meaningful, rather than just platitudes?
• Is the organization showing its trustworthiness by ensuring that employees feel safe while ways of working change around them?
• Is the organization honest enough to say that it doesn't have an answer, but is working hard to find a solution? Does it show trust in its employees by asking them to solve problems alongside them?
• What is the impact of leadership on employee engagement during periods of change and recovery? Why is employee engagement important for organizations in their sector, and what can they do that is better?

 

Conclusion

Although many organizations have faced challenges in adjusting their management styles during COVID-19, lessons learned about employee engagement will bring about positive changes in employee mindsets. The development of emotional connections between employees and their place of work, post-COVID, will lead to lower employee turnover, improved productivity, and motivation. Fostering these connections requires a commitment from senior management.

 

Reference

Kahn, W A (1990) Psychological conditions of personal engagement and disengagement at work, Academy of Management Journal.

Harter, J K, Schmidt, F L and Hayes, T L (2002) Business-unit level relationship between employee satisfaction, employee engagement, and business outcomes: a a meta-analysis, Journal of Applied Psychology.

https://www.talkfreely.com/blog/why-is-employee-engagement-important.