Employee engagement for organizational sustainability
It is refecting most of the companies tries to build a culture and environment where the company values goals and activities are designed to engage with the company employees. It has been recognized as a critical driver to success (Allen, 2014). When the employees are committed and engaged in their work, it naturally provides a path for organizations to achieve a competitive advantage further When an organization has efficient employee engagement methods Employees, tend not to leave an organization, and the productivity of these employees are high. Due to these reasons, it is more common to see that organizations invest substantially in policies and practices to encourage employees to adapt to the organization substantially in policies and practices irrespective of the organization's size (Vance, 2006).
According to research, many leaders have been recognized the importance of engagement though three-quarters of the surveyed employees claimed that most employees are not highly engaged in organizational discussion or work. There is a noticeable gap between the views of executive managers and middle managers when it comes to employee engagement further Top management is more positive of the employee engagement available as top management gets the sense of frontline workers’ engagement through their middle management engagement (The Impact of Employee Engagement on Performance, 2013)
Studies shows, providing a rewarding
environment and financial benefits can enhance employee
engagement(approximately 69%); however, only 25% of participants showed that
respective employers considered rewards to the sustainability performance,
Further nonexecutive employees do not have the same attitude toward corporate
sustainability as the organization’s leaders as nonexecutive employees tend to
lean only toward the allocated work and responsibilities as these employees do
not have an understanding of this particular area due to the lack of exposure
and benefits that will be available through the cooperate sustainability. (Felo,
Merriman, Sen and Litzky, 2014)
I am attached to a leading Sri
Lankan telecommunications partner who is the market leader of the respective
industry as the market leader. The company has recognized the importance of
employee engagement to sustain the business. I experienced many
employee engagement programs throughout the year in the respective
organization. As an ever-evolving industry, the company is always open to new
ideas and willing to listen to their employees to improve their products and
services to protect sustainability. For the same annual employee engagement
survey conducted by the Axiata Group
According to the Supplier and
Employee Engagement Surveys 2019 conducted by the writer's organisation,
insights about shared areas were found,
● Supplier perceptions of the Company
● Effectiveness of company communication with supplier
● Ethics and conduct of Dialog and its
staff
● Effectiveness of company supplier
relationship management
● Process efficiencies and areas for
improvement
(Sustainability Report 2019, 2020)
Through these findings, the company
has recognized the areas that need to be improved. This is is a classic example
of how employee engagement helps an organization to achieve corporate
sustainability. Further respective company has recognized the below-shared
areas through the survey that they have conducted.
● Procurement Process and Policies
● Purchase Request to Purchase Order
Process
● Supply Chain Management Staff
As the leading telecommunication
provider in the country, the author's organization has taken many steps to
recognize the imperfections and things to be improved via engaging with its
employees, which is eventually help to achieve cooperate sustainability.
In conclusion, most modern
organizations seem to recognize the importance of employee engagement for
organizational sustainability. Employee engagement brings insights that are
really helpful to recognize the improvement areas. It helps keep the employees
informed about the corporate goal and include them in the decision-making
process.
List of references
Allen, M., 2014. Employee
Engagement – A Culture Change. [ebook] Available at:
<https://www.insights.com/media/1091/employee-engagement-a-culture-change.pdf>
[Accessed 6 November 2021].
Felo, A., Merriman, K., Sen, S. and Litzky, B., 2014. Increasing Employee Engagement in
Organizational Sustainability Efforts. [ebook] Available at:
<https://www.researchgate.net/publication/235264272_Talent_Management_Strategy_of_Employee_Engagement_in_Indian_ITES_Employees_Key_to_Retention>
[Accessed 11 November 2021].
Hbr.org. 2013. The
Impact of Employee Engagement on Performance. [ebook] Available at:
<https://hbr.org/resources/pdfs/comm/achievers/hbr_achievers_report_sep13.pdf>
[Accessed 7 November 2021].
Spencer, J., 2020. Research:
Employee Retention a Bigger Problem Than Hiring for Small Business.
[online] Workest. Available at:
<https://www.zenefits.com/workest/employee-turnover-infographic/> [Accessed
11 November 2021].
Vance, R., 2006. Employee Engagement and Commitment. [ebook] Shrm.org. Available at: <https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/trends-and-forecasting/special-reports-and-expert-views/documents/employee-engagement-commitment.pdf> [Accessed 6 November 2021].
Dialog.lk. 2020. Sustainability
Report 2019. [online] Available at:
<https://www.dialog.lk/dialogdocroot/content/pdf/sustainability_reports/sustainability-report-2019.pdf>
[Accessed 11 November 2021].
Hi Surangi, You have well identified the subject matter. Further, Driving an “Engagement Culture” is the essential foundation to build an organisations employee engagement initiative. Organisations must use the findings from their engagement surveys to identify the key factors that drive engagement & organisational KPIs in their context and then pick the ones that are of the highest importance to the business to design engagement initiatives around those specific items (Vance, 2006). Employee engagement is achieved when an employee’s enthusiasm for work is stimulated and directed towards the organisation’s success (Armstrong, 2009).
ReplyDeleteHi surangi, agree with you, adding to your points, The confusion about the meaning of engagement, can be attributed to 'bottom-up' manner in which the engagement notion has quickly evolved within the practitioner community. this bottom-up method that flourishes in business is not only at odds with the top-down academic approach that requires clear and unambiguous definition of the term, but it also hampers the understanding of work engagement for practical purposes.(Macey and Schneider, 2008).
ReplyDeleteHi Surangi. Adding more to your points, Employee engagement is seen as a motivational factor towards organization’s achieving its objectives. The good environment that is offered to the worker enables him to offer the best that the organization needs for its achievement of goals and objectives (Paluku, 2016).
ReplyDeleteAgree with you Surangi. Employees are the most valuable assets to any firm, and if they are not provided with the appropriate space and time to achieve a healthy balance of work and play at the office, a sense of disengagement develops. Both the organization and its employees depend on one another to achieve their goals and objectives (Bedarkar and Pandita,2014).
ReplyDeleteAgreed, well explained Surangi, adding to that Kenexa Employee Engagement Index shares four emotional states which an actively engaged employee is having as follows (Kenexa, 2008),
ReplyDelete1. I am proud to work for my organization.
2. Overall, I am extremely satisfied with my organization as a place to work.
3. I would gladly refer a good friend or family member to my organization for employment.
4. I rarely think about looking for a new job with another organization.
Hello, Surangi. I agree with you as well. Sustainability, on the other hand, presents opportunities for participation, collaboration, and innovation, according to Hermes (2013). Employee engagement is the driving force behind strategy. If you don’t have the culture to support sustainability and innovation, then you won’t be able to achieve your goals. Employee participation in sustainability programs will help to instill these principles in your company's culture.
ReplyDeleteHi Surangi. Nicely written. Adding more points, job happiness, employee commitment, and organizational citizenship behavior are all notions that are based on the basis of employee engagement (Markos, 2010). Most businesses understand that the most effective employees are those that are intellectually and emotionally invested in their company. Therefore, some modern firms in Sri Lanka have incorporated innovative tactics and approaches to engage their employees (Iddagoda, 2020).
ReplyDeleteWell explained Surangi. Furthermore, organizational sustainability is defined as an organization’s ability to make a positive contribution to sustainable development by simultaneously delivering economic, social, and environmental benefits. As one of the most studied, employee engagement at work is seen as a critical component to achieving sustainable organizational success (Kleinberg, 2003)
ReplyDeleteWell said Surangi. Eccles et al,(2011) note that organizations are developing sustainability policies, but they highlight that these policies are aimed at developing and underlying "Culture of sustainability" through policies highlighting the importance of the environmental and social as well as financial performance.
ReplyDeleteHi Surangi, further, In order to become more sustainable, an increasing number of organizations have been proactive in dealing with the issues that arise from rapid globalization, increasingly competitive markets, constant organizational change, and talent retention in order to achieve their business goals and employee engagement at work is one of the most studied topics in organizational science and forms a critical and fundamental component to the ongoing sustainable success of organizations. Since the concept of engagement was first introduced by Kahn in 1990 (Woocheol K., Gohar F., Jacob W. and Muhammad T. 2016)
ReplyDeleteHi Surnagi, Furthermore, organizations are now beginning to focus more seriously on providing their employees help and assistance they need to become more actively engaged in their work since the engaged employees tend to have an energetic and enthusiastic attitude towards their work, and are often deeply committed to their work. Companies need to improve their ability to ensure workers experience a friendly and cooperative work climate (Gallup Institute, 2013, p. 22).employee engagement has a strong and positive relationship with the overall financial performance of an organization sustainability.
ReplyDeleteHi Surangi, Well explained. As this factors inter related with passion and purpose of the organization, it is important to maintain a good employee engagement in order to achieve the ultimate goal of the company (Merriman, Sen, Felo and Litzky, 2016). However operational efficiency and the productivity in line with this process these facts will directly impact on the profitability and the low level of retention as well (Glavas, 2012).
ReplyDeleteHi Surangi, well written article further Alfes et al (2010: 2) asserted that engaged employees
ReplyDeleteperform better, are more innovative than others, are more likely to want to stay with their employers, enjoy greater levels of personal well-being and per ceive their workload to be more sustainable than others.