TM - August 2007 - (Page 20) recruitment & retention assessment & evaluation compensation & benefits performance management learning & development succession planning [assessment & evaluation]by John Penrose Tracking Employee Engagement Employee engagement is a well-established concept in the human capital management lexicon. Talent managers rightly believe engaged employees regularly go the extra mile. They bring their best to work every day, drive greater productivity (from themselves and others), willingly take on extra responsibility, have a long-term view of their relationship with their organization and are strong drivers of business success. But engagement is no silver bullet, and talent managers might be missing an important opportunity to play a bigger, more strategic corporate role by focusing on engagement too narrowly. Strategically measuring employee engagement requires a more comprehensive measurement model that builds on employee engagement and provides a broader context for optimizing business success. Beyond Satisfaction • Effective Leadership: How well do managers communicate and walk the talk? • Motivational Recognition: Are employees recognized for a job well done in ways that have special meaning to them? • Contribution to Success: Do employees understand how their work contributes to the organization’s overall success? • Involvement: Are employees involved in decision making that affects their work? • Personal Development: Are there opportunities for employees to grow and advance? • Economic Self-Interest: Do employees think their pay and benefits are fair and competitive in the marketplace? Some organizations deal with economic self-interest issues (essentially, compensation and benefits) separately. This is fine, as long as they are not ignored altogether. The Engagement Continuum Employee engagement has delivered a powerful focus to many organizations’ employee assessment programs (and particularly their flagship workforce survey). Beyond mere satisfaction, employee engagement contributes to positive outcomes such as longer retention, higher individual performance, achievement of organizational results and customer loyalty. So, what does employee engagement look like? As Figure 1 shows, engaged employees bring much more to the job. Defining Employee Engagement Employee engagement measures commitment or loyalty to the organization and the degree of willingness to work above and beyond expectations (sometimes described as “discretionary effort”). But how do you make a theoretical definition operational? Seven engagement elements or factors matter most: • Shared Values: Do the company and its employees conduct day-to-day business based on a common set of values? These elements can be arranged along a continuum from highly rational to highly emotional engagement, from the head to the heart. Rationally engaged employees would strongly agree with the statement, “This is a good place for me.” Emotionally engaged employees would strongly agree with the statement, “This place makes me feel good.” Full engagement requires strong agreement with both these statements — having one without the other is insufficient. It can look like this: “I love 20 August 2007 talent management magazine www.TalentMgt.com http://www.TalentMgt.com
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