Employee engagement refers to the extent to which an employee is committed to something or somebody in his/her organization, how long they stay and how hard they work as a result of commitment. Employee engagement is emerging as a critical factor in the success of businesses in this competitive market (Lockwood, 2007). Not only does employee engagement affect employee retention, loyalty, and productivity. It also linked to customer satisfaction. Researchers indicate that the most engaged employees are, the more likely the business in able to average the revenue growth of the industry.

Employee engagement is a very complex concept since there are many issues that influence employee engagement levels. However, there are many strategies that can be used foster engagement. An effective engagement will be determined by the flexibility of the approach used by the business. Below are a few of the strategies for employee engagement.

One of the strategies is to start it on day one. Most of the talent acquisition strategies but lack the retention strategies. Once an employee is employed, effective orientation programs should be initiated on the first day. The management should be very careful when pooling out potential talent for employees through effective recruitment.  New employees should be given general orientation as well as job-specific orientation (Markos & Sridevi, 2010). This will enable the employee to develop job expectations thus reducing role conflicts. The manager should ensure that there is role-talent fit when an employee is being placed in any position.

Starting it from the top is another strategy that can be used in employee engagement. In employee engagement, leadership commitment through establishing a clear vision, mission and values are required. However, unless the people on own the idea, believe in it and pass it to the managers and employees, then employee engagement will never happen.  Employee engagement as mentioned earlier is a complex concept and requires actions and commitment and not lip-service. The top management should lead by example.

Two-way communications are yet another strategy to enhance employee engagement. The management should promote two-way communications. Two ways communication ensures that both the management and the employees communicate effectively, and any communication barriers are erased (Markos & Sridevi, 2010). Employees should have a say in issues that matter and affect their life and work. The management should involve the employees in decision making and respect their inputs. This ensures that employee feels like they belong thus increasing their engagement and commitment.

Another strategy is to give employees advancement and development opportunities.  Independent thinking should be encouraged through giving employees job autonomy. This will allow them to have their freedom of choosing best methods of doing their work. However, this should only be allowed as long as the employees are producing the expected results. Managing by results is the strategy and not managing by controlling all the processes of achieving the results.

Another strategy is to have a strong feedback system. A performance management system should be in place to ensure that both managers and employees are held responsible for the level of engagement they show. Regular surveys of engagement levels should be conducted to identify the factors that promote employee engagement (Markos & Sridevi, 2010). After identifying factors that promote engagement, it is good to narrow down to two to three areas and begins by concentrating in areas that will make the bigger difference. The actions oriented strategies developed should be measurable, specific, time-bound and accountable.

Reference

Lockwood, N. R. (2007). Leveraging employee engagement for competitive advantage. Society for Human Resource Management Research Quarterly, 1, 1-12.

Markos, S., & Sridevi, M. S. (2010). Employee engagement: The key to improving performance. International Journal of Business and Management, 5(12), 89.

 
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