One of the new buzz words on the management block is employee engagement. But the concept is not just a fad but a useful tool in employee management and Liesl Laubscher, an HR manager and industrial psychologist, has written a short article introducing the concept to those that are not familiar with it.

“Employee Engagement has taken off internationally with huge focus being placed on this phenomenon and this has now reached the South African business environment as a management concept not to be taken lightly by employers. We are all aware of the impact low employee commitment has on morale, productivity and working conditions in the workplace. Low employee commitment also has a tremendous impact on relationships with customers and which in effect then impacts directly on the bottom line.

Employee engagement is more than just employee commitment. Employee engagement is the measure of the discretionary effort an employee may exert in the workplace. It does not refer to poor performance but to not performing optimally to the best of the employee’s capability and with the objectives and goals of the organisation in mind.

Current literature on employee engagement, explains that an employee can be actively disengaged and intuitively that seems to be the status of most of our employees in today’s world of work. With actively disengaged we mean to say that the employee is active in their job to meet the minimum requirements but not fully engaged in their activities and responsibilities. Research done internationally by Towers Perrin indicated that only 14% of 85 000 employees surveyed were highly engaged in their jobs.

How does an organisation change employee disengagement to engagement? This is a difficult question to answer since employees are humans who are by definition unpredictable and unique in their expectations and frame of reference. There are however certain non-negotiable criteria which would influence the average employee to become more engaged. This brings us back to the old phenomenon of the psychological contract which underpins the unwritten relationship between employers and employees.

Employees want to be treated with respect and dignity and often these elements are high on the list of factors to improve overall employee engagement. They want honest two way communication and feel that they can trust the fair decision making of their leaders. This comes down to basic principles of running a business with integrity and honesty.

Human Resource Practices are the foundation for employees’ career and work life and as such employees want to know that the organisation they work for has progressive systems in place to facilitate their expectations. Career pathing and development is often quoted as the prime consideration for employees when they take up a new job opportunity. This becomes even more important to employees with longer tenure.

Each organisation should, on an annual basis, conduct confidential surveys to assess the levels of employee engagement in their organisation and take action accordingly to improve these. Employee engagement is a field of study on its own and this article serves as a brief introduction to the concept.”