Article - Are They Engaged Properly?

Not many people feel good about work; there are the medium types, the lazy types and of course the workaholic types. We often find people who try to cobble up their work putting on an attractive façade but that’s always just a show off. Very different from all these is the engaged employee who exhibits exceptional services and complete dedication. Engaged employees tend to be highly enthusiastic about work and invest great amount of effort and care for the progress of the company. They genuinely try to bring about change and progress. For such a person work is not obsession but passion, very unlike others, and is true examples of what Jack Welch once said, “Never mistake activity for accomplishment”. Employee engagement is least related to macro-economic conditions, but is influenced greatly by the work experience.

As  you sow, so shall you reap. Everything depends on a give and take policy and an engaged employee cannot be taken for granted nor can any conditions produce an engaged employee. It is highly essential that an apt milieu be set up for high productivity and it is always up to the company to avail it to the staff.

There are basically 10 factors that affect the employee engagement or also called as 10 Cs of Employee Engagement:-

Connect:   A good connection is requisite between the employee and the employer and without it no pep ups can aid employees into performing at their best. The productivity and dedication of the employee is always directly proportional to their relationship and connectivity with the employer.

Career:   “Only the test of fire can make fine steel”; similarly only meaningful and challenging work opportunities can keep up the employee fit and competent. It is always up to the employer to challenge the employees with new tasks and also to keep the progress chart going up. Only this can boost up the confidence level as well as enthusiasm of the employee. Job rotation helps in stretching their perseverance to newer levels.

Clarity:  Clarity in communication is the key to good results. No desired results can be achieved from a broken or unclear communication. Clear instruction and a clear vision on the task ahead is the best way to keep things easy and simple.

Convey:  It is essential that the views and perspectives of the employer about the employee be conveyed as earliest as possible. The employee must be aware of what is expected of him/her. Providing feedbacks is the best option.

Congratulate:  Whenever a mistake is made there is never a delay in the feedback, it is common. But room has to be made for appreciations as well. The more an employee is appreciated, the more he/she feels important and worthy and gives them more confidence.

Contribute:  Only when a person contributes will they feel involved in what is happening. It is the employer’s duty to make sure everyone gets a chance to contribute and to bring forth their potentials by encouraging them to put in more ideas and efforts. This is a strategy to build up a connection between the employee and the job.

Collaborate:  Collaborating is a good way of building internal relationships between the employees as well as their relation with the employer. The work load remains equally shared and efficiency increases many fold compared o individual performances. This empowers the trust and cooperation between the employees and fosters a feeling of oneness among them.

Credibility:  The Company’s reputation and ethical standards greatly influences the performance and dedication as well as well their trust towards the organization. An unethical organization suffers greatly in productivity as well.

Control:  It is comfortable for a person to work only if he/she has a firm grip of the posts they are holding. In case of jobs that can easily slip away from hand the levels of productivity and dedication also wavers. Unless a person is in full control of their jobs nothing can be expected out of him/her. Providing opportunities to exhibit themselves and to make a firm grounding gives the emotional strength and control to an employee which will reflect in their work.

Confidence:  Opportunities and encouragement are key elements in boosting up confidence. Trusting the person and giving them space to express themselves also helps. The performance and ethics of the leaders also aids in kindling confidence of the team.

Employee engagement is very difficult to achieve without a firm grounding of the organization and a welcoming attitude. The employer plays a great role in creating such a milieu. Unless the employer cooperates, it is baseless to dream on such an end. Proper identification of engaged employees and to have a constant feedback of the level of engagement of all the employees will facilitate to proper use of skills. Leaders should probe into reasons for lack of employee engagement and make suitable rectifications. Employee engagement is a priority that every organization should concentrate on for the best productivity and output.

Remember, good employees are the backbone of an organization.