THE CONCEPT OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT WITHIN WESTLION AND THE IMPACT EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT HAS ON THE ORGANISATIONAL SUCCESS.
Understanding employee engagement is an important tool to the success and performance to every organisation.Macey et al (2009) defined employee engagement as an individual’s purpose and concerntrated energy, noticeable to co-workers in the organisation to display their personal capabilities, adjust to new conditions to control organisational goals. In support, Alfes et al,(2010) defined employee engagement as being positively present during the performance of work by willing to contribute intellectual effort, experience positive emotions and significant connections to others. In view of this, being engaged simply means, you are totally involved and interested in the work which holds your attention and inspires you to do your best.
Employee engagement is a healthy relationship of trust and respect between the employer and the employee. Managers at westlion, share their future prospects clearly with their subordinates, encourage employees towards the improvement of attaining organisational goals, and also create a conducive environment to engage employees at work.However, Westlion engages its employees to an extent of making them feel connected and trust the organisation. Employees are emotionally connected with their work to the extent for having a positive attitude towards the organisation. For example; employees devote their time to come to work even on a holiday when they are not obliged to work.Employees engaged in Westlion have a complete focus on the work and not think about anything when performing tasks.
This helps them devote their full attention to work. An example; there are accidents free within the organisation and also errors are reduced.Engaged employees in Westlion helps to an extent where they are willing and able to display positive behavior to go the extra mile and work beyond their contract terms and also see work as a source of energy. For example; employees stay behind to work for extra hours of which they are not obliged to.Moreover, there are various drivers to employee engagement.
After all, leadership is a key driver of employee engagement. Leaders are the face of the organisation who set strategic goals and objectives to guide the organisation in the right direction to achieve its vision.Soane (2014) claim leaders play an important role in creating the environment within which employees can be engaged at work and make the difference between work as a mundane grind, devoid of meaning and purpose and work as an enriching and fulfilling experience that provides an essential source of identity which infuse e all aspects of being.
In view of this; employee engagement is enhanced when senior leaders communicate frequently, clearly, chatting the direction of the organisation and letting employees know what is expected of them to help make business successful. Employee voice is the means by which people share their views and have significant input into work and its decision making. Also meaningfulness is when employees feel very useful and valued. Furthermore, theories in support of employee engagement could be: There are lots of theories regarding employee engagement.
Below are the major two theories that best fit to the chosen organisation, that is Theory X and Y propounded by Douglas McGregor. Theory x is a mechanism used by managers to direct employees as well as emphasis on the relevance of unbending supervision, external rewards and penalties. Theory X assumes that employees are inert, lazy, and must be supervised strictly to get their work done. Mangers of Westlion and supervisors believe employees will not be productive if challenging task are not assigned to them.
Therefore, employees will be engaged to their task since they will account to it.Theory Y also elaborates on how enthusiastic employees are towards their work. In order words, employees exhibit their full potentials as a result of taking on additional tasks and being more innovative and creative. Basically, employees become motivated with the challenging task they pursue at work causing managers to have an indirect supervision on them.
Managers of Westlion usually give employees opportunities with trust that employees will put in more effort to work. Also Westlion often involves thho eir employees in decision making process. For example, Westlion manager will ask the staff to conduct interview for candidates applied for a job.Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a model in which motivation is used to attain higher level of needs (social, esteem, self-actualization) after the basic needs physiological needs and safety needs are met. It is believed that higher levels can be attained through the sense of achievement, having autonomy, having feelings of self-worth and realizing one’s potential.
Therefore, the impact of employee engagement on the success of the organisation is discussed below;Firstly, Increase in revenue and productivity. Westlion employees are engaged in the organisation, their opinions are taken into consideration and feel recognised, and employees deem it an honor to be a part of attaining organisational goals, and they turn to work out their best in increasing productivity therefore revenue increases. Secondly, quality product can be improved when employees are given opportunities. Westlion engages employees and this helps in maintaining the improved quality of the organisation and this influences customer satisfaction. Westlion commits towards effective engagement and this increases quality level.Moreover, customer loyalty has an impact on the success of the organisation.
When employees become more engaged with their jobs assigned to them, they tend to have good relationship with customers resulting in the increase of customer base. Westlion employees have understanding on how to meet customer needs and satisfy them resulting in customer loyalty which tends to be a priority in the organisation so employees maintain a very good relationship with their customers.Staff strength and development. Management empowers their employees by developing their skills and capabilities at work.
Westlion provides their staff with training courses for personal development which has improved performances as a result. Westlion embraces opportunities which builds on their strengths, and not just communicate perceived gaps and weaknesses.THE POSITIVE IMPACT OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT ON THE EXPERIENCE OF THE EMPLOYEE WORKING IN WESTLION WITH RELEVANT THEORY AND EXAMPLES.Employee Engagement refers to employees being engaged, feels valued, respected and willing to share intellectual effort during work. Employees exhibit positive attitude towards work and perform best to reach their target in the organisation.The most important aspect of employee engagement is the psychological contract. “Psychological Contract is defined as the unwritten promises and expectations between the employer and the employee at the workplace. Basic promises and mutual understanding are not written.
This is based on trust and belief that both honors the contract agreed.The organizational culture of Westlion, embraces diversity and change in the workplace. The cohesion between management and employees are improved based on the accepted culture. Unlike the written, formalized employment contract which may, in many cases, offer a limited and uncertain representation of a person’s ongoing role within the organisation. Psychological contract is more fluid and evolving.
When managers do not offer their part of the contract to employees as it ought to be, employees develop grief and have trust issue with management. This in turn brings about employee turnover, reduction in production and others since their engagement will be less towards the organization. Good relationship between employees and management are built at westlion effectively since it is imperative to have a positive contract. Roles and tasks assigned to employees indicates how valued employees are in an organization. Regular communication breed’s employee commitment in the organization by allowing people to realize their potential and work towards a goal.Expectations of Westlion managers on a psychological contract are to pay for performance, opportunities for training and development, recognition for innovations, an attractive benefit package (motivation), reasonable job security, respectful treatment etc. that of the expectation of employees are to work hard, uphold a good reputation of the organisation, maintain high level of attendance and punctuality, show loyalty to the organisation, be honest and come out with new ideas etc. it is believed every employee should have a working experience Employee experience is based on the number of years spent with an organisation.
Experience from 1-2 years at Westlion are deem as learners. They are being directed as to how to get things done properly for a period of time. Experience from 3-5 years at Westlion are experts. These experts approach to work tasks without direct supervision and are trusted with hope to attain the goals and objectives of the organisation.. The benefits derived from the practices of the promises.First of all, every organizations key asset or pillars that hold the organization are the employees. Now, the organization should know what mechanisms to use in order to retain and meet the expectations of them.
Whenever employees are satisfied with their work, production tends to increase, there’s employer branding and other factors that will contribute to the growth of the organization. Satisfied employees play a key role in the organization, they promote and support the company’s mission and strategy and brand.However, there is increase in Productivity. Engaged employees at Westlion are top performers, who are committed to go the extra mile to achieve business success. As employees are more engaged their absenteeism lowers and their motivation increases leading to increased productivity.
What this means is that, these employees work harder, produce more, and produce quality because of the pride they take in their work.Moreover, retention and recruitment. Retaining good employees is key to the success of every organisation.
Westlion engaged employees are more invested in the success of the company and also more loyal. Simply put, employees satisfied and engaged are far more likely to stay with Westlion coupled with retention. Westlion have a highly engaged workforce which have increased ability, attract new qualified employees. When employees feel needed, and appreciated in the organisation employee retention is boosted.Also there is Innovation. There is a close relationship between innovation and employee engagement. Westlion engages employees to perform at a higher level to have desire and interest to their job.
Highly engaged employees feel they have a real stake in the organisation, they strive to efficiently generate new products, services and processes. Increased in Profitability. Organisations with more engaged employees tend to have higher profitability rates. When employees are engaged they become more productive and efficient, positively affecting the company’s bottom line and are more likely to find new and better ways of completing tasks and projects. In support of a theory, Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a model in which motivation is used to achieve higher level of needs (social, esteem, self-actualisation) after physiological needs and safety needs are met and has been used to explain job satisfaction.
It is believed that higher levels can be attained through the sense of achievement, having autonomy, having feelings of self-worth and realising one’s capability. For instance, within Westlion, provide financial compensation and healthcare as benefits which helps employees to meet their physiological needs, physically safe working environment and having suitable company structures and policies helps to get employees engage. When this happen it creates a healthy relationship with colleagues and their supervisors at the workplace and feel they are indeed part of the organisation. Final step is where the employee seeks self-actualise where they need to grow and develop in order to become anything they are capable of becoming.
