PERFORMANCE STRATEGIES



Employee engagement refers to the physical, cognitive and emotional commitment of an employee to their roles, colleagues, and the goals and objectives of the organization in which they work, ensuring it achieves the set goals (Schaufeli, 2013). It measures how involved employees are in their jobs and the holistic interests of their employers. There is a very positive link between employee engagement and performance either on a short-term or long-term basis. A very successful employee engagement is the responsibility of both the employer and employee, it is a shared task that benefits both parties in equal measure (Barinua and Deinma, 2022). When employers with their management provide relevant training and development initiatives, communicate effectively, provide equal opportunities, and provide healthy working conditions and benefits among others, the employees feel valued and involved, giving rise to strong employee engagement.

Firmly engaged employees will always be eager to give their best to see the organization grow in every respect (Vance, 2006). Some of the direct correlations between employee engagement and performance are increased productivity, enhanced customer satisfaction, reduced absenteeism, and improved organizational citizenship.  

There are many strategies to improve the levels of engagement within an organization – the first is regular feedback and coaching. Anytime employees, especially newly recruited ones are onboarded, there is a general feeling of tension and pressure not to do any wrong thing to attract the rebuke and scorn of their managers. However, the feeling changes when line managers give honest feedback and guidance to employees when they undertake a certain task (Austin,1988). Such constant feedback helps build the confidence of employees and increases their urge to take on new challenges. The continuous feedback to employees’ task after task over a considerable time causes them to improve in the roles they are assigned.

Coaching is when an individual or a group of people are practically guided by an experienced person on a step-by-step basis and taught how to get a particular work done (Flaherty, 2022). Here, the expert patiently instructs the learner on exactly what they should do on the job from stage to stage.  When these strategies are used to equip new staff in any organization, I am certain it will increase their level of engagement because it will draw them closer to the older employees and they will feel more at home.     

The second is open communication and transparency. The opportunity for employees to freely engage members of management and other colleagues without hindrances in the workspace will go a long way to improve the levels of employee engagement in the organization (Obiekwe et al, 2023). When there is ease of communication in the workspace and information is readily accessible by employees, the latter have a better feeling of belongingness as a stakeholder of the organization. And this adds up to their commitment to the business of the organization.

The impact of regular feedback and coaching on new employees can be assessed in several ways. The very first is to verify the number of senior employees or line managers they engage in the course of their work on their own volition and check again after this strategy is run about six months. It will be very clear that, if an employee does not communicate or reach out to any other senior employee in any way in the course of their job, there will be a number of things about the business they may never know or it will take them a considerably longer time to know them (Banaeianjahromi and Smolander, 2019). And this will affect the quality of work these employees will produce when compared to others. The assessment after the enrolment of this strategy will show how many more senior employees have been approached by specific younger employees and exactly what has changed in the quality of their work.

The second means of measuring the impact of regular feedback and coaching in employee engagement is to record the amount of time the targeted employees use to accomplish their duties. For example, in an academic firm, the amount of time it takes a new teacher to mark a student’s assignment will be measured against the time it takes the teacher after the implementation of this program. The change will show that the closeness of communication and feedback from senior workers will shorten the time spent work by newer employees (Camngca et al, 2024).

The impact of communication and transparency on employee engagement will be measured by the number of times newer employees have solved problems as a group in their line of work before and after the implementation of this strategy. Some challenges at work are usually solved in teams like the multidisciplinary counseling of a student with some learning difficulties. The more employees engage each other on issues concerning work, the more they work together to share innovative and creative ideas to solve varied problems (Englmaier et al, 2024).  

It is very imperative to say that people professionals and business leaders can grow the productivity of their firms by tying the areas of challenges with specific employee engagement strategies. Since a great portion of the success of a business rests on the efficiency of the workforce, there must be a robust mechanism to monitor the areas of weaknesses of workers so that specific redemptive strategies are run to bring these workers to the place of improved efficiency – affecting the gains of the entire business in the long-run (Lecouturier et al, 2024).

We should also mention that the kind of employee engagement program that will be used should be well assessed to ascertain whether its impact can easily be measured or not. It will be fruitless to spend scarce resources on programs that will not yield any tangible and constructive results. These are resources that will enhance talent management in any business space, should the appropriate measures be taken (Peng et al, 2024). 

 

PAUL ANANG AMASAH

22ND NOVEMBER, 2024

THE COLLEGE BUSINESS CONSULT

thecollegebc@gmail.com

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Thank you for sharing

Popular posts from this blog

UNIVERSAL VS. CAFETERIA-STYLES OF BENEFITS: FINDING THE RIGHT FIT FOR ORGANIZATIONAL SUCCESS

Image
  Employee compensation and benefit strategies are critical for fostering motivation, satisfaction, and retention in the workplace. Among the various approaches, the universal style and cafeteria-style benefit systems stand out as two distinct methods of managing employee rewards. While each has its unique characteristics and applications, choosing the most suitable system depends on an organization’s vision, goals, and resources. This article explores the defining features, advantages, and drawbacks of both styles and provides insights into selecting the best fit for organizational success.   Understanding the Universal Style of Benefits The universal style of benefits is designed to promote unity and fairness by offering the same level of compensation and benefits to all employees, regardless of position or performance. Key features of this style include: Standardization: All employees receive identical benefits packages, eliminating differentiation based on...
Read more

INCREMENTAL PAY SCALES – THE CASE FOR AND AGAINST

Image
  Incremental pay scales, a compensation structure where employees' wages increase consistently over time, often based on tenure, are widely used to foster loyalty, motivation, and retention within organizations. However, their effectiveness can vary based on the nature of the organization and its strategic goals. This article explores the benefits and drawbacks of incremental pay scales, offering sufficient information for business managers who are building the philosophy for their compensation. Compensation philosophy is the rationale behind how an organization wants to remunerate its workers and this is inspired by what they want to achieve through the strategy of pay they deploy. Advantages of Incremental Pay Scales Employee Motivation: Regular pay increments serve as a clear incentive for employees to maintain consistent performance. The assurance of progression within the pay scale encourages a positive attitude toward work and fosters a sense of loy...
Read more

CONTINGENCY-BASED REWARDS: THE ETHICAL CONCERNS AND RESOLUTIONS

Image
  Contingency forms of pay, commonly referred to as pay-for-performance systems, tie employee compensation directly to their achievement of specific performance standards, goals, or outcomes. While this method can significantly motivate employees and align individual objectives with organizational goals, it can also introduce a range of ethical issues. Below, we explore some of these potential challenges and their implications for organizational integrity. Ethical Issues in Contingency Pay Systems Unfair Distribution of Rewards: A significant ethical concern arises when employees perceive the distribution of rewards as inequitable. For instance, two employees achieving similar outcomes but receiving different rewards can lead to feelings of favoritism or discrimination. This perceived unfairness can damage morale and lead to workplace conflicts. Conflict of Interest: When employees' rewards are closely tied to their performance metrics, the...
Read more