Employee Engagement in Organizations

Abstract

Organizations seek to maximise the productivity and profitability of their staff! Individuals seek satisfaction from their work! If both can be achieved concurrently, there is a true Win-Win! The impact of an engaged ?workforce over an unengaged? one is dramatic. Engaged in a work contract –but what does it mean for staff to be engaged at work? Most people understand engagement as an attitude or behaviours that imply being busy with, involved in, attracted by, committed to, retained and held fast in our work or organisation. It encompasses many well researched, traditional organisational psychology concepts such as job satisfaction, organisational commitment and intention to stay with an organisation, as well as emerging concepts in the field such as proactivity, adaptivity and flow. Employee engagement, also called worker engagement, is a business management concept. An "engaged employee" is one who is fully involved in, and enthusiastic about their work, and thus will act in a way that furthers their organization's interests. According to Scarlett Surveys, "Employee Engagement is a measurable degree of an employee's positive or negative emotional attachment to their job, colleagues and organization that profoundly influences their willingness to learn and perform is at work". Thus engagement is distinctively different from employee satisfaction, motivation and organizational culture. Keywords: Employee Engagement, organizational commitment.