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This is to certify that - the article “ Employee

Engagement – Scaling Down Attrition ” is written
by Hari Nair and is an original work of his. I agree to
have this declaration published with the article.
Definition

Employee engagement is a measure of an employee’s positive

attitude towards his/ her work and commitment to remain attached to
the organization for a long period of time.

Employee engagement is the level of commitment and involvement an

employee has towards the organization and its values An engaged
employee is aware of business context, and works with colleagues to
improve performance within the job for the benefit of the organization.
It is a positive attitude held by the employees towards the
organization and its values.

Engaged employees care about the future of the company and are
willing to be attached to the company for a longer period of time and
invest their efforts towards achieve the organizational goal. Such
employees act as Brand ambassadors for the organization and
promote the organization as an Employer Of Choice.

It involves creating a work environment that gives employee

happiness and pride to be associated with the organization.
Engagement focuses on factors beyond compensation; it focuses on
linking individual employee’s personal aspiration and
values with those of the organization.

Why Employee Engagement is so important?

Employees who are engaged in their work and committed to their
organizations give companies crucial competitive advantages—
including higher productivity and lower employee turnover. Thus, it is
not surprising that organizations of all sizes and types have invested
substantially in policies and practices that foster engagement and
commitment in their workforces. In addition, engaged employees may
be more likely to commit to staying with their current organization.
Software giant Intuit,2 for example, found that highly engaged
employees are 1.3 times more likely to be high performers than less
engaged employees. They are also five times less likely to voluntarily
leave the company.
Some of the Advantages of Engaged Employees Are
v Engaged employees will stay with the company, be an
advocate of the company and its products and services, and
contribute to bottom line business success.
v They will normally perform better and are more motivated.
v There is a significant link between employee engagement and
profitability.
v It builds passion, commitment and alignment with the
organization’s strategies and goals
v Increases employees’ trust in the organization and creates a
sense of loyalty in a competitive environment
v Provides a high-energy working environment
v Makes the employees effective brand ambassadors for the
company

What drives engagement?

However, the strongest driver of all is a sense of feeling valued and

involved. This has several key components:

v Involvement in decision making

v The extent to which employees feel able to voice their ideas,
and managers listen to these views, and value employees’
contributions
v The opportunities employees have to develop their jobs
v The extent to which the organization is concerned for
employees’ health and well being.
Factors that Enhance Employee Engagement

Many organizational factors influence employee engagement and

retention such as:

v A culture of respect where outstanding work is valued

v Availability of constructive feedback and mentoring
v Opportunity for advancement and professional
development
v Fair and appropriate reward, recognition and incentive
systems
v Availability of effective leadership
v Clear job expectations
v Adequate tools to complete work responsibilities
v High levels of motivation

Many other factors exist that might apply to your particular business
and the importance of these factors will also vary within your
organization.

Employee Engagement Practices that can help an

organization to reduce Attrition

A successful employee engagement strategy helps create a community

at the workplace and not just a workforce. When employees are
effectively and positively engaged with their organization, they form
an emotional connection with the company. This affects their attitude
towards both their colleagues and the company’s clients and improves
customer satisfaction and service levels.

A. Practices for New Joiners

It starts with the Recruitment process.

1. The right person and giving them a realistic job preview

2. A strong induction and orientation programme
3. Rigorous training and development, from technical to soft skills to
leadership development programmes.
4. Regular technical/soft-skill updates
5. Certification programmes to drive people towards excellent
performance
 B. Practices for All Employees

Beyond initial recruitment and induction, there are several other

practices, which can help in reducing/ controlling the Attrition Rate of
an organization.
The practices are as following:

1. Communication Activities: These help employees find out

what is going on within the company outside of their immediate
team. They also help to create an environment of trust and
openness within the organization where they are able to talk
openly. Employees who feel they are listened to are able to
express dissatisfaction and work together to resolve their
causes, without it affecting their performance.
v There may be communication forums to provide regular
feedback to all employees of the organization.
v In House magazines.

v Monthly update on companies objectives and goals.

v Regular satisfaction survey or a kind of opinion survey.
v Conduct periodic meetings with employees to communicate
good news, challenges and easy-to-understand company
financial information. Managers and supervisors should be
comfortable communicating with their staff, and able to give
and receive constructive feedback.
v Communicate openly and clearly about what's expected of
employees at every level - your vision, priorities, success
measures, etc.

2. Reward Schemes: Reward schemes are an important part of a

company's overall employee engagement programme. It has
been reflected in many studies “while money in itself is not a
motivating factor, the absence of financial reward can be a
significant demotivator”.Thus the role of reward schemes in
boosting employee engagement is:
a. To provide a framework for rewarding the employees as
per their performance in their respective areas.
b. To remove the barriers of the satisfaction in the
organization.
c. Recognition programme
d. Suggestion scheme linked to the rewards
 e. Stock ownership and profit sharing
f. Long Service award like rewarding those employees who
have completed say, 20 years in the company

3. Activities to develop the culture of the Organization

Giving employees a feeling of belonging is crucial in creating a
thriving organization that people feel committed to and others want
to join.
It may include
a. Transparent HR Policies
b. CSR
c. “Equal opportunity for all” practices
d. Initiative to create a quality work life and balance between
personal and professional life
e. Demonstrating a “Commitment” to employees well being

4. Team Building Activities

Culture-building activities are great for generating a feeling of
belonging, but all organizations are building out of smaller
teams who can get on and work together. An organization
would be able to achieve its objective only when its people will
work in a Team. Some practices are as below
v Family gathering
v Small Team recreational activities like event like sport
meet at District level or State level
v Celebrate individual, team and organizational successes.
Catch employees doing something right, and say "Thank
you."

5. Provide variety: Tedious, repetitive tasks can cause burn out

and boredom over time. If the job requires repetitive tasks, look
for ways to introduce variety by rotating duties, areas of
responsibility, delivery of service etc.

6. Indulge in employee deployment if he feels he is not on the right

job. Provide an open environment.

7. Get to know employees' interests, goals, stressors, etc. Show an

interest in their well-being and do what it takes enable them to
feel more fulfilled and better balanced in work and life.
8. Be consistent in your support for engagement initiatives. If you
start one and then drop it, your efforts may backfire. There's a
strong connection between employees' commitment to an
initiative and management's commitment to supporting it.

Conclusion:
Engaged employees can help your organization achieve its mission,
execute its Strategy and generate important business results.
Organizations define and measure engagement in a variety of
different ways, suggesting there is no one “right” or “best” way to
define or stimulate engagement in the workforce. The decision to
invest in strengthening engagement or commitment (or both)
depends on an organization’s strategy and the makeup of
workforce.

The Author

MR. HARI NAIR, a young Masters in Public, Personnel

Management & Industrial Relations from Osmania
University, did his Graduation in Commerce and has a
Degree in Education Psychology & a Diploma in
Journalism. Currently he is at the helm of affairs at
Sona Koyo Steering Systems Ltd, Gurgaon as its Vice
President – Human Resources, and can be reached
by e-mail hari.nair69@gmail.com and on
his Mobile No. +91-98-102-89047