The most important resource for the modern corporation is human resources. Creative and highly engaged employees are a good resource that an organization can tap into to create new products and services. The quality of service is also an important element of differentiation in a market full of operators offering the same product. Only highly engaged and committed employees can offer the kind of service that would make an organization stand out. Employee engagement is therefore very important. It is defined as the quality that makes employees remain committed to their organizations and remain dedicated. However, improving employee engagement is difficult and time-consuming process. According to various frameworks, employee engagement is a product of specific actions an organization can take such as availing employees with the resources they require for work, supporting them, fairness, investing in their welfare, among other antecedents. however, the same frameworks argue that the interaction that might trigger employee engagement are transaction in nature where the organization invests in employees expecting returns and employees contribute to the extent they feel tier efforts appreciated. Therefore, organizations should take the first steps to boost employee engagement by taking the right steps and deploying the right leaders. The effort might take resources but according to evidence, highly engaged employees are more productive, request fewer sick days, and are more creative, and turnover rates are slow as well. Those factors lead to higher organizational outcomes such as increase in profits, which is good for the organization. Thus, it is in the interest of companies to investment in fostering employee engagement.
Literature review
Employee engagement refers to employee connection with their work from a physical, cognitive, and emotional perspective. The engagement is about commitment, loyalty, productivity, and ownership, and its chief elements are the knowledge, emotion, and behavior. Therefore, the term is a multifaceted concept that seeks to capture various element individual relations with work and the employer. Employee engagement has four dimensions, namely, organizational identity, work attitude, mental state, and responsibility effectiveness. Other studies have found that the concept of employee engagement has five dimensions, which are initiative, loyalty, effectiveness, identity, and commitment (Gruman & Saks, 2011). Overall, what is apparent is that employee engagement encompasses different dimensions that include elements of organizational identity, dedication to work or the organization, vigor in the discharge of responsibilities, pleasant harmony, and absorption.
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Employee engagement captures the extent to which the employees are willing to stay in the organization and work hard. Such employees tend to view the organization positively and the same applied to their jobs and work colleagues. Disengaged employees are unlikely to want to stay with an organization or describe it in positive terms. Studies have found that most employees quit their organization due to a bad boss who changes their positive view of an organization. Another element of employee engagement is that employees are willing to strive or devote extra effort for the success of the organization (Saks & Gruman, 2014). There is a rational engagement where the employees understand their roles properly and work in a committed fashion. Emotional engagement arises when employees feel good to be part of the team delivering service.
Engagement is a state of mind where the employees feel good about their work and the organization. The positive state of the mind is characterized by dedication to their work roles and vigor in executing responsibilities. The emotional state is highly motivating and shows readiness to work harder for the organization. An employee is a positive mental state is unlikely to suffer from burnout. Thus, employee engagement improves employee resilience against emotionally exhausting work (Albrech, 2011). Therefore, work burnout, which employees often suffer, is an indication of the falling levels of engagement with the organization. Working in an organization where a person does feel a connection to or personal values are discordant to that of the organization is emotionally draining.
Researchers have developed several theoretical frameworks to underpin the employee engagement. Two of the frameworks are the needs-satisfaction framework, JD-R Framework and social exchange theory. According to the needs-satisfaction framework, workers are more engaged in their work if three basic needs, namely, meaningfulness, safety, and availability are satisfied. When an organization fails to invest in resources that would allow employees to get those needs, they withdraw emotionally from their work and organization, creating a sense of disengagement. The work needs to be meaningful in the sense the employees has greater control of the outcome and is able to seek the product of the work.
According to JD-R Framework of the Jobs Demands-Resources Model, different organizations have to contend with different working environments but ideal environment must balance between job demands with the job resources. Any job demands equivalent resources in emotional investment, time, effort, and physical investments. Failure to create the balance leads to a situation where employees feel dissatisfied with the organization and the work involved. Therefore, given the nature of the job, employees are highly to remain engaged if the organization is supportive and provides the required resources and support to execute job roles (Breevaart et al. 2013). In the absence of those resources, the work might become tiresome, leading to burnout and lack of interest and commitment in the work.
The social exchange theory (SET) argues that employment is a transaction between labor, loyalty, actual interest, and social reward. The employee provides the labor and loyalty while the organization gives money as the reward and both parties gain. The parties involved in the transaction also consider future returns and that determines their present commitment. When employees expect their current investment and commitment to their organization to translate into higher reward in future, their level of engagement increases and the converse is true (Shuck & Wollard, 2009). The same case applies to the organization. If a company expects to gain competitive advantage by creating an engaging and supportive work culture, it is likely to show greater commitment to employee welfare.
As discussed previously, employee engagement is not natural but develops due to the presence of specific conditions. Those conditions are known as antecedents to employee engagement. In general, those factors fall into three categories, namely, organizational factors, job factors, and individual factors. Organizational factors refer to leadership, superior support, fairness and equity, and provision of organization to execute job roles. Individual factors might include resilience or extraversion and organizational performance refers to profitability, customer loyalty and even productivity. Leadership is very important in creating the right environment for employees to achieve their potential. A leader sets the vision and inspires employees to work harder while at the same time providing resources and the required resources (John, 2014). The interpersonal skills of employees also matter, with poor skills pushing out employees. Job factors such as the proper job definition, clear roles, among others, encouraging employees to show greater engagement.
Employee engagement leads to positive outcome for the organization. Workers show greater commitment to their work by being active and their health outcome is better due to lower levels of stress. Highly engaged employees are also likely to report refer cases of absenteeism and productivity levels are higher. The level of engagement correlates with positive organizational citizenship behavior such as treating customers well, engaging in ethical conduct, supporting sustainability activities, and other work that contributes positively to the goals of the organization. Overall, employees engagement gives an organization a competitive advantage are workers are more productive and creative.
Describe the creativity tool
The creativity tool used was the hot potato tool. The tool allows the user to examine various ideas and judge them based on merit. Importantly, the tool creates a sense of urgency in the need for change. Change is important but introducing positive change is harder. Therefore, it is important to examine competing offers for change to determine the best ideas for creative change based on external environment.
Describe the four phases of appreciative inquiry
Appreciative inquiry typically takes place through four stages or phases. During the first phase of discover phase, information and stories are gathered to discover the best from competing choices. The second phase is the dream phase the creator envisions the how he wants things to be in the future. During the design phase, the question is how to move from the present state to the next. Finally, the deliver phase is innovating using practical strategies or projects and the focus is empowering and encouraging people to take action and carry their ideas. I used the appreciative inquiry in this project and the steps I followed are in general those four.
The first step was to select a topic of interest to drive the inquiry process. In this case, the topic of interest was employee engagement. The second step is to investigate the topic further to identify strengths and weaknesses as well as my passion and attributes. During the stage, I discovered I have passion for the organizational development and the employee issues including engagement. The third phase was goal-setting stage to determine the scope of the inquiry and the objectives of the inquiry. The last step is taking action and sustaining progress.
A mind map
Compare and contrast problem-solving approaches
Past problem solving tools I have used examined processes within the system. It is easy to blame problems such as declining productivity to tools such as the machines the workers are using. In the majority of cases, changing processes and equipment can lead to productivity gains. The desire to improve processes is responsible for the innovations that continue to emerge daily. However, human relations matter as well; thus, the past tools I have used failed due to ignoring the role of the people in making systems and process a success. Appreciative inquiry is superior because it takes into consideration the way people work, live, and behave. The possible downside of this approach is that without investing in technology and tool, the organization might not compete.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the principles of the appreciative inquiry can help organization find solutions to the problem of the low levels of employee engagement and commitment. Employee engagement is critical in boosting productivity and creativity in the end. Organizations that have solved the problem are more resilient to disruptions in the operating environment.
References
Albrech, S. L. (2011). Handbook of Employee Engagement: Perspectives, Issues, Research and Practice. Human Resource Management International Digest , 19 (7). doi: 10.1108/hrmid.2011.04419gaa.019
Breevaart, K., Bakker, A., Hetland, J., Demerouti, E., Olsen, O. K., & Espevik, R. (2013). Daily transactional and transformational leadership and daily employee engagement. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology , 87 (1), 138–157. doi: 10.1111/joop.12041
Gruman, J. A., & Saks, A. M. (2011). Performance management and employee engagement. Human Resource Management Review , 21 (2), 123–136. doi: 10.1016/j.hrmr.2010.09.004
John., A. (2014). Determinants of employee engagement and their impact on employee performance. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management , 63 (3), 308–323. doi: 10.1108/ijppm-01-2013-0008
Saks, A. M., & Gruman, J. A. (2014). What Do We Really Know About Employee Engagement? Human Resource Development Quarterly , 25 (2), 155–182. doi: 10.1002/hrdq.21187
Shuck, B., & Wollard, K. (2009). Employee Engagement and HRD: A Seminal Review of the Foundations. Human Resource Development Review , 9 (1), 89–110. doi: 10.1177/1534484309353560
