How to link personnel management to employee engagement
With studies showing that some 51% of the workforce is not engaged and the resulting cost of lost productivity hovering around $1 trillion, the stakes are high to control for continuing losses. As companies strive to improve delivery on work objectives and employee engagement, more firms are finding that effective personnel management is a critical component of making it all work.
Enhance employee engagement through personnel management
With a sharper focus on workplace engagement, companies have discovered several critical drivers that make for better engagement and higher productivities.
Employees want to:
understand their jobs and their contribution to the company
have opportunities to grow and learn
be empowered to make decisions within their field of expertise
care about their work, coworkers, and team outcomes
feel the company cares about their wants and needs
receive regular, valuable feedback on performance from leadership
That last point – feedback – creates ripple effects for positive achievement of engagement in almost every area. Feedback meetings provide a platform for clarification of job expectations, performance, concerns, and development.
The workplace has become more dynamic between globalization and technological advancements, but also more uncertain. Workers wonder what their long-term prospects are within firms. Employment surveys routinely show that more than half of employees consider leaving their current position or would take a new job if offered.
Simply put, companies do not have the luxury of waiting until an annual review to understand their employees’ needs. Additionally, employees are not willing to wait 12 months to hear whether their performance is valued or not. In order to adjust to this new paradigm, companies need to develop better personnel management strategies to resolve concerns before they become deep-rooted issues.
Management strategies for increased engagement
Expectations
Job interview discussions present expectations in a different manner than employee discussions. The former tends to provide the big picture, while the latter stresses the daily reality. Take the time to review job descriptions and refresh staff on performance expectations for daily, weekly, and ongoing work. Confirm that new employees understand their responsibilities and that any questions and concerns can be openly shared on an ongoing basis.
Onboarding new employees should not be taken for granted. Introduce them to coworkers, provide basic understanding of work groups and reporting, and remind them of the corporate mission. This will send the message that integrating the new employee into company culture is important to your organization.
Objectives
Make sure overall job performance goals are clear and identifiable. Years of research have shown that goal-setting has positive effects on performance. Explaining how the job contributes to the overall success of the company and supports the mission statement reinforces an employee’s perception of how they are valued.
Communication
These days, frequent feedback has been shown to increase employee engagement. Setting up regular, ongoing meetings with employees reduces job stress and performance uncertainty. For managers, one-on-one meetings provide valuable insights on how to align their teams with company needs. Showing flexibility in addressing performance needs on a frequent basis leads to fewer miscommunications and higher morale.
Personnel management needs to be an organisational strategy
With employees having higher expectations to feel involved in company success, personnel management needs to be organisation-wide. Leadership begins at the top, of course, and concern, attention, and care for improving employee engagement must be a universal strategy.
Human resources management should take the lead in building and maintaining open communication. With their program knowledge and assessment skills, they can ensure that lines of communication remain free, identify weaknesses within the organisational structure, and encourage leadership to remain vigilant of the key intersection of employee engagement and company success.
