7. Employee Engagement

What is Employee engagement?

Kahn (1990: 894) defined employee engagement as ‘the harnessing of organization members’ selves to their work roles; in engagement, people employ and express themselves physically, cognitively, and emotionally during role performances. There have been dozens of definitions since the explosion of interest in the concept during the 2000s. (Harter, 2002) stated that engagement was ‘the individual’s involvement and satisfaction with as well as enthusiasm for work. A later definition was produced by (Macey 2009) who defined engagement as ‘an individual’s purpose and focused energy, evident to others in the display of personal initiative, adaptability, effort and persistence directed towards organizational goals. (Alfes 2010) saw engagement as having three core facets:

1. Intellectual engagement – thinking hard about the job and how to do it better;

2. Affective engagement – feeling positively about doing a good job;

3. Social engagement – actively taking opportunities to discuss work-related improvements with others at work. 

Drivers of Employee Engagement

• Rational – how well the employee understands roles/responsibilities 
• Emotional- how much passion an employee can bring to work 
• Motivational- how willing is the employee to invest discretionary effort to perform their role. 

Effect of Employee Engagement in Hospitality Industry 

Employee engagement is critical to any organization that seeks to retain valued employees. It is very important for effective utilization of human resources and smooth running of the organization. Without employee engagement organization cannot survive for a long period of time. If the employee working in hospitality sector is engaged towards the job, definitely they will provide better hospitality to the guest. Some of the effects of employee engagement on hospitality industry are listed below, 

• Engaged employees will stay in the organization and care about its products and services. 
• They are well motivated towards hospitality and services. 
• Engaged employees create emotional attachment with the guest and the guest is also gets connected with the organization and comes again and again. 
• Engaged employees improves customer satisfaction and service levels. 
• Engaged employees Provides a high-energy working environment.

Importance of Employee Engagement 

• Employee engagement is not just activities, games and offsites or events.
• A company with a good employee engagement strategy will be able to perform better and retain its best employees.
• A committed employee  is willing to go the extra mile for the company and wants to feel appreciated for doing so.

How is employee engagement measured?

Employee engagement can be measured by conducting surveys on a regular basis. These surveys should entail all the basics of the job. there should be open-ended questions also so that the employees can convey their thoughts and experiences in detail. Employee engagement survey questionnaire sample has been given below in Figure 7.1,

Figure 7.1 - Sample questionnaire     How to Engage Employees in Hospitality Industry?  Career Development Opportunities- Companies should invest in good learning and development programs. This helps employees polish their inherent skills or acquire new skills. Both these can be beneficial for the company's growth if managed well. Give the employees an opportunity to demonstrate their skill sets.   Employee Empowerment- Giving freedom to make their own decisions and just get back to them to find out the solution they decide on.   Create a knowledge-sharing system-    Appreciate employees' knowledge and experience. Ask them for the best practices in their fields that they have come across and try to incorporate if it suits for hotel operation model, Asking implementing employee ideas gives employees a sense of belonging to the company. They feel valued and motivated to work in the best interests of the company.   Create a Monthly Newsletter- A newsletter can be a great way to share the relevant details with all employees.   Arrange outdoor games/Movies, Indoor game competitions, etc.-  Please refer this video for more information about the employee engagement ideas.   Advantages and Disadvantages of Employee Engagement: Employee engagement programs have both advantages and disadvantages and they depend on the implementation of employee praticipation in different processes of  policy and decision-making. Figure 7.2 will elaborate more details.  Advantages of Employee Engagement Disadvantages of Employee Engagement  Motivates the individual The top policies are revealed The expected output is good The difficulty to match the IQ level Creative work is delivered Security is at a greater risk Sense of superiority Liberalizing them Decision making becomes effective Making them understand the thing sometimes is very difficult No extra employees would be needed Regular updates are to be given Platform to prove potential Providing them training Employees get added value Expensive procedure for the company Increases their work capacity The message turns into rumor very fast                                                  Figure 7.2 - Pros & Cons of Employee engagement    Reference:    Ahmed, P & Nimer, A (2013) The antecedents affecting employee engagement and organizational performance. Asian Social Science, pp 42-43 [Online]. Available at https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/. Accessed on 23rd May 2021.   Akram, A & Javed, F (2015) Employee engagement and visionary leadership: Impact on customer and employee satisfaction. Journal of Business Studies Quarterly, pp 139-141 [Online]. Available at https://d1wqtxts1xzle7.cloudfront.net/. Accessed on 23rd May 2021.    Armstrong, M. & Taylor, S. (2014) Armstrong’s handbook of human resource management practice (13th ed). Ashford Colour press Ltd [Online]. Available at https://e-uczelnia.uek.krakow.pl/pluginfile.php/604792/mod_folder/content/0/Armstrongs%20Handbook%20of%20Human%20Resource%20Management%20Practice_1.pdf?forcedownload=1. Accessed on 23rd May 2021.