Tuesday 11 May 2010

Is there a connection between Employee Engagement and Talent Management?

In this blog we draw on research conducted by the Institute of Employment Studies (IES) in both 2003 & 2007 (Drivers of Engagement) and 2008 (Human Capital Measurement), Henley Management College’s own study in 2005 and our own work in this field.

What is employee engagement?

Employee engagement has risen in popularity over the past few years. Some enthusiastic pundits have made categorical statements that a more engaged employee leads to better business results and anecdotally there is evidence that this is so – intuitively this would of course make sense. However, there is also evidence that there is little or no correlation whatsoever with business performance – a recent study by Henley Management College concluded that in their research in the corporate world, no such relationship exists.

We have also seen commentary relating to engagement that focuses on the notion of how to get that ‘extra discretionary effort’, i.e. to create employees that are willing to put in more work for altruistic reasons. We think that this focus on singularly attempting to get more out of people is both cynical and short-termist. Having said all this, a more productive, motivated, happy and ‘easier to get on with colleague’ is better than one who isn’t and engagement studies have sought to attempt to analyse and decode what makes this ‘better’ employee.

Consequently, employee engagement has developed into a complex and multi-dimensional concept that has gone much further than the simple notions of motivation, the psychological contract and employee satisfaction, yet it draws on elements of each of these ideas. It also has much in common with the extensively researched concepts of commitment and organisational citizenship behaviour (OCB). With these last two, there are some important differences – engagement is a two-way process: organisations engage people (intentionally or otherwise) through their systems and processes and they in turn choose the level of reciprocal engagement.

Do read our article in our last newsletter ‘Are your Talent Management Processes Fair?

http://www.head-light.co.uk/Articles/Fair_Talent_Management.pdf

So what does an engaged employee ‘look like’? From an HR perspective, the typical behaviours demonstrated by the engaged employee are:

  • A belief in the organisation and its purpose
  • A desire to work to make things better
  • An understanding of business context and the ‘bigger picture’
  • Being respectful of, and helpful to, colleagues
  • A willingness to ‘go the extra mile’ , and
  • Keeping up to date with developments in their field.

If only it was so straightforward that we could ask employees these questions directly and get reliable candid responses!

This is where Occupational Psychologists can add real value and develop (and validate) engagement-oriented behavioural indicators, not dissimilar from those used in 360 reviews. Subtlety and deftness can be achieved with careful wording that ask the important questions in the right way and a combination of positive and negative statements together with some discretion as who to ask for feedback, makes for an insightful diagnostic.

Ask us for some examples.

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