Employee engagement is a topic that in recent years has increasingly become an important agenda for organizations, for-profit and non-profit organizations. Evidently, in the last survey conducted by Deloitte Consulting, this topic was ranked number two in the top urgent trend for HR professionals.
Although more and more are discussed and thought about, the understanding of employee engagement itself is still diverse. This diverse understanding starts from the diversity of definitions, frameworks, to the impact on performance. It is important to clear up a complete understanding of this, thereby helping us to think about or at least choose the optimal framework. And the selection of the optimal framework will make the probability of impact on performance increase.
There are many definitions of employee engagement. Some that will be used and quoted are:
Occasional innovative and cooperative behavior beyond the requirements of the role but in the service of organizational objectives (Katz and Kahn, 1966)
The harnessing of organizational members to their work roles, employ and express themselves physically, cognitively and emotionally during role performance (Kahn, 1990)
The state in which individually are emotionally and intellectually committed to the organization (Hewitt, 2004)
The condition which is characterized by energy, involvement and efficacy (Maslach et al, 2001).
Some of these definitions still seem fluid, not yet stable and solid. But at least we can see that there are several dimensions that can be raised to think about employee engagement, namely:
1. Relating to attitude and behavior
2. Relating to affect but also cognition.
3. Related to attachment to work or roles (job engagement) and attachment to the organization (organizational engagement).
From the three things above, it seems that the third point is something important to clarify the understanding and management of employee engagement.
Relation to Work
Have you ever met someone who was extraordinary committed to his work, delivered extraordinary results, always wanted to improve his work processes and results? Someone who seems to drown and gives his life to his work, never looks tired, always enthusiastic, always enthusiastic and never complains about his work? The conversations that are carried out in daily life are always related to work and how to make the job better. Time seemed to run out to think and talk about his work. These signs are early indications that the person has attachment to the job but not necessarily attachment to the organization.
Employee attachment is very likely to occur in the work or role he or she does and not in the organization. Job attachment is a situation when a person has a need to provide satisfying work results as part of an intrinsic reward or fulfill his self-image (May et al, 2004).
There are three levels of attachment to this job (Schaufeli, 2004), namely:
1. Absorption is a situation that describes a pleasant condition for a person to be immersed in his work, so that time passes quickly and one is difficult to separate from his work.
2. Dedication is a situation when a person involves himself far and deep, accompanied by feelings of enthusiasm, meaning, inspiration and pride.
3. Vigor is a situation when high energy and perseverance are evident. It also appears that the effort to invest effort in the work, does not get tired easily and continues to struggle even when faced with difficulties.
Organizational Links
Although it is true that organizational citizenship behavior is mutually
Helping at work, showing up on time, being good at attendance, using work time well and thinking about other departments are all embodiments of attachment to the organization, but this does not mean that organizational citizenship behavior always indicates attachment to the organization. Attachment to the organization will lead to organizational citizenship behavior but not necessarily the other way around (Robinson, et al 2004).
Attachment to the organization is seen in three main behaviors, namely SAY, STAY, STRIVE (Hewitt, 2004). They are
Having an attachment to the organization in general will consistently speak positively about the organization (SAY) both in internal and external relationships such as customers or prospective employees. Statuses and comments on social media today are one of the most effective ways to identify this.
They also have a strong desire to stay in the organization (STAY), regardless of the opportunity
is outside. They chose to stay not because there was no choice or offer, not because they didn't or they didn't have the courage to take risks, not because they were trapped, nor because of revenge, but simply because they had "fallen to death" with the organization, because they find organizational alignment with their value systems and life goals.
Then in turn, they will fight (STRIVE) for the continuity and progress of their organization by
provide energy, effort and positive contribution to the organization.
Thus, attachment to the organization is an intellectual and emotional commitment to the organization and not to oneself. Those who have this will give everything; time, thought and energy for the organization. Daily conversations that arise are not about his job or role but about the organization. Attachment to the organization is also characterized by initiative, activity, responsibility, proactiveness and persistence to advance the organization. In recent studies, organizational attachment has also been associated with innovative behavior.
Attachment and commitment to the organization occurs at 3 levels (Castellano, 2015), namely:
1. Normative Commitment: ought to belong to the organization
2. Continuance Commitment: need to belong to the organization
3. Affective Commitment: want to belong to the organization.
Managing Attachments
Employees Attachment to work does not automatically lead a person to attachment to the organization and vice versa. Both seem to be two dimensions that must be pursued together in parallel. Without attachment to work, attachment to the organization does not necessarily lead to an increase in organizational performance, on the contrary, attachment to the organization without attachment to work does not necessarily have a positive impact on the sustainability of the organization. Clearance of the two dimensions of employee engagement, as described earlier, will help us think of a framework for managing and working on both more effectively.
Management of employee engagement, both to the job and to the organization, is based on an exchange perspective social (social exchange theory). In this perspective, employee engagement is a form of action-reaction. Actions from the organization and reactions from employees. The basic assumptions used are as follows; When employees receive something from a company or organization, they will feel they have an obligation to pay for it with a higher level of attachment (Saks, 2006). That's why the majority of talks and discussions about employee attachment are what companies should do with their employees.
That is also the reason why the instrument for measuring employee engagement is generally more about action and not a measure of employee engagement itself. This action is considered very important because it is the antecedent of employee attachment. Planning actions and predicting reactions is a major part of managing employee engagement.
Planning Action
So that our actions are not sporadic, we need to have an idea of what factors are significant in build that attachment. From a study, it was found that there are 3 important things that will build attachment to work, namely, meaningfulness (meaningfullness), feelings of security (safety) and availability of resources (availability).
Job enrichment and role fit are the two main factors for building meaningfulness. The design of job characteristics plays an important role, but the role of the leader or direct supervisor also plays an important role in helping employees find meaning in the work they do. Actually, there is no specific type of work for a certain meaning, because the same job can give different meanings to two different people. Build Positive co-worker environment and supervisor support are important factors for developing a sense of security (Kahn, 1990) which also contributes to job attachment. The support provided in the form of providing the necessary resources for the completion of work or improving the quality of work is also one of the factors that need to be considered.
Perceptions of organizational support, apart from building attachment to work, it also contribute to attachment to the organization. Meanwhile systems and procedures that reflect fairness are also a significant factor in building attachment to the organization (Saks, 2006).
There Are Three Essential Factors That Will Forge Job Engagement: A Sense of Meaningfulness, A Feeling of Safety, And Resource Availability.
Estimating Reaction
Although in general the actions that we discussed above have great opportunities to build employee engagement, both in the job or in the organization, but we need to keep in mind that humans are actually unique individuals. Reactions to the same action may differ from person to person. Personality, locus of control, and values may be moderating factors that make reactions to differ. That's why managing employee engagement is an organizational action but individual and unique. No wonder the direct supervisor's role in building employee engagement is very large. The task of building employee engagement is not a managerial task but a leadership task.
If we want to build employee engagement, then our first step is to create or build leaders at every level of the organization (leaders at all levels). Without this, the organization will have difficulty in building employee attachment, both to work and to the organization.
Employee engagement is a topic that in recent years has increasingly become an important agenda for organizations, for-profit and non-profit organizations. Evidently, in the last survey conducted by Deloitte Consulting, this topic was ranked number two in the top urgent trend for HR professionals.
Although more and more are discussed and thought about, the understanding of employee engagement itself is still diverse. This diverse understanding starts from the diversity of definitions, frameworks, to the impact on performance. It is important to clear up a complete understanding of this, thereby helping us to think about or at least choose the optimal framework. And the selection of the optimal framework will make the probability of impact on performance increase.
There are many definitions of employee engagement. Some that will be used and quoted are:
Occasional innovative and cooperative behavior beyond the requirements of the role but in the service of organizational objectives (Katz and Kahn, 1966)
The harnessing of organizational members to their work roles, employ and express themselves physically, cognitively and emotionally during role performance (Kahn, 1990)
The state in which individually are emotionally and intellectually committed to the organization (Hewitt, 2004)
The condition which is characterized by energy, involvement and efficacy (Maslach et al, 2001).
Some of these definitions still seem fluid, not yet stable and solid. But at least we can see that there are several dimensions that can be raised to think about employee engagement, namely:
1. Relating to attitude and behavior
2. Relating to affect but also cognition.
3. Related to attachment to work or roles (job engagement) and attachment to the organization (organizational engagement).
From the three things above, it seems that the third point is something important to clarify the understanding and management of employee engagement.
Relation to Work
Have you ever met someone who was extraordinary committed to his work, delivered extraordinary results, always wanted to improve his work processes and results? Someone who seems to drown and gives his life to his work, never looks tired, always enthusiastic, always enthusiastic and never complains about his work? The conversations that are carried out in daily life are always related to work and how to make the job better. Time seemed to run out to think and talk about his work. These signs are early indications that the person has attachment to the job but not necessarily attachment to the organization.
Employee attachment is very likely to occur in the work or role he or she does and not in the organization. Job attachment is a situation when a person has a need to provide satisfying work results as part of an intrinsic reward or fulfill his self-image (May et al, 2004).
There are three levels of attachment to this job (Schaufeli, 2004), namely:
1. Absorption is a situation that describes a pleasant condition for a person to be immersed in his work, so that time passes quickly and one is difficult to separate from his work.
2. Dedication is a situation when a person involves himself far and deep, accompanied by feelings of enthusiasm, meaning, inspiration and pride.
3. Vigor is a situation when high energy and perseverance are evident. It also appears that the effort to invest effort in the work, does not get tired easily and continues to struggle even when faced with difficulties.
Organizational Links
Although it is true that organizational citizenship behavior is mutually
Helping at work, showing up on time, being good at attendance, using work time well and thinking about other departments are all embodiments of attachment to the organization, but this does not mean that organizational citizenship behavior always indicates attachment to the organization. Attachment to the organization will lead to organizational citizenship behavior but not necessarily the other way around (Robinson, et al 2004).
Attachment to the organization is seen in three main behaviors, namely SAY, STAY, STRIVE (Hewitt, 2004). They are
Having an attachment to the organization in general will consistently speak positively about the organization (SAY) both in internal and external relationships such as customers or prospective employees. Statuses and comments on social media today are one of the most effective ways to identify this.
They also have a strong desire to stay in the organization (STAY), regardless of the opportunity
is outside. They chose to stay not because there was no choice or offer, not because they didn't or they didn't have the courage to take risks, not because they were trapped, nor because of revenge, but simply because they had "fallen to death" with the organization, because they find organizational alignment with their value systems and life goals.
Then in turn, they will fight (STRIVE) for the continuity and progress of their organization by
provide energy, effort and positive contribution to the organization.
Thus, attachment to the organization is an intellectual and emotional commitment to the organization and not to oneself. Those who have this will give everything; time, thought and energy for the organization. Daily conversations that arise are not about his job or role but about the organization. Attachment to the organization is also characterized by initiative, activity, responsibility, proactiveness and persistence to advance the organization. In recent studies, organizational attachment has also been associated with innovative behavior.
Attachment and commitment to the organization occurs at 3 levels (Castellano, 2015), namely:
1. Normative Commitment: ought to belong to the organization
2. Continuance Commitment: need to belong to the organization
3. Affective Commitment: want to belong to the organization.
Managing Attachments
Employees Attachment to work does not automatically lead a person to attachment to the organization and vice versa. Both seem to be two dimensions that must be pursued together in parallel. Without attachment to work, attachment to the organization does not necessarily lead to an increase in organizational performance, on the contrary, attachment to the organization without attachment to work does not necessarily have a positive impact on the sustainability of the organization. Clearance of the two dimensions of employee engagement, as described earlier, will help us think of a framework for managing and working on both more effectively.
Management of employee engagement, both to the job and to the organization, is based on an exchange perspective social (social exchange theory). In this perspective, employee engagement is a form of action-reaction. Actions from the organization and reactions from employees. The basic assumptions used are as follows; When employees receive something from a company or organization, they will feel they have an obligation to pay for it with a higher level of attachment (Saks, 2006). That's why the majority of talks and discussions about employee attachment are what companies should do with their employees.
That is also the reason why the instrument for measuring employee engagement is generally more about action and not a measure of employee engagement itself. This action is considered very important because it is the antecedent of employee attachment. Planning actions and predicting reactions is a major part of managing employee engagement.
Planning Action
So that our actions are not sporadic, we need to have an idea of what factors are significant in build that attachment. From a study, it was found that there are 3 important things that will build attachment to work, namely, meaningfulness (meaningfullness), feelings of security (safety) and availability of resources (availability).
Job enrichment and role fit are the two main factors for building meaningfulness. The design of job characteristics plays an important role, but the role of the leader or direct supervisor also plays an important role in helping employees find meaning in the work they do. Actually, there is no specific type of work for a certain meaning, because the same job can give different meanings to two different people. Build Positive co-worker environment and supervisor support are important factors for developing a sense of security (Kahn, 1990) which also contributes to job attachment. The support provided in the form of providing the necessary resources for the completion of work or improving the quality of work is also one of the factors that need to be considered.
Perceptions of organizational support, apart from building attachment to work, it also contribute to attachment to the organization. Meanwhile systems and procedures that reflect fairness are also a significant factor in building attachment to the organization (Saks, 2006).
There Are Three Essential Factors That Will Forge Job Engagement: A Sense of Meaningfulness, A Feeling of Safety, And Resource Availability.
Estimating Reaction
Although in general the actions that we discussed above have great opportunities to build employee engagement, both in the job or in the organization, but we need to keep in mind that humans are actually unique individuals. Reactions to the same action may differ from person to person. Personality, locus of control, and values may be moderating factors that make reactions to differ. That's why managing employee engagement is an organizational action but individual and unique. No wonder the direct supervisor's role in building employee engagement is very large. The task of building employee engagement is not a managerial task but a leadership task.
If we want to build employee engagement, then our first step is to create or build leaders at every level of the organization (leaders at all levels). Without this, the organization will have difficulty in building employee attachment, both to work and to the organization.
