Employee Engagement & Retention Flashcards
Employee Engagement
An outcome driven concept–certain employee and employer characterisitcs can lead to employee behaviors that positively influence individuals and business level performance.
Schaufeli and Bakker’s View on EE Engagement
Vigor: high levels of energy and effort into their work.
Dedication: involved in their work and a sense of pride and enthusiasm about it.
Absoprtion: fully concentrated in their work.
Macey and Schneider view on EE Engagement
Trait Engagement: personality elements that make an individual predisposed to being engaged
State Engagement: influenced by workplace conditions or practices
Behavioral Engagement: the effort EEs put into their jobs, which leads to greater value, creating higher performance than from their less engaged counterparts–can occur when both trait and state engagement are present
Benefits of EE Engagement
- profitability increase
- thefts decrease
- absenteeism decrease
- defects decrease
Drivers of EE Engagement
- The work itself
- Confidence and trust in leadership
- Recognition and reward
- Orgz communication that is delivered timely
The Aon Hewitt Engagement Model
Say–speak positively
Stay–have an intense sense of belonging
Strive–are motivated to succeed
Types of Orgz Culture
Authoritarian: power resides with top level mgmt
Mechanistic: tasks are defined clearly and shaped by formal rules
Participative: collaborate decision making or group problem solving
Learning: the increase of knowledge
High Performance: talent is championed
Questions to answer when gathering information about EE engagement
- What orgz culture have we created?
- Does this culture support achievements of our strategic goals?
- How can the orgz culture be expressed in a way that increases EE engagement?
Management Competencies for Enhancing EE Engagement
- Supporting EE growth: automony, development, feedback, recognition
- Interpersonal style: individual interest, availability, personal matter, ethics
- Monitoring direction: reviewing and guiding, clarifying expectations, managing time and resources, following processes/procedures
Business Case for EE Engagement
- Commit long term: need sustained efforts over time
- Measure consistently: measurement of engagement and progress towards goals should happen consistently
- Connect engagement to business results: communication of how engagement influences orgz outcomes
- Seek employee input: EEs have the opportunity to provide input
- Gain leadership support: need support from leadership
Retention
The ability to keep talented employees in the orgz. Orgz aspire to keep high performers and to exit the low performers.
Why do EEs stay?
- Meaningful work
- Are recognized
- Orgz provides tools and resources
- Performance systems are fair, transparent
- Appleaing incentives and perks
Key Areas of EE Engagement
- Leadership Characteristics: care about EEs, trust
- Team Practices: understand customers, reward EEs
- Orgz Values: values EEs, is customer focused
- Work Itself: is challenging and meaningful
4 Ways to Measure and Analyze EE Engagement
- Career development: advancement opportunities
- Releationship w Mgmt: autonomy, recognition
- Comp & Benefits: pay overall
- Work Environment: meaningfulnes of the job
Employee Surveys
An instrument used to collect and assess EE attitudes on and pereptions of the work environment
Attitude Survey: attempt to determine EE perception of such topics as company culture and company image, the quality of mgmt, the effectiveness of comp and benefits, orgz communication, diversity/safety concerns.
Opinion Survey: measure important data on specific issues, gain opinions on specific processes, safety procedures, or an other issue the employer is evaluating.
Engagement Survey: focus on EE level of job satisfaction, commitment, and morale, these should be linked to business objectives.
Benefits of Surveys
- Provide a direct means of assessing EE attitudes
- Improve EE relations
- Increase levels of EE trust
- Improve the satisfaction levels of customers
- Detect early warning signs of problems
Advantages v. Disadvantages of EE Surveys Online
A: higher response rates due to EE access convenience, increased responses to open-ended questions, elimination of interviewer biases
D: all EEs must have access to a computer, need up to date email address, run out of space on open-ended questions
Stay Interviews
Employees discuss why they like to (or do not like) their current job
*Good way to get suggestions from current EEs
Employee Life Cycle
Describes all activities associated with an EEs tenure in an orgz.
Recruitment: EE/employer relationship begins
Integration: EE gains access to information and tools
Development: Time investment in the EE
Transition: resign, transfer, promote, retire
Practices to Increase Engagement during Employment
- Job Enrichment
- Learning & Development
- Strategic Compensation
- Performance and Career Management
Strategic Compensation
Equitable Compensation: aligns comp with external market value and internal strategic value
Pay for Performance: focus on EEs attention on incentivized behaviors
Competency-based: fosters acquisition of knowledge and skills
Competitive: attracts qualified job candidates
Equitable Exchange: signals commitment reciprocity
Flexible benefits and perks: facilitates commitment congruence (work/family)
Retirment and seniority graded: foster long term commitment and identification with the company
Realistic Job Preview (RJP)
Any part of the selection proess that provides an applicant with honest and complete information about a job and the work environment–a clear picture of what a job will be like if the applicant is hired.
*description of a day-to-day
Skinner’s Reinforcement of Desired Behaviors
Positive Reinforcement: adding something valued–ex: an employee receives time off for a significant work contribution
Negative Reinforcement: removing soemthing disliked–ex: a team that has worked especially hard is given a casual dress day.
HRs Role in EE Recognition
- Promote a strategic recognition program
- Tie recognition programs to corporate values
- Encourage corporate spending on EE recognition
EE Engagement Practices During Separation
- Branding
- New business
- Industry Intelligence
- Boomerangs
- EE referrals
A Performance Management System Includes these 5
- Orgz values and goals
- Performance management standards
- EE performance/behaviors
- Measurement and feedback
- Business results and employee growth
Performance Standards
The expectation of management translated into two key elements that EEs can deliver:
- Behaviors: what the orgz wants the EE to do
- Results: what the orgz wants the EE to produce
Performance Appraisal
Measuring EEs adherence to performance standards and providing feedback.
Has three purposes:
- provide feedback and counseling
- help in allocating rewards and opportunities
- help in determining EEs aspirations and planning development needs
Appraisal Methods ‘Category Rating Methods’
The least complex means of appraising performance
- Graphic scale: a scale of each task, score 1-5
- Checklist: list of statements or words and check all that apply
- Forced choice: variation on the checklist method, required to check two of four statements, one the EE is most like and and least like.
Appraisal Methods ‘Comparative Methods’
Appraiser directly compares the performance of each EE with another
- Ranking: list all EEs from highest to lowest
- Paired comparison: each EE is paired with every other EE and compared
- Forced distribution: EEs are rated and placed at different percentage points along a bell shaped curve
Appraisal Methods ‘Narrative Methods’
Appraiser submits written naratives
- Essay: short essay
- Cricital Incidents: record of employee actions
- Field review: HR interviews the supervisor about the performance of each EE
2 Special Appraisal Methods
Management by Objectives (MBO): The employees help set objectives for themselves, defining what they intend to achieve within a specified time period. Ex: a strategic plan is in place, clearly defined objectives, higher level of commitment and performance results
Behaviorally anchored rating scale (BARS): Designed to overcome the problems of category rating by describing examples of desirable and undesirable behaviors. Ex: outstanding, satisfactory, unsatisfactory
Errors in Performance Appraisal
Halo/Horn: extremely competent in one area they must be great or vise versa, not competent they must be terrible everywhere
Recency: give more weight to recent occurences
Primary: gives more weight to the EEs earlier performance
Bias: appraisers values/beliefs/prejudice aka similar to me=rate them well
Strictness: reluctant to give high ratings
Leniency: all EEs in the case are given high scores
Central tendency: rates all EEs within a narrow range
Contrast: how his/her own performance compares to that of antoher EE
Appraisal Meeting
- Gain agreement on the appraisal ratings
- Set specific objectives that the EE is to achieve
- Create an implementation plan
- Discuss how the appraiser will follow up
- Discuss what must be accomplished
EE Engagement Metrics
EE absence rate: # of days absent in a month/average # of EE during month*number of workdays in month
Workers Comp Incident rate: # of injuries per 100-full time EEs/total hours worked by all EEs during the year
Revenue per EE: total revenue/total # of EEs
Turnover rate: # of seperations during the measurement period/Average # of EEs during measurement period
Yield ratio: % of applicants for a recruitment source that make it to determned stage of application process
How to Improve EE Retention
Treat retention of key EEs as a strategic part of talent mgmt
Know what motivates each segment of the workforce
Conduct ongoing research to monitor motivation
Link the ability to retain talent to managers performance (hold them accountable)
Keep EEs informed about the orgz
Survey Development Principles
Prepare the EEs; communicate the purpose
Survey significant areas
Guarantee confidentiality
Provide timely and actionable feedback on the results
Approaches to Measuring Effectiveness of Performance Mgmt System
Track training of users
Track completion of activities
Review performance standards periodically
Review alignment with orgz strategic goals
Confirm positive relationship of appraisal results with promotions and pay increase
Gather feedback from users
Understanding Turnover
What is the current turnover rate? How does it compare to previous years? How does it compare to industry? How much is TO costing the orgz? Who is leaving the orgz? What impact does it have on morale?
