The challenges to employee engagement and the importance of understanding what your business needs

There are many challenges to employee engagement. Reaching and maintaining good levels of employee engagement requires varying levels of attention from the organisation, depending on a number of factors, ranging from the size of the organisation, the industry in which they operate and the office culture. Having the self-awareness as a business to recognise how to implement the correct initiatives and management techniques to optimise employee engagement can prove challenging but can also be highly rewarding.

Office Culture

One of the key challenges to employee engagement is the organisational culture. Having a positive culture whereby all employees buy into the mission statements of the business and are ‘on the same page’ is a massively important step towards synergising the workforce. The reason for the positive relationship between organisational culture and engagement is related to support, as described by Parent & Lovelace (2015) “A positive organizational culture also aids in the engagement process due to the fact that a positive workplace supports its employees.”

As the size of an organisation grows in terms of staff numbers, it increasingly becomes a challenge to employee engagement to control and influence employee engagement from an HR and management perspective. Of course, larger organisations departmentalise and delegate management responsibilities, therefore the senior management may encounter challenges projecting their intended office culture successfully throughout the whole organisation. They can implement initiatives and organise team building exercises and so on, but these initiatives will only be effective if they are accepted by the majority within the workforce. However, this is not to say that it is better to be a smaller organisation in this sense. An organisation with a smaller workforce may see a greater dependence on the management or individuals within the team to create a positive office culture – and this is not as reliable and sustainable as an organic and self-sufficient office culture. Whether the organisation is small or large, it is important that everyone buys into and internalises the desired working culture, allowing it to manifest on its own within the team or department.

Significance of perceived importance/Job satisfaction

One of the traditional benefits that being part of a large workforce can offer is to improve job satisfaction through the notion of being ‘part of something bigger than oneself.’ The idea that your work output is a contributing factor greater than yourself can be a massive boost to an employee’s job satisfaction. This may vary depending on the industry in which the business operates but in a general sense employees like to feel as though their work matters. Another factor affecting job satisfaction is the organisation’s level of perceived prestige. For example, many new graduates of business or economics (or any other relevant areas of study) who are seeking a career within finance will perceive one of the ‘financial big 4’ as the holy grail of post-graduate employment roles. In this instance, a large proportion of engagement among the new joiners is being largely driven by the reputation of the organisation and the perceived importance and significance of the role within the organisation. However, not all companies can rely on their reputation as a key driver of engagement in new joiners, which is why a positive onboarding experience is so important. Research from Madeline Laurano, Brandon Hall Group (2015), highlights the importance of effective onboarding processes, finding that this can improve new hire retention by 82%, and consequently improve productivity by 70%. Laurano highlights 3 effective onboarding processes:

• Utilising tools and technology that enable new hires to succeed.
• Emphasising assimilation.
• Fostering new-hire socialisation

However, being part of a large team within a big organisation can also have negative impacts on an employee’s job satisfaction levels, with them potentially feeling as though they are a ‘small fish in a big pond.’ This is definitely one of the challenges to employee engagement. It is important to be aware of individual differences within a team, different people will respond differently to factors affecting engagement, both positively and negatively.

Communication

There are a variety of different methods of communication that a manager can utilise to achieve different desired effects. The use of tools may vary depending on a variety of factors, such as the size or operating style of the business. For example, a larger organisation will utilise a mixed bag of communication tools, such as company intranets or other bespoke platforms for company-wide communication, alongside the ‘usual suspects’ such as Microsoft Teams, to navigate the day-to-day communication within departments and sub-departments.  Whilst smaller firms may be able to use more direct and responsive forms of communication.  Either way, implementing any communication channels appropriately and effectively will have a positive impact when it comes to the challenges to employee engagement. Ultimately, these channels must be introduced in a way that meets the needs and requirements of the workforce, both company-wide and at team level, i.e.:

• How many members of staff are in each team?
• How many members of staff are WFH?
• What are the IT capabilities of the team both skill-wise and resource-wise?

These are all important things to think about when considering the challenges to employee engagement. With larger organisations being departmentalised, the differences between large and small organisations in terms of engagement from a communication standpoint would likely not vary as much as other factors. One of the key areas of consideration in the challenges to employee engagement, particularly in a post-covid era of working, is how does the efficacy of communication through technology compare to face-to-face/in-office communication?

A study by Kang & Sung (2017), published in the Journal of Communication Management, highlighted the importance of ‘symmetric internal communication,’ and the impact of this on an employee’s perception of their relationship with the company, and how poor communication management can impact the employee’s turnover intention (likelihood of leaving). Employee/internal communication management is linked with employee engagement; employee engagement enhances supportive employee communication behaviours and reduces turnover intention.

Conclusion to the challenges to employee engagement

The differences between large and small organisations in regard to the challenges to employee engagement (and how to effectively navigate this as a manager) is a bit of an iceberg, in the sense that there are so many factors and influences that we don’t necessarily see on a day-to-day basis, but they are most certainly present, and constantly influencing employee engagement. There will not be a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to implementing strategies to help drive employee engagement. As a manager, we can only begin to implement strategies to drive employee engagement once we have an accurate and true snapshot of our team or department, and our organisation as a whole.

If you want to find solutions to the challenges to employee engagement through powerful employee insights, our bespoke employee engagement surveys will deliver exactly what you require to make significant changes for your employees. Our range of staff surveys, including pulse surveys and 360 feedback surveys will give you the data you need to increase employee engagement. Contact The Survey Initiative today for more information.

References

The True Cost of a Bad Hire, Laurano (2015) https://www.bdo.com/getmedia/fc989309-6824-4ad6-9f8d-9ef1138e3d42/the-true-cost-of-a-bad-hire.pdf

The Impact of Employee Engagement and a Positive Organizational Culture on an Individual’s Ability to Adapt to Organization Change, Parent & Lovelace (2015) https://scholarworks.merrimack.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1009&context=mgt_facpub

How symmetrical employee communication leads to employee engagement and positive employee communication behaviors: The mediation of employee-organization relationships, Kang & Sung (2017) https://www.researchgate.net/publication/313361891_How_symmetrical_employee_communication_leads_to_employee_engagement_and_positive_employee_communication_behaviors_The_mediation_of_employee-organization_relationships

At The Survey Initiative, we can provide you with that accurate snapshot.  We have a team of highly experienced experts who understand the challenges to employee engagement and offer bespoke surveys that we tailor to your exact business requirements, so get in touch with our friendly team by emailing: info@surveyinitiative.co.uk