The recent BW-HR Anexi BlessingWhite Employee
Engagement Survey 2008 shows that Indians are highly engaged as employees. While these are excellent signs, as human resource and internal communication professionals we cannot afford to get complacent.
The study reports that the acid test is how organization’s proactively tackle increased competition for talent, a potential slowdown and demanding employees.
Employee engagement is a more recent term; organizational commitment has been widely studied and has been around longer. I recently read a paper on which demonstrated linkages between corporate culture (teamwork, communication, reward and recognition, and training and development) and organizational commitment.
Quite similar to the results from this study which shows the top three drivers for engagement as a) development opportunities and training; b) regular, specific feedback about how I’m doing ; and c) greater clarity about what the organization needs me to do and why.
Internal communicators and human resource professionals need to create opportunities where employees feel more valued (identification) while allowing them to add value (involvement).
Research has found that organizations that communicate regularly and openly with their employees are more likely to gain their commitment than employers that do not. Also that internal communications helps to influence “fundamental beliefs, values, and attitudes necessary for employee empowerment and commitment to quality and service”.
I personally believe that organizations that walk the talk stand to gain during trying times as employees perceive or sense the level of commitment to their cause.
