A Study On Employee Engagement Strategy Management Essay

A Study On Employee Engagement Strategy Management Essay Engagement is about creating opportunities for employees to connect with their colleagues, managers and wider organisation. It is also about creating an environment where employees are motivated to want to connect with their work and really care about doing a good job. Why is employee engagement relevant to ITC? Almost all examples quoted in the consultant findings demonstrate an out-and-out lack of employee engagement; moreover, the opposite appears to be the case. At this point, it is important to note that a global survey by BlessingWhite Intelligence (2008) on the state of employee engagement found that that â€Å"Indian workers are among the most focused and satisfied in the world†. In the Asia-Pacific groupings, full engagement for Indian employees reaches 34% in comparison to the lowest of only 10% for China. Moreover, over 65% of respondents said ‘yes when asked if, assuming they had the choice, they would hope to remain within their organisation in 2008. From this, the apparent lack of employee engagement and retention issues apparent within ITC would appear to point to something we are doing wrong as a company. The first question should be: Why is employee engagement important? Links between employee attitudes, employee management and business performance have been repeatedly demonstrated in CIPD (2009) research, and the Aberdeen Group (2009) reported only this year that 82% of ‘Best-in-Class organisations attributed employee engagement initiatives directly to transformations in revenue and / or profitability. Employee engagement spills into the concept of the ‘psychological contract. The ‘psychological contract is a popular framework within which aspects of the employee relationship can be studied (Bratton Gold, 2007; 14). Guest and Conway (2002) define it as â€Å"the perceptions of the two parties, employee and employer, of what their mutual obligations are towards each other†. These obligations tend to differ from individual-to- individual and are often imprecise / unspoken and inferred â€Å"from actions or from what has happened in the past, as well as from statements made by the employer†(CIPD; Employee engagement; RevisedNovember 2009). This contract forms the basis for employer brand (The psychological contract. Revised January 2009) and often employed to promote in staff retention and recruiting drives. For all of the latter reasons, ITC should pay close heed to this contract. After all, taking account of the emotional needs of the employee ought to be a consideration when we consider they are the only resource within our organization that can simply â€Å"walk out†, taking their skills and possible opinions of negative employer brand with them. Customer service issues With regards the consultant reports of customer service issues, several studies have found that employee engagement is an important variable on this front. The CIPD (2009; 2) reported that Visa Europe figures show that employee engagement levels ran parallel with an increase in customer satisfaction. Likewise, it seems institutive that an increase in customer satisfaction would henceforth lead to an increase financial performance. In a recent study within the customer service industry by Chi and Gursoy (2009), empirical support for this link was indeed presented. On the engagement level, while they found employee satisfaction did not appear to impact on financial performance directly, they did find an indirect relationship between the latter, with customer satisfaction acting as the mediator. Storey, on the other hand refers to engagement as EIP (employee involvement and participation) and stated that it is â€Å"thought to contribute to improved levels of worker satisfaction and commitment and, subsequently, organisational performance.† From this it would appear that engaged and satisfied employees are a requirement for customer satisfaction, with customer satisfaction being the strongest indicator in financial performance. It would also appear, however, that all three variables are required to be woven into the same fabric for overall business success. For ITC, without employee engagement / satisfaction, there will little customer satisfaction, and without customer satisfaction there will be no success. The obvious lack of ITC employee engagement at this moment in time is a worrying factor with regards this tripartite equation. Therefore, the obvious question should be how do we tackle employee disengagement, how do we go about driving employee engagement? Employee engagement drivers According to the CIPD (Employee engagement; Revised November 2009), there is no absolute list definitive of engagement ‘drivers. Their research has shown, however, the key employee engagement drivers are: Opportunities to feed employee views upwards Feeling well-informed about what is happening in the organisation The employee believing that their manager is committed to the organisation Most writers agree that one of the most important factors at play with regards employee engagement is reciprocal communication between management and the requirement to keep all employees well informed, etc. As you might imagine, these factors are also very much involved in the psychological contract; it is also suggested that, in a crisis, â€Å"mutually recognised expectations are best shaped by honest communication and solid information† (Dietz 2009). At this moment in ITC history, we might be described as being on the verge of crisis point. Intranet 2.0 One suggestion that appears oddly lacking in ITC since its inception is our lack of corporate Intranet. All of the key engagement drivers suggested above can to some end be addressed with the implementation of an Intranet solution, this of course would not solve all of our problems, but it would at least supplement any other measures we ultimately put into place. This Intranet should not be of the antiquated variety, that is, one where static pages existed, with the sole purpose of providing information. We should be embracing all that Web 2.0 tools have to offer (i.e. highly dynamic / interactive internal social networking tools, instant messaging, wikis, blogs, discussion forums, and RSS feed technologies, etc.). Intranet 2.0 is still very much in its infancy, so the ability to introduce a rich networking environment is very much in line with core business strategies of innovation and creativity. We also have a largely young workforce, and Web 2.0 technology tools are something the younger generation have grown accustomed, and this acquaintance can be employed to our advantage in the recruitment field. When it comes to the employees call to connect with managers, the desire to believe in their commitment, and having the opportunity to have views fed upwards, the sharing medium of Intranet 2.0 is ideally suited to help facilitate these key engagement drivers. Web 2.0 tools flatten company hierarchy by providing a transparent path of communication between employees at all levels, from the Company Director down to the shop floor worker. It can provide staff across geographical location, irrespective of position or intellect, the opportunity to ‘float ideas on new products ranges, best practices, working procedures, etc. via live suggestion boxes. These ideas can appear in real time and will open to further comments / suggestions by all staff. Intranet 2.0 can also provide a channel for feedback on organisational news announcements, strategies, etc. This type of feedback can help â€Å"managers to gain insight into the needs and motivations of employees† (BlessingWhite, I nc. 2008). Indeed, employee attitude surveys[1] can be a regular feature of the system, the results of which can used to measure employee engagement and gauge feeling amongst the workforce, all of which can help ITC identify areas to focus improvement towards. The ability of such an Intranet to training and development tool cannot be underplayed. It can provide the workforce with the most up-to-date product information, tutorials, and marketing material, etc. This information does not have to appear in the way it did pre-Web 2.0, where static pages were displayed across the organisation, meaning each employee would be required to wade through pages in order to arrive at the relevant ‘nugget of information. Intranet 2.0 provides levels of personalisation to the point of providing â€Å"each employee with news updates focused on their job role† (Nielsen, J. 2009). This would be of particular benefit when it comes to areas such as the customer complaints we have been receiving from the call centre regarding staff not being â€Å"up-to-date† on products. For example, this type of system has capability to consistently display individual staff with the most â€Å"up-to-date† products details and Q A scripts, etc. As this Intranet 2.0 proposition is based on helping the flow of communication across the entire organisation, then logically, we would require all staff to have appropriate access to such a system. Head Office, call centre and retails staff are likely to have ready access to PC, laptop, mobile phone technologies in order to do this. In the factory, however, such access is very likely limited. To get around this, deployment of PCs / touch-screens at specific locations throughout the factory is recommended; perhaps inviting factory floor staff to use the system during lunch breaks, etc. Following the suggestion that we allow all employees across the site access the canteen, situating access in this area would also make sense. Web 2.0 technologies and business performance Beyond the obvious communication-flow benefits of Web 2.0 technologies, recent findings by the Aberdeen Group also provide positive figures for their business performance benefits. Saba (2009) reported that they found that 52 % of organisations who employed social networking tools, blogs, and wikis achieved ‘Best-in-Class compared to only 5% for those who did employ them. They also provided figures for Web 2.0 tools relation to employee engagement. They found an 18% average year-on-year increase in employee engagement for organisations employing Web 2.0 technologies in comparison to a mere 1% for those who did not Bratton, J. and Gold, J. (2007) Human Resource Management: Theory and Practice BlessingWhite, Inc. (2008) The State of Employee Engagement 2008 PDF download under heading of ‘Asia Pacific Overview Website: http://www.blessingwhite.com/research.asp?pid=1 Chi, C. G. and Gursoy, D. (2009) School of Hospitality Business Management, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-4742, United States International Journal of Hospitality Management 28 (2009) 245-253 Website: http://www.sciencedirect.com CIPD (2009) An HR directors guide to employee engagement; Discussion paper PDF file available at: http://www.cipd.co.uk/NR/rdonlyres/8DD2561A-D3E3-4E63-9F63-EF74736A17B1/0/hr_director_guide_employee_engagement.pdf CIPD (Revised January 2009) The psychological contract http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/empreltns/psycntrct/psycontr.htm CIPD (Revised November 2009) Employee engagement -How do employers build an engaged workforce? Website: http://www.cipd.co.uk/subjects/empreltns/general/empengmt.htm Dietz, G. (2009) The psychological contract during the downturn Website: http://www.management-issues.com/2009/8/10/opinion/the-psychological-contract-during-the-downturn.asp Guest, D.E. and Conway, N. (2002) Pressure at work and the psychological contract. London: CIPD Lombardi, M. (2009) Human Capital Management; Employee Engagement is Critical for Organizations Today Website: http://research.aberdeen.com/index.php/analyst-insight/human-capital-management?start=8 Nielsen, J. (2009) Jakob Nielsens Alertbox: 10 Best Intranets of 2009 Website: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/intranet_design.html Saba, J. (2009) Web 2.0 in Talent Management Website: http://research.aberdeen.com/index.php/human-capital-management/86-human-capital-management-insights/588-web-20-in-talent-management

The Giver Essay Dystopia

It is difficult for us to imagine a world without color, personal freedoms, and love, but in this book, the society is exactly this. Being able to make your own choices is really important, most of us don’t realize it right now but it’s important to appreciate freedom. In the Giver, what may seem like a perfect society is actually a dystopia is because theres no individuality, you are assigned a family, and jobs were assigned as well. To begin with, individuality didn’t even exist in this community.Everything is conform, no one is allowed to know their own identity, and everyone’s lives are pre-programmed and ran by the Committee of The Elders. No one had emotions, feelings, or memories. They don’t see color and the weather in neither sunny, rainy, or snowy. Imagine how different life would be without memories or feelings. No stories to tell, not knowing what love is. Therefore, the association that Jonas lives in is dull, pre-planned and un-individ ual.Also, families are assigned in this union. Your placed in a family unit and you aren’t allowed to have your own kids or know your biological parents are. Your paired with a spouse that you don’t even love. How would you feel if your parents were not people who created you? How would you like not knowing who your real parents are? Thus, it’s important to realize how important it is to value your family and freedom because this society had assigned family.Another reason this realm is a dystopia is because jobs are assigned to each person. â€Å" It’s choosing thats important isn’t it? ’’(Pg 110) For instance, being assigned jobs keeps you from living out your dreams and setting goals in life. What if you weren’t able too do what you have a true passion for. How would you like not being able to chose what you want to do for a living. All and all, through these words of evidence, its pretty clear that the community is dystopia .

Hamlet Branaghs Ophelia and Showalters Representing...

Hamlet: Branaghs Ophelia and Showalters Representing Ophelia Ophelia falls to the floor, her screams contrasting eerily with the song pieces she uses as her speech. In an instant she is writhing and thrusting her pelvis in such a gross sexual manner that it becomes clear that, in his film interpretation of William Shakespeares Hamlet, Kenneth Branagh wants to imply a strong relationship between female insanity and female sexuality. Such a relationship is exactly what Elaine Showalter discusses in her essay -- Representing Ophelia: Women, Madness, and the Responsibilities of Feminist Criticism -- I will be showing first of all the representational bonds between female insanity and female sexuality (Showalter 223).†¦show more content†¦Such a deliberate choice by Branagh can be most easily seen by his representation of Ophelia in the mad scene (Hamlet 4.5) and Branaghs inclusion and representation of Ophelia in scenes where she does not appear in the text. In fact, in contrast to past representations of Ophelia when some of her lines were cut, Branagh actually gives his Ophelia more lines than Shakespeare does to better convey Branaghs own interpretation. One such instance occurs when Branagh gives Ophelia a line that is, in the text, Guildensterns: A thing, my lord? (Hamlet 4.2.28). In the Branagh film, Ophelia first appears at the wedding of Claudius and Gertrude ( Hamlet 1.2). Dressed in bright red, with make-up on her face and her hair done beautifully -- up off her face and curled -- Ophelia stands next to her father like a coy maiden: joyfully and dutifully applauding in support of her brother, Laertes, when he obtains permission to leave for France, yet also looking worried about the nighted color of Hamlet. In fact, at the ending of the wedding scene (1.2.129), Ophelia rushes up to comfort Hamlet; she extends her arm and looks as though she will embrace him when Laertes grabs her and leads her off. There is no mention of suchShow MoreRelated Custom Essays: Ophelia as a Sexual Being2180 Words   |  9 PagesOphelia as a Sexual Being in Hamlet      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In Elaine Showalters essay, feminist criticism allows Ophelia to upstage Hamlet [and] . . . brings to the foreground . . . the cultural links between femininity, [and] female sexuality (221). In most of his plays, William Shakespeare has many women in secondary roles, only filling dead space or causing strife between men. During Shakespeares time, thoughts of women bordered on weak and deceitful images, leading to the idea of frail, yet conniving

Ece 313 Week 1 Assignment Family Partnerships - 1326 Words

ECE 313 WEEK 1 ASSIGNMENT FAMILY PARTNERSHIPS To purchase this visit here: http://www.activitymode.com/product/ece-313-week-1-assignment-family-partnerships/ Contact us at: SUPPORT@ACTIVITYMODE.COM ECE 313 WEEK 1 ASSIGNMENT FAMILY PARTNERSHIPS Family Partnerships. Chapter 1 focuses on the family-centered approach to early childhood education, highlighting the importance of the partnership between the family, the early childhood program, and the community to maximize a child’s development and learning. For this assignment, you will create a one- to two-page fact sheet (not including title and reference pages) you can provide to the families in your program that explains the values and challenges of a family-centered approach.†¦show more content†¦For this assignment, you will create a one- to two-page fact sheet (not including title and reference pages) you can provide to the families in your program that explains the values and challenges of a family-centered approach. The content on your fact sheet should: 1. Summarize the components of a family-centered approach. 2. Describe five benefits of a family-centered approach. 3. Describe two potential obstacles to overcome in a family-centered approach. 4. Recommend two strategies to overcome obstacles and enlist the support of parents. In addition to the required content, please be creative with your fact sheet. Keep in mind that this is a resource to be used in the classroom, so make it parent friendly and engaging. You may wish to add visuals and pictures. Be sure to also use at least one scholarly source in addition to the text to support the ideas, and cite all references in APA format as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. Activity mode aims to provide quality study notes and tutorials to the students of ECE 313 WEEK 1 ASSIGNMENT FAMILY PARTNERSHIPS in order to ace their studies. ECE 313 WEEK 1 ASSIGNMENT FAMILY PARTNERSHIPS To purchase this visit here: http://www.activitymode.com/product/ece-313-week-1-assignment-family-partnerships/ Contact us