A Holistic Approach To Employee Engagement

rajneeshchowdhury@gmail.
com
Chapter 10
A Holistic Approach to Employee
Engagement
10.1 Introduction
Engaging with employees has always attracted a degree of mystery for corporations
and management across the world. The nature of corporations and management styles
has evolved over time with more sophisticated workplace understanding, technolog-
ical developments, and new societal norms and trends. However, the need to touch
people to keep them more engaged and eventually more productive has always sur-
faced newer challenges.
Not too long ago, a purely functional approach would have led management to
consider employee satisfaction (rather than engagement) as a factor of monetary
payouts. This later changed to the inclusion of fun and camaraderie at the workplace
as contributing to creating a more satisfying and rewarding work experience. Organ-
isations moved further on to give employees the opportunity to learn and develop as
better professionals, partnering with them to give back to the society and even letting
employees do what they would like to do where the organisation simply offers the
most fertile soil for employees to flourish.
Despite a range of academic deliberations and management experimentations,
employee engagement still remains a mystery for many.
This chapter presents the mainstream discussions and models on employee
engagement. I will draw on my experience of working in talent consulting with
various clients in different sectors and present a case study of an employee engage-
ment project that I led. My arguments will focus on how we can have a more holistic
approach to employee engagement considering the multitude of dimensions that are
at play for an individual in an organisation. Challenges, opportunity areas and learn-
ing from real-life experience will be presented to bring home the fact that engagement
is not a stand-alone concept, but is an integral element for the business.
© Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2019 269

R. Chowdhury, Systems Thinking for Management Consultants,
Flexible Systems Management, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-8530-8_10
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270 10 A Holistic Approach to Employee Engagement
10.2 What Is Employee Engagement
The understanding that people are an important aspect of managing a business has
existed since the post-Taylor age in some form or the other. However, it was only in
1990 that employee engagement first appeared as a management concept, defined as
“… the harnessing of organisation members’ selves to their work roles; in engage-
ment, people employ and express themselves physically, cognitively, and emotionally
during role performances” (Kahn 1990; p. 694). Kahn was the first to articulate a
rounded approach to engagement when he said that an employee’s beliefs about the
organisation, alignment with values and association with leaders and work processes
impact how he or she is able to perform and contribute to his or her role expec-
tations. Strong references to emotive elements like values, leadership and culture
elevated the concept of engagement from being just a state of physical involvement
of an employee to that where one is emotionally involved and psychologically asso-
ciated with the organisation. Meeting the right combination of physical, emotional
and psychological needs of employees enables them to contribute positively to their
organisations.
Catering to emotional needs of employees can create a better attitude in people
and also helps them cope with any stress that is likely to appear at the workplace.
Positive emotions let people think in a more open and flexible manner leading to
greater creativity and energy. This can in turn lead to more efficiency and workplace
productivity. In this context, Seijts and Crim (2006) talk about the importance of
creating and implementing targeted plans in organisations that address behavioural
change through physical and emotional interventions. Similarly, Robinson et al.
(2004) talk of creation of an environment with employees at the centre, and where
attributes like positive emotions and workplace pride are harboured. This, he opines,
contributes to organisational performance and controls attrition.
To end this section, I would like to quote The Conference Board that defines
employee engagement aptly as “a heightened emotional connection that an employee
feels for his or her organisation, that influences him or her to exert greater discre-
tionary effort to his or her work”.
10.2.1 Engagement Is Not Satisfaction
It is common to observe the overlap in the usage of the terms engagement and
satisfaction in everyday parlance. Often confusion is also observed in the literature to
distinguish between the concepts. Yu (2013) studied select definitions of engagement
and satisfaction, and found that “job satisfaction is more and more used as a measure
of engagement” (p. 11). Yu (2013) goes on to quote that an extensive study conducted
by Harter et al. (2002) where the concept of employee engagement had satisfaction
measurement as its core.
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10.2 What Is Employee Engagement 271
Fig. 10.1 Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene model
Engagement and satisfaction are closely linked but they are not the same. To
explain the difference, I borrow Herzberg’s (1964) Motivation-Hygiene Theory
where he articulated the basic requirements in an organisation for one to carry out his
or her job as against the higher order psychological and emotional factors that drive
them to give their best to and be committed to their workplace. He calls the former
hygiene factors and the latter motivation factors. Represented in Fig. 10.1, hygiene
factors include aspects such as pay and benefits, work conditions, job security, desig-
nation, leaves and work hours amongst others, and motivation factors include aspects
such as work challenge, recognition, responsibilities, growth prospects, learning
opportunities and sense of achievement amongst others. Whereas hygiene factors
are the minimum required for employees to be working in a stable and satisfying
manner, motivation factors drive people to see meaning in their work, stretch them-
selves, give in the extra and feel a connect with their organisations; in other words,
they contribute towards engagement.
Hygiene factors are essential for motivation factors to be realised. Therefore,
employee satisfaction can be seen as a stepping stone to employee engagement. The
ADP Institute (2012) articulates the difference between satisfaction and engagement
with the following definitions:
Employee Satisfaction is a measurement of an employee’s “happiness” with current job and
conditions; it does not measure how much effort the employee is willing to expend.
Employee Engagement is a measurement of an employee’s emotional commitment to an
organisation; it takes into account the amount of discretionary effort an employee expends
on behalf of the organisation.
As Newman et al. (2010) say, whereas satisfaction is about satiation, engagement

is about passion.
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The term engagement might not have been clearly distinguished from satisfaction
as done clearly by the definition of Kahn (1990), but reminiscence of engagement
was observed in past literature as well. Yu (2013) argues that some of the earlier
researchers such as Cross (1973), Hackman and Oldham (1975), Khaleque and
Rahman (1987), Scarpello and Campbell (1983), Smith et al. (1969) and Yuzuk
(1961) had elements of engagement captured in their connotation of satisfaction.
Ken Oehler, global lead at Aon’s Culture and Engagement practice, says:
The concept of employee engagement is often confused with satisfaction or happiness, but
it’s really about an employee’s psychological investment in their organisation and motiva-
tion to produce extraordinary results. Companies with employees who are above average
engagement levels will see better employee productivity, lower turnover rates and higher cus-
tomer satisfaction scores - all factors that can significantly contribute to improved financial
performance.
Research by Aon, the leading global talent-consulting firm, further finds that
employee engagement levels have a direct correlation with the Total Shareholder
Returns (TSR) of a company. Similarly, Maslach et al. (2001) suggested that engaged
employees have vigour, dedication and absorption that directly contribute to produc-
tivity and performance. They define vigour as high levels of energy and an unwavering
ability to stretch at work, dedication as a sense of deep involvement and pride and
absorption as a pleasant immersion in one’s own work.
Just as higher engagement leads to positive business results, lower engagement
can have equally negative consequences. Kahn (1990) in his research found that
disengaged employees were unable to perform to their full capacity and were simply
mechanical at work without display of creativity, enthusiasm and energy. Aon’s
research indicates that just as organisations that have a high engagement score have
a TSR of 20% above average, organisations with a low engagement score can have a
TSR of 60% below average. The organisation is never able to leverage the potential of
disengaged employees; they end up being a strain in resources. As found by Fleming
et al. (2005), negative emotions emanating out of disengagement can cost companies
upward of USD 300 Billion per year in lost productivity in the United States alone.
10.2.2 Benefits of an Engaged Workforce
An engaged workforce can bring in a range of benefits at various levels—individual,

team, business and societal. I will elaborate them below.
10.2.2.1 Individual
Higher engagement has positive outcomes on the individual employee. An engaged

employee displays the qualities of enthusiasm, passion and connection. Stress lev-
els are better managed due to the emotional and psychological association of the
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employee that leads to better health outcomes. Employees feel in better control of
themselves and their work, and are motivated to contribute at their optimum levels.
10.2.2.2 Team
Positive individual spirits lift up team spirits. At a collective level, people are able
to function healthy, perform better and create mutual value. According to Bindl and
Parker (2011), engaged employees are better able to navigate change and are able
to better deal with uncertainty. Engaged teams display higher maturity in uncer- tain
situations. Knowledge sharing becomes more seamless and employees tend to grow
by sharing rather than withholding information. Collaboration, and not com-
petition, becomes more evident. This helps better tapping into tacit knowledge that
rests with individuals and teams. Better team bonding helps in better alignment with
organisational values and goals. This enhances team spirit and higher performance.
10.2.2.3 Business
Various studies have found that employee engagement levels have a direct correlation
to business performance. The example from Aon on TSR is already shared above in
this discussion. Aon further says that engaged employees are better brand advo-
cates, stay longer and contribute more in their jobs. Gallup, another leading global
engagement-consulting firm, found a strong linkage between engagement levels, and
business growth and profitability (Gallup 2015).
Organisational alignment and understanding of the vision minimise the gap
between people and the organisation. Higher engagement leads to greater stretch
taking ability and creativity at the individual level. Team spirit is heightened, knowl-
edge sharing is enhanced and employees are better able to navigate change. Put
together, highly engaged employees are able to contribute exponentially better than
the disengaged.
I quote Mehta et al. (2016) who cite a study by Towers Perrin that found the
following (quoting Mehta et al. 2016; p. 7):
• 84% of the highly engaged employees are confident that they can contribute pos-
itively in improving their products and services, as compared to the 31% of the
disengaged employees who lack it.
• 72% of the highly engaged employees can positively affect customer service versus
27% of the disengaged.
• 68% of highly engaged employees know that they can help in cost reduction in
their job or unit compared with just 19% of the disengaged.
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10.2.2.4 Societal
The long-term positive effects of an engaged workforce can also be seen in the wider
societal context. An engaged workforce is likely to be less stressed at work that can
create positive health outcomes for the individual. Better aligned people with the
vision are able to work together as responsible teams to make the organisation work as
a responsible social entity rather than just for its financial goals. Engaged employees
tend to take a more proactive part in corporate social responsibility initiatives of
companies and display ownership to connect with their communities better.
Needless to say that creating an engaged workplace itself is a strategic imperative
for management with three drivers. The first is to create a strong employer brand that
is able to attract, retain and reward the best talent. Second is to exist as a responsible
social entity. Third is better financial outcome for the organisation.
10.2.3 A Stratified Approach to Employee Engagement
Employee engagement has a set of drivers and enablers that I will discuss later in
detail. However, it is important to note that not the same “rules of engagement” are
applicable to all kinds of employee cohorts. Different kinds of people in different
professions are driven by different kinds of triggers and drivers. They have different
thought processes, motivations and intellectual stimulators. They also have different
worldviews that result in their motivation drivers. Here, I will discuss some overall
engagement drivers specific to different employee cohorts. This is meant to be purely
representative and not definitive.
10.2.3.1 Professional
I categorise professional as white-collar workers who are involved in managerial and

administrative roles. These roles may spread across general management, human
resources, sales and marketing, legal, consulting and so on. People in this cohort
carry technical and functional qualifications and bring a specific skill to their roles.
Employees in such setups are normally able to apply their skills across functions and
industries.
The professional may be generally engaged by the quality of work and their ability
to create value in the positions they occupy. They may prefer to work in a systematic
environment that is predictable and streamlined. A push to excel and performance
rewards are highly appreciated by them. They are able to stretch, given monetary
rewards are commensurate to their work and contribution. They constantly look for
opportunities to learn and grow and keep applying their skills at higher levels.
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10.2.3.2 Service Oriented
They are people involved in highly systematic and predictable work delivery that is
standardised and streamlined. Service-oriented people are typically associated with
setups like outsourcing and shared services firms. Work processes are highly defined
and employees are expected to work as per standard operating procedures.
Deviations are not encouraged. Employees in such setups have transferable skills
within the industry or across industries within their specific functions.
Employees in a service-oriented setup prefer fixed work hours and predictable
deliverables. They prefer clarity in roles and expectations. Motivation comes from
being able to deliver efficiently in short time spans. Quick reward and recognition
systems keep morale high. Employee camaraderie is appreciated that comes along
with get-togethers and entertainment.
10.2.3.3 Researchers
I refer to the scientific and academic community here that is involved in active
research and knowledge creation. This community is highly qualified and individuals
are experts in their own domains. They hold higher academic qualifications and often
spend their lifetime on specialised areas of research and exploration.
Researchers are driven by the ability to work autonomously and flexibly. They
believe in creative thinking and critical inquiry that do not do well with predictable
processes. For them, contribution to knowledge is more engaging than monetary
rewards. They exist within communities of practice within which there are significant
knowledge sharing and value creation.
10.2.3.4 Specialists
Specialists are people such as doctors, lawyers and engineers who focus on highly
specialised areas of work and have non-transferable skills and capabilities. They are
highly qualified and experts in their own rights.
Specialists can be independent or affiliated to a certain organisation. In either case,
they normally prefer to work in an independent setting without much interference.
They normally command a monetary premium due to their specialist knowledge and
skills. Specialists also prefer to work in their own terms and conditions due to the
premium they command in the market scenario.
10.2.3.5 Operators
Referring to blue-collar workers in this context. Operators can be either skilled, semi-
skilled or unskilled. The nature of work is repetitive, defined and predictable, and
can be often menial.
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Operators are driven by immediate gratification in terms of monetary returns and

workplace benefits. They are normally guided by legal and regulatory frameworks
that protect their rights and privileges. Community engagements form a large part
of their engagement activities where families get an opportunity to mingle with one
another.
Having presented the above employee types, it is important to realise that there
is no universal approach to employee engagement. Different personas are driven by
different needs and motivations. What is required is a stratified approach to employee
engagement that will yield the most optimum outcome for the organisation.
10.3 Employee Engagement Frameworks and Approaches
Here I bring to the reader three of the most popular points of view on employee
engagement from three leading consulting firms. Each of these firms bases their
perspectives on decades of research and advisory with top employers internationally.
Their work and partnerships have helped them build great workplaces and have
furthered the field of human resources (HR).
I will begin by presenting the Gallup framework, followed by Great Places to
Work and finally the Aon framework.
Each of these frameworks attempts to present a holistic approach to employee
engagement touching a range of elements at the workplace. No particular framework
is better than the other, but each of them brings in their own unique way of appreciating
employee engagement.
10.3.1 Gallup
When it comes to employee engagement, Gallup is perhaps the most well-recognised

brand. The company leverages data and analytics to offer expert advice on attitudes
and behaviours of employees, customers, students and citizens for clients across the
world.
Based on over three decades of research touching over 17 million employees,
according to Gallup:
Engaged employees are involved in and enthusiastic about their work. They are 100% psy-
chologically committed to their role. They are thrilled at the challenge of their work every
day. They are in a role that uses their talents, they know the scope of their job, and they are
more likely to look for new and different ways of achieving the outcomes of their role.
Gallup’s approach on engagement study is based on 12 credible questions, Q12,

that effectively measure the level of employee engagement in organisations and is
able to establish a correlation with performance outcomes and business impact. Q12
was developed by researchers using data science to arrive at 12 items can measure
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10.3 Employee Engagement Frameworks and Approaches 277
the strength of a workplace centering around the role of the manager. These 12 items
are not exhaustive to capture all elements in a workplace, but they capture the core
elements that indicate whether employees are getting their performance needs met.
These elements indicate the requirements to attract, focus on and retain the most
talented employees.
10.3.1.1 Gallup’s Q12
The hallmark of Gallup’s employee engagement study is the Q12. According to

Gallup, the Q12 is based on the progression of human needs. I will discuss the 12
questions below under this progression.
Basic Needs:
1. Do I know what is expected of me at work?
This question explores if the employee has clarity over their role and expectations
from the employer. If roles are not clearly defined, there is a tendency of deviation
and optimal delivery. Performance metrics and success factors need to be clearly
articulated so that the employee knows how he or she is being assessed as per
set expectations. Role clarity brings in focus and directed energy.
2. Do I have the materials and equipments I need to do my work right?
In order to deliver on their role, employees need access to resources—knowledge,
hardware, software, finances—from case to case. The organisation needs to make
the right resources available to employees so that they are able to deliver on
expectations. Managers need to have an oversight of requirements and address
any gaps that may occur.
Management support:
3. At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day?
Addresses the issue of alignment between one’s capability and the opportunity
offered. The organisation needs to understand what the employee brings in terms
of capability and competency, and what they would like to achieve in their career;
accordingly bring to them the optimal job mix. Mutual discussion between the
employee and the manager plays an important role in this aspect.
4. In the last 7 days, have I received recognition for doing good work?
Understands the culture of recognition for good work. There are both formal and
informal means of recognition. Managers need to be responsible for frequent
and instantaneous recognition and praise for good work of their team members.
Good spirit is contagious and has the power to lift up team spirit and motivation.
5. Does my supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about me as a person?
It is often said that people join companies and leave managers. Employees are
human beings and not machines. Care, respect, support and sense of security go
a long way in touching people and make them feel at home in an organisation.
Managers need to play a proactive role in building relationships through a genuine
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sense of responsibility towards their team members. Open communication and a

trusting equation are hallmarks of this genuineness.
6. Is there someone at work who encourages my development?
The term “development” needs to be treated holistically and it does not mean a
vertical movement up the corporate ladder. Development is about the overall
leverage of the qualities that an individual brings to the organisation in terms of
their capabilities, strengths and competencies, and the career aspirations they
have set for themselves. Every employee is an individual and the organisation
needs to provide the fertile platform for them to develop as people and as pro-
fessionals.
Teamwork:
7. At work, do my opinions seem to count?
Participation in decision-making and organisational functioning is an important
element that makes employees feel involved. This question explores if people
feel they have been proactively encouraged to speak and are listened to. The
feeling of being left out creates disharmony amongst employees that eventually
leads to a drop in enthusiasm and interest for the organisation.
8. Does the mission/purpose of my company make me feel my job is important?
This question measures the alignment of values between the employee and the
organisation. Communication plays an important role where management seeks
to provide constant clarification about the purpose of the organisation—why it
exists and what it stands for. Connections based on values alignment give rise
to a sense of belongingness and commitment that lets employees exist as part
of a wider system, rather than in isolation.
9. Are my co-workers committed to doing quality work?
This involves a common understanding of expectations from co-workers in
alignment to the customer—both internal and external. Clarity in quality stan-
dards and their constant reinforcement is important so that difference in inter-
pretation between co-workers decreases.
10. Do I have a best friend at work?
A “best friend” refers to someone with whom one shares the same values, trusts
in sharing feelings and information, and there is mutual care and respect. Such
a relationship at work builds confidence, courage and trust that in turn leads to
enthusiasm, commitment and the ability to stretch.
Growth:
11. In the last 6 months, has someone at work talked to me about my progress?
Explores the existence of feedback and developmental interactions. Goals may
be set and trust-based interactions may happen, but what people need is some-
one to mentor and take stock of where one has progressed against the goals
articulated. Progress tracking and feedback need to be set in place as a formal
mechanism.
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12. This last year, have I had opportunities at work to learn and grow?
Engaging workplaces provide opportunities to their people to learn and grow,
both personally and professionally. Formal training and educational platforms
are put in place that constantly contribute towards building capacities. Capacity
building may not just be limited to formal educational programmes, but can
also extend to external events and conferences that give employees an exposure
to best practices, benchmarks and market developments.
Using the Q12 analyses, Gallup performs ongoing research to establish correla-
tions between engagement scores and business outcomes that include productivity,
customer ratings, shrinkage/theft, turnover, absenteeism, safety and quality. I will
discuss some of these perspectives in the next section.
10.3.1.2 Perspectives from Gallup
Extensive research and analytics carried out by Gallup throw up startling statistics
about the state of employee engagement in corporations and it influences on business
and societal outcomes. The findings of this research have been published by Gallup
in a global report called “Where the Great Jobs lie” (Gallup 2015). From 2012 to
2015, Gallup aggregated exhaustive research data from its global surveys represent-
ing 158 countries. Responses were categorised as engaged, not engaged or actively
disengaged. The analysis revealed:
People who are engaged at work are more involved in and enthusiastic about their work.
They are loyal and productive. Those who are not engaged may be productive and satisfied
with their workplace, but they are not intellectually and emotionally connected to it. Workers
who are actively disengaged are physically present but intellectually and emotionally dis-
connected. They are unhappy with their work, share their unhappiness with their colleagues
and are likely to jeopardise the performance of their team (Gallup 2015; p. 5).
In the same report, Gallup defines a good job as one that has at least 30-h per
week of consistent work with a predictable pay. It was found that globally, only 12%
of employees having a good job were also engaged. The report goes on to create a
model based on the component of “good job” that nations would need to create
positive outcomes for their businesses and society. It calls this model the “Gallup
Macroeconomic Path” (Fig. 10.2).
Gallup uses this model to advise companies and governments to create healthy
work environments. Starting with the basics of law and order, food and shelter, and
social institutions, “good jobs” form a critical enabler in this path as it has the potential
to address the social, emotional, psychological and financial needs of an individual
that can create well-being, which at a larger level contributes to macroeconomic
development for a nation.
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Fig. 10.2 Gallup macroeconomic path (Source Gallup 2015)
10.3.2 Great Places to Work Institute
Great Places to Work (GPTW) Institute is a leading global body that recognises
outstanding workplaces through credible study, and provides consulting services
and certification programmes. The GPTW model is based on research spanning
internationally for nearly 30 years and is applicable to companies in all industries,
non-profits, education and government organisations.
GPTW places employee experience and engagement at the core of building great
workplaces. The GPTW perspective is that employees’ experience is the best when
they consistently:
• Trust the people they work for,
• Have pride in what they do and
• Enjoy the people they work with.
The above experiences are based on the concept of “trust” as the defining principle;
this sets the culture of great workplaces. Trust is defined with the following five
dimensions by GPTW:
• Credibility: The core of the culture of trust is the organisation being seen and
experienced as believable and trustworthy. The three sub-dimensions are com-
munication, competence and integrity. Clear and unambiguous communication
creates transparency and removes any information gap. A competent management
is able to create an optimal organisation by bringing about efficiency and effec-
tiveness for judicious utilisation of resources. Integrity is established when there
is consistency in words and action, and where promises are kept.
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• Respect: This is mutual. It is not about greetings and protocols, but it is about sup-
port, collaboration and care expressed by management towards employees. Sup-
port is both about material and information resources made available to employees
in order to deliver on expectations, and also about opportunities provided for skills
enhancement and career development. Collaboration is enabled by an inclusive cul-
ture and participative decision-making. Caring is signified by the extension of a
manager’s relationship beyond being purely work related but through an extension
to an interest in bringing about improvement to people’s personal lives. Employees
need to be seen as people and individuals, and not just as a resource.
• Fairness: A fair workplace is one that demonstrates equity, impartiality and jus-
tice. Employees need to be seen from a lens of equity (not necessary meaning seen
as equals). This characteristic is brought to life by balanced treatment of people
and equitable access to rewards and recognitions. Fair and impartial practices need
to drive decision-making and any amount of favouritism is seen as unacceptable.
This is extended to all practices including recruitments, promotions, career devel-
opment, access to resources and opportunities, rewards and recognitions, task
allocation and performance measurements. A fair work environment eliminates
politicking, unproductive distractions and prejudice.
• Pride: The sense of pride boosts energy and enthusiasm levels that get reflected in
great passion for the workplace and great work delivery. Pride emanates from the
job, co-workers and the company itself. Pride in the job can be about one’s own
work, their own teams or the extended workgroup. One’s own work is about the
difference an employee makes to the company and/or to the company’s customers
by virtue of being at a position he or she is in. Pride in the company arises from its
contribution to business, society and the environment. Recognition of good work
and contribution by management can go a long way in instilling a sense of pride in
employees. A sense of pride can make employees stay committed to longer times
to their companies.
• Camaraderie: Measured by the feeling of intimacy, hospitality and community.
This is where a workplace needs to be looked at beyond serving the purpose of a
place that is meant for just work. When it is about human beings, it is about
emotions and feelings. A workplace that is warm, friendly, non-intimidating, open
and inclusive has the power to embrace people and makes them feel at home outside
of home. A sense of community is where people find a common vision and align
with a common purpose. A workplace needs to be hospitable where people can find
support, cooperation, relationships and most importantly, enjoyment in everything
they do.
GPTW’s five dimensions of focus for a trust-based culture are further broken down
into sub-dimensions that encompass the operational aspect of talent management.
GPTW has put in place a focused survey to understand employees’ experiences
with their organisations around the five dimensions and their corresponding sub-
dimensions to arrive at a Trust Index. The GPTW model has a set of questions specific
to each sub-dimension that measures the employee’s association with the respec-
tive factor. Individual dimension-wise scores are obtained; an organisation-level
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Trust Index is calculated as a consolidation of all dimension-wise scores. The Trust

Index was created by Robert Levering and this was based on extensive study and
analyses of employee surveys spanning over a decade with leading companies. The
index provides a benchmark for organisations to identify strengths and opportunity
areas, and work with concerted efforts to build great workplaces. GPTW (2017) has
found that a trust-based culture to be a strong driver of successful business.
GPTW found that in 2017 employees who associated themselves with a great
place to work demonstrated that they were 13 times more likely to stay with their
employers for a long time and 20 times more likely to say that their workplaces
exhibited innovative traits as compared to its peer companies (GPTW 2017).
10.3.3 Aon
Aon defines engagement as “the psychological and behavioural outcomes that lead to
better employee performance.” Evolved over two decades of global research through-
out Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and North America and supported by organ-
isational psychology, the Aon model examines engagement at the level of the indi-
vidual and team outcomes across a range of validated engagement drivers. The model
talks about three attributes that demonstrate engagement:
• Say: Engaged employees carry a positive tone of voice about their organisation.
They speak in a healthy manner about the organisation to co-workers, potential
employees and customers.
• Stay: Engaged employees demonstrate an intense sense of belonging to their
organisation. They desire a long-term association with their organisation with a
sense of commitment and connection.
• Strive: Engaged employees always give their extra towards driving their roles and
the organisation into higher degrees of success. They are motivated to do more
and contribute beyond their contractual arrangement with their organisation.
Engaged employees demonstrate all the three behaviours simultaneously. Any
missing behaviour does not sum up to the overall characteristic of an engaged
employee. For example, an employee may speak positively about their organisa-
tion and may be staying long, but may not strive at work; this leads to the under-
optimisation of one’s potential. Consider another case—an employee may be staying
long and striving hard, but constantly speaking negatively about their organisation;
this creates negative energies internally and externally, and eventually may impact
the brand. Also, an employee may be a brand advocate and work very hard, but
stays in the organisation for a very short duration; the organisation will be unable to
leverage on the strengths of the employee.
Aon research showcases several business outcomes of an engaged workplace (Aon
2018). These include the following:
• Talent: Higher engagement increases employee retention and reduces absen-
teeism. Contributes to overall health and wellness of individuals and the team.
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• Operational: Increase in employee productivity is seen. Employees feel safe and

secure at the workplace.
• Customer: Higher efficiency leads to more higher customer satisfaction. This
results in customers staying longer with and a higher Net Promoter Score (NPS).
• Financial: The above results in increased sales and higher revenues for an organi-
sation. Operational income is enhanced, margins bettered and an eventual increase
in total shareholder return.
The crux of Aon’s engagement model is six “Engagement Drivers” that define the
work experience. These drivers are as follows:
• Quality of Life: People work to eventually have a good quality of life, which is
ensured by a secure job, safe environment, less stress and a good work–life balance.
Personal time is valued and one is able to develop into a rounded individual when
there is good quality of life. A rounded individual is possible when one does not
have to constantly worry for the basic conditions in life that the job is able to
provide.
• Work: Work is beyond job, whereas a job equals a contractual employment, work
equals a qualitative sense of being able to do what one enjoys and what makes a
positive contribution to oneself, the organisation and even the society. People
enjoy work that gives them autonomy and independence and allows them to apply
themselves in areas where their skills and strengths lie.
• People: Organisations are about people. Leadership plays an important role in
creating a conducive environment for employees to work with and learn from. Co-
workers and team members liven up spirits and can make a contractual employment
association substantial and meaningful.
• Opportunities: Everyone wants to learn, develop and progress in their careers. A
future state creates motivation and drive that create a pull factor for people to strive.
Organisations can go a long way by providing the right kind of opportunities to
the right kind of individuals that benefit both the organisation and the individual.
• Total Rewards: Total reward is beyond the pay check. This is the overall reward
that an individual accrues as a result of their association with an organisation—both
tangible and intangible. This encompasses the pay, benefits, the experience, brand
mileage, development and the quality of life that the organisation offers to its
people.
• Company Practices: This defines the organisation and is an amalgamation of the
systems and processes, practices, infrastructure and communication that form the
lifeblood to make an organisation what it is. It is the company practices that make
an organisation “real”.
Figure 10.3 presents the Aon engagement drivers and their constituents.
Having introduced, three leading employee engagement frameworks, I will now
present a case study of my experience of leading an engagement study and crafting
its consequent recommendations.
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Fig. 10.3 Aon engagement drivers (Source Aon)
10.4 Employee Engagement Case Study
Here I will share my experience of leading an employee engagement study. I was

the project lead of a four-member team (including myself); two members were client
facing (including myself) and the other two were office-based data analysts.
10.4.1 About the Company
For the sake of anonymity, I will call the company Potential Earthmovers. The com-
pany was a leading manufacturer of earthmoving and construction equipment. Its
Indian headquarters were in Delhi National Capital Region (NCR). With a large
global legacy, the company manufactured world-class equipments in three state-of-
the-art factories in India (this expanded to five factories at the time when this chapter
was written). The plants also operated as the global manufacturing hub, with prod-
ucts from these plants being exported to over 50 countries in the world. The company
had the repute of introducing innovative products to the market. Its premium pricing
did not deter it from holding a majority market share of 75% in India due to the
quality of its products and brand reputation it enjoyed. Potential was a pioneer in
terms of product quality and their sales model and was the first amongst players in
the construction sector to sell products through dealerships in India. The company
did not have a cookie-cutter approach and customised its products and offerings to
the Indian market and the Indian terrain.
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10.4 Employee Engagement Case Study 285
Customers enjoyed exemplary service and excellent product quality. In the previ-
ous 6–7 years, potential had enjoyed a Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR)
of 45%.
The company employed around 3500 people at the time of this study and had a
network of over 50 dealers and 500 outlets across India.
Potential Earthmovers had a vision of continuing to provide unparalleled share-
holder value. To this end, it realised it had to stay competitive to respond to changing
market requirements and higher customer expectations. They were under pressure to
constantly innovate and explore newer markets, especially rural. They were focus-
ing on building new products and had built a parallel organisation for new lines of
businesses.
As the organisation was building up preparing from transformative growth, the
management realised that people were its key asset and that the HR interface was
crucial in navigating the same. A mindset of passion and energy, and team synergy
were identified as the key focus areas for Potential Earthmovers to stay competitive.
Despite being the market leader, the management wanted to continually learn and
evolve without letting complacency set in the organisation. The top management
wanted to create a workplace that constantly challenges its people, sets evolving
benchmarks and also reward high performers. They wanted a team with enthusiasm
and pride that would be difficult to replicate. The management in the organisation
realised that employee engagement lied at the core of everything it wanted to do.
10.4.2 The Consulting Mandate
The case is set in the year 2011. The HR Director of Potential Earthmovers reached
out to us (the consultants) with a proactive mandate to carry out an engagement study
for the organisation. The organisation was going through a major expansion in its
facilities to cater to its growing market share in India and increasing focus to make
Potential’s position stronger as the global sourcing hub. The HR team realised that
to cater to the ambitious business plans of the company, their approach to employee
engagement had to become more focused and nuanced. Hence, the need for a pro-
fessional engagement study was surfaced.
The objectives of the study were as follows:
• Assess employees’ attitudes and beliefs about their work activities, opportunities,
quality of work life, company procedures and policies, rewards and people in the
organisation.
• Assess employee understanding and support of the business goals and strategies
of Potential and identify key drivers of employee engagement.
• Identify the extent to which employees were observing and managers were sup-
porting the desired behaviours throughout the organisation.
• Reinforce the idea of shared responsibility for improving business results.
• Learn whether different groups of employees had different needs or issues.
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Fig. 10.4 Engagement study process at potential earthmovers
• Seek support in a focused action planning workshop to agree on a way forward

for the HR function in line with business requirements.
Our study process went through four steps as presented in Fig. 10.4.
The entire study was mandated to complete within 3 months.
I will now discuss each step in detail drawing from my experience from the ground.
10.4.2.1 Survey Design
This is the first step that was meant to set the tone for the study. We never treated an
engagement study in isolation with the business vision. We started by an expectation
setting workshop with the HR team where we identified the triggers for the study.
The following aspects were discussed during this workshop:
• Key Result Areas (KRAs) of the HR team. This helped us understand why HR
would like to understand the pulse of the organisation and how we could support
the team to be successful by drawing out desired insights from the study.
• Future direction of the Potential Earthmovers and how HR would drive this path
together with the top management.
• Challenges that the team faced both at strategic and operational levels. We were
interested to find out how the study could understand such challenges as opportu-
nity areas for HR to address.
• Understanding of the complete organisation structure including location-wise
setup, levels, staffing, reporting and team dynamics.
• Any sensitive matters that we had to be cognisant of as we were about to deep dive
into the organisation.
The HR team workshop was followed by three individual leadership interac-
tions that included the Managing Director (MD), Head of Sales and Marketing, and
Head of Manufacturing, who were all based out of the headquarters in Delhi NCR.
These interactions were meant for us to understand the strategic direction of the
organisation, how they see their business evolving over the following 3–5 years, and
understand their expectations on the organisation as an employer brand. We also
understood the aspects about the company they were most proud about and the
aspects they wanted to change immediately.
From the HR team workshop and leadership interactions, we understood that the
management sensed complacency in the team, which was not a healthy trait as it could
eventually lead to depletion of challenge, energy and passion. Potential Earthmovers
was the leading name in all categories it operated in and commanded an incomparable
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brand mileage at that time, when new international brands were still trying to make
their mark in the India market. Its brand reputation meant that customers who wanted
a value proposition would go to Potential in any case. This was great from the business
standpoint, but interestingly this was also leading employees to take business “for
granted”. Business was as usual, and stretch and new thinking were being observed
only in specific pockets. For majority of the team, there was a “chalta hai” attitude
(in India, the “chalta hai” term refers to the attitude of complacency and overlooking
and let the situation be as it is). Yet the management realised that with the vision it has
for Potential in India to make it the leading global manufacturing hub, this attitude
had to change. They were also aware that employees cherished the brand mileage
and that there was an overall healthy labour relations atmosphere in the company.
As important outcomes of this workshop, we agreed on the locations to be covered
and total number and profile of the respondents to be covered in the study. The
locations selected were Delhi NCR and Pune. Delhi NCR was selected as this was
where the company was headquartered and its complex also housed their major plant.
Pune was selected as this was a large manufacturing site for the company. We were
informed that both the locations had their own cultures. In addition to the main plant
locations, we also included employees on the field, who were mainly from the Sales
and Marketing function. The field staff was constantly on travel for meetings with
deals across India and connecting with customers who use the machines. They did
not have regular touchpoints with the main organisation in general.
We agreed at inviting 40% employees as respondent numbers that covered a total
1420 employees (14 employees left the organisation when the study commenced).
The respondents covered both the cohorts of both white- and blue-collar workers.
For the white-collar workers, we agreed to conduct an online survey in English.
For the blue-collar workers, a pen-and-paper survey was agreed on with the questions
translated to Hindi, which was the preferred language for both the plans in Delhi NCR
and Pune.
We reached an agreement on the questions to be covered under the survey. The
consulting firm I was associated with had an engagement study platform and a ques-
tion bank out of which we could select specific questions aligned to what was relevant
for the management expectation. Questions were also customised to measure specific
nuances, given the focus on the organisation on this aspect at that point of time.
The design phase took us the first month to complete.
10.4.2.2 Administration
The survey administration was planned with the following success factors in mind:
• Clear Communication on the Objectives and Importance: We wanted
employees to take this survey seriously and not just filling up answers because
they were asked to do so by their management. With this in mind, all communi-
cation was drafted including emails, posters and screen pop ups with messages of
why employee responses were important for management to make changes in the
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organisation that would benefit all. All communication was created to encourage
employees to express themselves without any barriers. It is only by expressing one-
self that true emotions and perspectives would be surfaced that could help building
a better organisation and a better workplace for all. We supported Potential to create
focussed messaging and designs that were used in all employee communication.
A calendar was drawn out to chart out how and when different levels of commu-
nication would flow out right from the MD to the reporting managers.
• Maximising Response Rate: It was important for us to have maximum response
rate so that a good representative landscape for the organisation could be captured.
Clear communication was the key behind this. Managers were oriented by the
department heads to encourage their teams to respond to the survey. The online
survey was left open for 3 weeks with an extension of a further 1 week; hence, in
total the survey was open for 4 weeks. Reminder emails were scheduled from
time to time through the time span.
• Ensuring Respondent Confidentiality: Employees were sharing highly confi-
dential views about their organisation both as means of ratings per very specific
questions and in the open-ended question. Complete confidentiality was ensured
to all respondents. It was assured that any insights and perspectives will be used
and shared in a generalised manner that was unidentifiable to the source.
• Ensuring Reliability and Validity: Our question bank itself was highly reliable
due to the extensive research that led to the design of the questions. Higher response
rate was again a measure to ensure reliability of the study for which dedicated
initiatives were being undertaken.
Validity came from the simplicity of crafting the questions. In addition, a dedicated
support line was open to all respondents if they wanted to clarify any question or
had any question. For blue-collar workers, we facilitated workshops as part of the
data-collection process to clarify every question and how they had to respond (more
in the next point).
• Ensuring Blue-Collar Employees’ Data Capture: It was not very common for
us to carry out pen-and-paper studies due to the complexities involved. Apart from
translations, every response had to carry a unique code so that they could be
analyses as per the desired data cuts. When it involves large-scale studies, chances
of errors are high and meticulous planning need to be carried out to avoid such
errors. Once responses were received, we also had to manually feed in the data
into the online system as the overall analyses were carried out by the software
system. Errors needed to be avoided even at this stage whilst sieving through
hundreds of response sheets. The respondents also had to be sensitised about what
the data collection was about and how they were supposed to fill in the responses.
We planned a series of workshops across the two locations to carry out the study
to optimise time and reduce variations in understanding the questions. Two such
workshops each were carried out in both the locations.
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We created several respondent cuts to slice and dice the data so that in-depth under-
standing about the organisation could be arrived at. Some of these cuts included gen-
der, performance level, function, grade, education qualification, age, tenure, location
and online versus pen and paper.
The study was carried out as per schedule. However, there were certain challenges
mainly in soliciting adequate responses. In case of the online survey, this was over-
come by calling for a meeting with all reporting managers along with the Department
Heads to reiterate the importance of having responses. Managers went back to their
respective teams to reinforce the messages and encourage them to cooperate with
speedy responses. In case of the pen-and-paper response, the challenge was getting
the respondents together. As this was a manual intervention, the workforce had to be
available at one time together for the briefings and data collection. Taking workforce
out of their work during an operational plant meant affecting productivity. Hence,
there were several cancellations and reschedules before we made the sessions actually
take place.
Once data collection was done and the overall results were available with us, we
conducted a series of Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with selected employee
cohorts to further understand the traits and obtain more in-depth insights. Eight such
FGDs were facilitated—two each for white-collar and blue-collar employees across
both the locations. Each FGD lasted for around 2 hours where we went with an
outline of pointers to probe. But the discussions were meant to be free flowing.
The survey administration phase ended by the second month.
10.4.2.3 Analysis and Reporting
This stage flowed through the whole of the third month when we deep dived to make
sense of the data collected and cull insights. Our analysts used sophisticated in-house
platforms to churn out the reports. We understood and interpreted all outcomes in
light of the context aided by the range of interactions, workshops and immersive
sessions with employees. Here I will discuss the high-level outcomes and emphasise
specifically on the aspects that demonstrated our systems mindset in connecting
disparate attributes in the organisation.
The overall engagement score for Potential Earthmovers was 69%. Our research
indicated that organisations with engagement scores above 65% consistently deliver
better business results. The engagement score for Potential placed the organisation
in the “high performance” range.
We identified the distribution of engagement, or the “extent” to which employ-
ees were engaged in the organisation. Understanding how close to or how far away
people are from being engaged helped identify how large the task was of engaging
more people, i.e. the more people that were “nearly engaged”, the easier and quicker
it would be to convert these people to “engaged” by focusing on the key drivers for
the organisation. Conversely, the more people that were “disengaged”, the more
difficult and slower it would be to convert these people to “engaged”. At Potential
Earthmovers, there was a significant opportunity to increase engagement
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because 21% of people were “nearly engaged”. 2% of employees were “completely

disengaged”. This group of employees could be acting against the organisation and
negatively impacting the engagement of their colleagues.
Further, our analyses showed that at Potential Earthmovers, employees were
strong brand advocates of the organisation. More than 75% of employees would
proactively recommend the organisation as an employer and would tell great things
about the organisation as a workplace. The organisation was doing better than com-
parator benchmarks; however, there were still grounds to cover compared with the
“best employers” in the country. The maximum gap observed was with the element
of inspiration that the organisation provided everyday to employees to do their best.
Detailed analysis was carried out across various parameters in the organisations to
obtain an “X-ray” of the organisation from an employee engagement perspective.
I will now discuss some of the overall highlights across select key drivers that
were culled out from the open-ended section and employee focus group discussions.
• Recognition: Potential regularly celebrated achievements and employees were
recognised and rewarded for their efforts and for achievement of results.
However, the need to have recognition and appreciation as part of the processes
was stressed on. Employees sought better clarity in their roles and responsibili-
ties through proper Key Result Area (KRA) setting in the beginning of the year.
Concern was expressed with the lack of transparency during appraisal time on
what goals were assessed against achievements. Employees felt that the sense of
urgency was sometimes misleading for certain orders to meet “urgent” deliver-
ables there led to significant lapse of processes and quality. The feedback system
was expressed as relatively biased and needed more comprehensive inputs from
different quarters. There was a feeling that the above challenges could be effec-
tively addressed by an able leadership team that would be able to instil a culture
of objectivity and ensure that “sense of urgency” was also methodical rather than
being ad hoc at times of execution.
• Brand Alignment: Employees derived pride of being associated with the most
reputed brand in the market. They felt recognised and respected by outsiders for
being part of Potential and how the company was contributing towards India’s
growth story.
However, some also felt that the sense of pride was often observed to translate
into a sense of arrogance and that needed to be changed. Employees desired to
see a stronger connect between the outstanding external brand to an internal brand
through a strong employer value proposition.
• Innovation: The organisation offered employees the liberty to excel on innova-
tions. Kaizen initiatives enabled an environment of innovation where operations
and support functions could work together. The sense of urgency drove employees
to innovation and performing better without resorting to any “shortcut”. Employ-
ees expressed that the spirit of innovation should link to recognition and individual
KRAs to promote a culture of innovation.
• Career Opportunities: Employees thought that the organisation was a good place
to enhance and develop managerial skills. The organisation provided opportunities
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to employees to attend development centres to enhance their professional skills.

Employees received opportunities to explore and work on their self-development.
It was observed that employees who had spent between 10 and 15 years were
most engaged with the organisation and quoted the autonomy and freedom they
experienced that allowed them to strive and grow.
However, it was also expressed that there should be stronger role fitment for an
individual’s skills for better performance. They also wanted a more transparent
career progression process. The need to have multiple career paths was expressed.
Employees who were in the age bracket of 18–25 years particularly quoted a lack
of exposure to different departments that they believed hampered their growth and
career opportunities.
• Departmental Leadership: Senior management was easily approachable and
empathetic towards employees. Senior management always recognised individual
efforts put into achieving targets. Employees felt that the organisation had high-
calibre leaders who were positive and could be trusted; they gave clear guidance
and presented an inspiring roadmap for future strategies. However, employees also
felt that identification and nurturing of leadership skills amongst current employ-
ees is a gap area, and more needed to be done to effectively strike a balance between
functional and people management skills.
• Co-workers: A strong sense of community was observed amongst employees with
a sense of belonging and respect. People came together at the time of crises and
joined hands to overcome them together. Mutual support and encouragement were
seen within and amongst team members. Interestingly, employees working in the
field were found to have the highest level of engagement, despite being far from
the main business hubs. They quoted the sense of belonging and departmental con-
nections as primary reasons for their feeling of attachment and strong association
with the organisation.
Blue-collar employees expressed immense appreciation for their union leader-
ship and co-workers. They further elaborated on the culture of transparency and
teamwork. They also stated that the facilities and benefits provided to them such
as transportation, medical assistance, family activities, etc. kept them engaged.
Several employees also spoke affirmatively about their salaries in terms of the
quantum and discipline in timely payment. Some employees mentioned that the
fact that their fathers/relatives had also had long stints with Potential excited them
the most and created a sense of belongingness.
However, there were pockets where concerning voices were surfaced. These were
particularly on unwanted language used on the shop floor and a tendency of people
to work in isolation between departments. In addition, the engagement levels at the
Pune plant were found to be the lowest. Employees at Pune stated that there lacked
cohesiveness between different departments and locations. Several employees also
stated that there was a lack of alignment with the Potential culture. Employees in
Pune also expressed some sort of distance in the way they were treated by the
headquarters at Delhi NCR; there seemed to be a sense of “us” and “them”.
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Our analytics enabled us to create an engagement linkage model based on studying

how the drivers of engagement impacted each other by their mutual interconnected
interactions. This analysis displays the interrelationships (statistical modelling)
between the drivers of engagement to help identify where the primary sources of
engagement existed. The statistical linkage display suggested that the strongest
roadmap to enhance the overall engagement at Potential Earthmovers lied in consider-
ing Recognition, Brand Alignment and Senior Leadership as focus. The organisation
needed to work on creating a robust recognition programme as a priority, supported
by objective role clarity, goal setting and performance management system. This
could enable the strong external brand to be translated into an employee-friendly
internal brand for its people. This needed to be driven at the highest level by the
Senior Leadership at Potential.
Detailed cuts were presented to the HR team that went into various data cuts to
understand the organisation from various dimensions. These provided important
cues for the management to take corrective measures at very specific levels to bring
about a positive difference at Potential Earthmovers.
10.4.2.4 Recommendations
This was the final step of the project at the end of the third month where we brought
the management together to agree on next steps in line with the learnings from the
engagement study. This was designed to be a half-day workshop where we reiterated
the key highlights, followed by sharing some best practices from the industry.
We followed this by making specific recommendations across the identified drivers
within two corresponding parameters—Framework and Design Elements and Imple-
mentation and Communication—the former dealing with the actual changes and
interventions that need to be designed and implemented, and the latter dealing with
the enabling factors. I will share some perspectives from our recommendations in
the following discussion.
Recognition
Recommendations around framework and design elements sought to establish greater

clarity and transparency in the system by clear articulation of a policy on employee
recognition. This would consider how individual and team achievements contribut-
ing to any process, function or the organisation could be recognised. Celebration of
success was recommended to be a way of life and not ad hoc. Different categories
of recognition programmes were recommended for curating; these included spot
recognition, peer-to-peer programmes, redemption programmes, company-level
annual awards and other high-visibility non-monetary recognition in both short- and
long-term schemes.
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Implementation and communication of the recommendations could be enabled

by
• Defining of Key Performance Indicators (KPI) for execution of the recognition
programmes that could be tracked and monitored by a senior committee appointed.
• Creating a process to solicit nominations from managers and employees on a
regular basis as per policy guideline and KPIs.
• Weaving in the culture of recognition into the induction programme for new joinees
so that they were in sync with the value of professional contribution that the
company fostered.
• Highlighting notable contributions from individuals and teams and talking about
the same in various internal forums that would instil a sense of achievement asso-
ciated with the contribution.
• Mentoring of line managers was highlighted to be an important element in the
process.
Brand Alignment
Framework and design elements sought to revisit Potential Earthmover’s Employer

Brand to ensure that it was consistent and aligned with the organisation’s strategic
objectives and customer brand globally. It was meant to incorporated the attributes
that would attract, engage and retain talent in line with the external value proposi-
tion. It had to be compelling and differentiating to stakeholders (including current
and prospective employees), apart from driving engagement and helping focus on
the intended organisational objectives. It was recommended that HR worked on an
alignment of people programmes and practices in line with the employer brand.
by
• Developing a strong communication strategy to socialise the employer brand both
internally and externally.
• Creating brand awareness through identified employer brand champions.
• Developing collaterals to reinforce the brand through handbooks, posters, videos,
etc.
• Creating robust Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) to live the brand essence in
various HR systems and practices.
• Appointing a Cross-Functional Custodian Team that would track implementation
of the employer brand deliverables on a regular basis.
• Charting out a roadmap with the external communications team to socialise the
employer brand externally in public discussion forums or customer collaterals.
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Innovation
Implementation and design elements sought to establish organisational leadership

to reinforce the importance of innovation in order to create a direct business impact
and achieve its strategic objectives. These would propagate a culture that fosters and
encourages innovation by creating an ongoing systematic process. In order to ensure
that the culture of innovation is sustainable, it had to be provided with a conducive
atmosphere so that new ideas could create measurable business impact. Hence, it
was recommended that adequate budgets were allocated for such initiatives, success
criteria and measurable success indicators were defined, and that initiatives were
organisation-wide and not specific to individual departments or levels.
by
• Creating a process to
– Solicit innovative ideas from employees.
– Review ideas and suggestions in accordance with organisation priorities and
expected success/value creation.
– Link rewards for ideas generated and implemented.
• Introducing innovation as a measure of performance in the employees’ scorecards,
wherever applicable.
• Setting up an innovation task force to support employees and integrate the initiative
throughout the organisation.
• Providing employees with a flexible work environment to involve themselves in
special projects within and beyond their job requirements.
• Creating an online collaboration portal to deliberate on new ideas and have feed-
back on practicality of the same.
Career Opportunities
Framework and design elements sought to ensure that there was a well-defined
career development framework and processes in place that clearly articulated possi-
ble career paths and multiple options available to move up the specialist or generalist
route. Organisational criteria to be articulated to objectively lay out career movement
requirements and ensure that employees were given the opportunities to undertake
cross-function and geographic assignments. It was recommended that the recruitment
process should be strengthened by introducing internal job postings.
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by
• Creating an employee communication handbook as a career and future reference
point that would include the following:
– A matrix to categorise different levels of employees.
– Map the above with employee performance and potential.
– Formulate a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) matrix for target filling of vacan-
cies through internal job postings.
• Circulating a training calendar to all employees periodically and solicit nomina-
tions from employees/managers for participation in the same to enhance their skill
sets for career movements.
Leadership
Framework and design elements sought to ensure that middle management vision
was aligned to senior leadership vision by cascading leadership performance score-
cards appropriately across levels. It was recommended that senior leaders fostered a
spirit of teamwork and collaboration by regular interaction with employees through
town halls, informal sessions and personal connects through well-defined platforms.
Specific customised leadership development initiatives were to be adopted based on
individual psychometric profiling, comprehensive stakeholder feedback and align-
ment of individual aspirations to the organisational vision. Business-critical projects
were recommended to be led by the leadership team with a target team engagement
score to be a KPI for senior- and middle-level leaders.
by
• Objective goal cascade system from organisation strategy to leaders and individual
managers within a comprehensive framework.
• Revisiting relevance of the existing leadership assessment methods and tools in
line with organisation and people requirements.
• Critically looking into the current behavioural competency framework with spe-
cific focus on elements on drive, accountability and cascading leadership, so that
the overall vision could be trickled down the organisation.
• Designing action-learning projects centred around competencies relating to lead-
ing people and accountability.
Co-workers
Framework and design elements sought to put in place rotational assignments and
opportunities for employees to work in multidisciplinary teams. More interactions
were encouraged between employees at different locations cross-functional training
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programmes. It was recommended that occasions were created for all employees to
interact with one another, communicate, exchange ideas and create a sense of
community among employees. Emphasis was laid on building social networks by
moving employees across functions, businesses and countries as part of their career
development. HR to sponsor group events and activities such as sports coaching,
CSR and other organisation-wide initiatives where employees could meet their peers
in more often in non-work settings.
by
• Creating a cross-functional team that would spearhead these initiatives across the
organisation.
• Clear communication amongst all employees regarding social activities to solicit
greater participation.
Performance Management
Framework and design elements sought to create a transparent performance man-

agement system that would be consistent across all business units and departments,
and aligns employee goals with the organisation’s goals. The system would involve
the process of an organisation scorecard prepared by the leadership team with inputs
from relevant stakeholders that would be cascaded to the business units. The business
units’ leadership would cascade the same down their teams, allocate clear metrics
and targets for measurement. Ongoing mentoring based on a continuous performance
focused dialogue between managers and employees was recommended. Performance
review to be institutionalised in periodic intervals complemented by an effective
mechanism to solicit feedback from relevant stakeholders.
Implementation and communication of the recommendations would be enabled
by
• Identifying process champions who would spearhead the performance manage-
ment process with the HR department.
• Making line managers accountable for closing performance scorecards and targets
in specified time period.
• Charting out a calendar at the beginning of the performance cycle that would clearly
indicate milestones for execution of individual targets and clear communication
to remove any ambiguity in the process.
• Investing more in equipping managers to provide direction to employees’ careers
by training them on conducting career conversations and by providing clear career
planning discussion guidelines.
Managers came up as a critical link in driving employee engagement. Managers
are the lifeblood between the organisational vision and employees. Our analyses
surfaced a direct bearing on how managers can drive the recommendations made.
With this in context, we offered to create Manager Scorecards for identified roles
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at Potential Earthmovers. Manager Scorecards brought focus and accountability to

make things happen as per implementation of action plans and imbibing of the
recommendations in its ethos. Management and HR can only put in place frameworks
and make resources available. But it is the manager who is the enabler of engagement.
It is often said that each line manager is also an HR manager. Introduction of Manager
Scorecards meant that managers would be tracked by the management on progress
made on their scores and how they have contributed to the overall culture of the
organisation.
We formed HR workgroups in the organisation who would be responsible to
implement the recommendations that were made. The workgroups included repre-
sentation from senior managers and teams across departments and locations. Clear
timelines and metrics were agreed for the HR team to track progress.
10.4.3 Reflections
This case study brings to the forefront several aspects of an employee engagement
project that may be valuable for business. I reflect on some of these aspects below:
• Defining Engagement: The approach looked at multiple angles to define engage-
ment. The different drivers of engagement considered are aspects that touch the
fundamentals of an organisation management. The sub-drivers helped open up the
minds to consider the direct impact that people, processes and technology can cre-
ate in employee engagement. Our intervention sought to touch the psychological
and behavioural outcomes for people, and the model our work was pinned on was
holistic and immersive.
Employee engagement is meant to be a multidisciplinary field and needs under-
standing from fields such as psychology, sociology and group theory (Kahn 1990).
Further, organisational life is emotionally charged and psychologically complex
(Kahn 1990). A discipline like employee engagement that is an amalgamation of
commitment, loyalty, productivity and ownership (Wellins and Concelman 2005)
cannot be dealt with by addressing specific areas in isolation, but needs integra-
tion of thought, action and resources. The approach that was applied at Potential
Earthmovers was defined by this very understanding.
• The Approach: We adopted an immersive approach that connected our model
with the client. As consultants, we had a standard credible question set, but we
invested in understanding the organisation through HR workshops and leadership
interactions. This helped us customise and contextualise the questions so that
responses were relevant to the organisation. Being a manufacturing-led business,
we realised the importance of including the blue-collar workforce in our study. For
this, we further contextualised our questions and worked closely with plant-level
line managers to reach out to respondents. Our task did not just stop with rolling
out the survey, but we worked to increase response rate and adopted different
strategies for both the white-collar and blue-collar employee cohorts for the same.
[email protected]
Our approach was guided by holistic thinking and flexibility alike; both went hand
in hand. Holistic thinking was at the core of our framework that brought together its
drivers and understanding at the level of systemicity (discussed in the next point),
flexibility-enabled contextualisation at every step and address the requirements
and unique nuances of data collection at the level of blue-collar workers.
• Systemicity: I refer to the term systemicity to refer to complex dynamic behaviours
displayed as a result of the interaction within a complex system itself or within sub-
systems (Checkland 1999). The notion of interconnectedness is universal; under-
standing interconnectedness between subsystems is the only way to understand
emergent characteristics of the larger system. Our engagement linkage model
helped us explore the select improvement and sustenance drivers in the organisa-
tion not in isolation but how they interacted with one another to impact the over-
all engagement. Saks (2006) talks about absorption while discussing employee
engagement. Absorption is an intensely psychological and emotional association
that is not reliant on one specific aspect but rests on systemicity due to the complex-
ity of interacting variables involved. Similarly, Xanthopoulou et al. (2009) quote a
range of interconnections between job resources, autonomy, social support, men-
toring, performance feedback and career opportunities as over time impacting
employee engagement. Intervening in employee engagement is about understand-
ing complex interrelationships in a formal social setting called the organisation.
Our linkage analysis suggested the strongest roadmap to enhance the over-
all engagement as Recognition, Brand Alignment and Senior Leadership. This
understanding informed our recommendations across the drivers in terms of both
framework and implementation. We advised the organisation to consider these
recommendations holistically so that the desired overall impact could be realised.
Approaching them in isolation could only touch limited change at the surface
level. Each driver was a subsystem of influence and the linkage analysis was the
realisation of the concept of systemicity.
• Inclusive Flexibility: Our approach considered sweeping in the perspectives of
blue-collar workers into the fold as a crucial aspect of overall employee engage-
ment. Our approach was flexible to adopt the requirements needed to capture their
perspectives. We translated the questionnaire to Hindi, a preferred language for
workers at both the plant locations. In order to accommodate for a lack of technol-
ogy familiarity, we moved from an online survey to pen-and-paper data collection.
To increase response rate, we adopted a workshop mode of data collection. These
sessions were also used to sensitise respondents about the study, familiarise them
of the drivers and make them comfortable with the process. The flexibility in our
approach made our model inclusive and participative.
Working specifically in the manufacturing setup where workforce involvement
and productivity is a crucial determinant of success, we had no choice but to bring
in the perspective of the blue-collar workers. Mehta et al. (2016) say that involving
employees enables management in overcoming the challenges collaboratively as
it instils a sense of ownership and stronger bond with the organisation; this in turn
results in an “upward spiralling cycle of superior results”. Blue-collar workers
are the backbone of the Indian manufacturing industry. Malladi and Bhatt (2018)
[email protected]
quote: “Although 90% of India’s labour force continues to be in the unorganised

sector, the productivity of the organised sector with 10% of the total labour force is
around 900% more than the unorganised sector, and contributes to almost half of
the Indian National Domestic Product (NDP)”. Bringing this cohort into a strong
consideration set can serve a long way to contribute towards their engagement
beyond what is guaranteed to them by prevailing labour laws and long-term set-
tlements between employee groups and employers. Labour laws in India already
specify quality of working conditions, method and quantum of wage payments,
working hours, provisions for statutory savings and methods to resolve disputes
along with necessary rights to workmen (Malladi and Bhatt 2018). Our approach
helped us to look beyond the guaranteed and understand aspects touching emotions
rather than legal guarantees.
• Action Orientation: Our focus was not just the assessment of employee engage-
ment but a sincere interest to bring about real change in the system. We introduced
employee FGDs across locations and respondent types to delve deep below the
surface of engagement scores to interpret why the scores were as they were and
what certain open-ended comments could be better contextualised. We followed
this up with a workshop to identify priorities and draw out an implementation
roadmap in light of the industry benchmarks and recommendations. With the real-
isation that managers are the biggest link between the organisation management
and people, we created manager scorecards that served to drive accountability on
them to bring the change we wanted to see. The scorecards were almost meant to
serve as “report-cards” for managers on their work to create a conducive work-
place. The HR workgroups were created to ensure execution of recommendations
within agreed timelines. This brought in greater rigour and sincerity to the entire
initiative.
Given the considerations of our definition, approach, understanding of systemicity
and operating under the mindset of inclusive flexibility, our action steps and way
forward recommendations were meant to be contextually relevant and sustainable
for Potential Earthmovers.
For the organisation itself, Potential Earthmovers displayed self-criticality and
learnability by its proactive initiation of the engagement study. Despite being the
market leader, the management wanted to continually learn and evolve, without
complacency set into the system. This requires flexibility, openness and long-term
horizon in part of the top management.
10.5 A Holistic Approach to Employee Engagement
A holistic approach to employee engagement takes a 360° view of how an employee

relates to his or her organisation, how they get involved in delivering on their role, and
the physical and psychological connection they build with the organisation. Given the
multiplicity of elements involved in achieving this and the complexity in the elements
[email protected]
themselves, there cannot be any singular approach for employee engagement. In

common parlance, when speaking about employee engagement, there is a tendency
to refer to fun and entertainment at the workplace, but this is an extremely narrow
view. Employee engagement requires an evolved perspective where one has to look
at the various dimensions that exist in principle and in practice at the workplace as
we have seen in the various models explored in this chapter.
The role of the manager has been highlighted in several instances as the link
between the management and employees. The role of the manager is not just to
allocate tasks and monitor progress, but to coach, mentor and enable the success of
their team. Regular on-the-job coaching can have a direct positive effect on an
employee’s performance and that can eventually lead to positive financial results
(Xanthopoulou 2009). The manager is also responsible for providing the conducive
resources and enablers for employees to deliver on expectations, and this can lead to
enhancing the overall engagement levels (Mauno et al. 2006).
The Gallup model is pinned on the Q12 that is centred around the manager’s
oversight on an employee’s progression from basic needs to management support
to teamwork to growth. At Bharti Airtel, India’s largest telecommunications com-
pany, focus on associate engagement is part of all manager KRAs. Managers are
trained through off-the-shelf programmes to connect and coach their teams and in
HR processes such as recruitment and performance management system to ensure
consistency.
Great Places To Work (GPTW) and Aon charts out a list of dimensions and drivers
that are near exhaustive of key aspects—physical, emotional and psychological—that
come to play when working on creating an engaging workplace. GPTW also articu-
lates the importance of giving back to the community with employee involvement in
CSR as creating an important sense of responsibility and commitment to their roles
as part of an organisation. More and more, people desire to be associated with organ-
isations that are ethical and responsible and not just focused on revenue generation.
Millennials are driven by an atmosphere that allows them to follow their passion,
create value for themselves, give back to the society and do what they would like to do
beyond their job. Different initiatives have been undertaken by various organisations
to intervene into the drivers of engagement and touch their people.
The way reward and recognition programmes are institutionalised have been
relooked into by leading organisations that include initiatives such as spot recogni-
tion by managers, redemption points programmes, organisation-level annual awards
and high-visibility non-monetary recognition.
In various organisations, definition of career movement has been broadened more
effectively in the employees’ mind to include not just upwards progression and lateral
movement, but also growth within the existing role, growth within the function and
growth outside the function. Focus on internal development has been heightened and
formally defined career path and succession plans to enable the same are put in place.
This has been complemented by role changes in periodic intervals keeping in mind
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10.5 A Holistic Approach to Employee Engagement 301
an individual’s career aspirations and organisation needs. The Aditya Birla Group,
India’s leading global conglomerate, has a coherent HR strategy to connect its vast
employee base of 40 + nationalities. The CEO personally monitors top 100 leaders in
the group. Focus on employees’ careers is offered by providing individualised
career progression dossiers and focused developments through a world-class training
academy. The group works in over 4000 villages in India in the spaces of health care,
education, sustainable livelihood and infrastructure, where employees are given a
chance to contribute and gave back to their communities.
Internal communications play an important role. There is a high degree of corre-
lation in the direction established by the CEO, HR strategic plans and employees’
understanding of the strategic objectives for the best employers. Leading organisa-
tions are proactively working on translating their customer promise to an articulated
employer value proposition to be lived in through organisational systems and pro-
cesses. This is significantly fostered by the organisation leadership and facilitated
by HR. Forbes Marshall, an Indian engineering and energy conservation solutions
provider, has an initiative called Value Dilemma Workshops that are conducted by
business units and HR to foster a culture of transparency, where members are encour-
aged to openly discuss their dilemmas on the way that values are practised within
the organisation. Dilemmas are collected and clarified during the workshops. The
ones that are not clarified are taken up with the senior leaders of the organisation to
understand the rationale behind those actions.
Leadership communication and management connect is an integral element of
internal communications. For organisations that spread across locations have con-
siderable scale and work across time shifts and zones, creating such a connect requires
greater thought and effort. Every employee counts. At Hyatt Hotels, a leading inter-
national hospitality brand, the Night Owl Breakfasts initiative allows any leader who
has ever had a good night’s sleep to speak passionately about the value of a reliable
overnight team. These “night owlers” oversee the safety and well-being of an entire
hotel full of guests. These “night owlers” do not have adequate opportunities to com-
municate with the hotel leadership. To bridge the gap, Hyatt Hotels regularly hosts
“night owl” Breakfasts to facilitate better communication between the overnight staff
and hotel leadership.
Collaboration between employees is looked into with great focus by leading organ-
isations and senior management remains personally invested in efforts on the same.
Coaching and mentoring programmes are put in place to equip employees with
behavioural and attitudinal skills to work together and overcome apparent tensions
that arise at the workplace. Organisations have institutionalised practices that collect
feedback with different intent so that a more engaged workplace can be realised. For
instance, InterGlobe Enterprises, a leading Indian conglomerate, has a system of suc-
cessive feedback collection mechanism after an employee joins. Day-1 feedback aims
to understand the onboarding experience of the employee and their comfort level.
Day-7 feedback aims to understand if the employee has settled into the organisation.
Day-45 feedback aims to understand whether the employee has settled into the role.
Finally, Day-90 feedback aims to understand parameters such as work environment,
supervisor, communication and team culture.
[email protected]
Organisations are also working proactively on making workplaces more women

friendly. Women are increasingly encouraged to take up key managerial or technical
roles. In few organisations, even a certain percentage of key roles are necessarily
supposed to be filled by women employees and such efforts are tracked as part of
management KRA. Flexible work practices are introduced to support women
employees balance work and family commitments. These include flexible working
hours, flexible working week, part-time work, job sharing and work from home.
A systemic approach to employee engagement needs both holistic thinking and
flexibility. Systems thinking allows management to consider various dimensions that
directly and indirectly make a workplace more engaging for employees as we have
seen with the models and examples above. Flexibility allows greater options and
more creativity in conceptualising and introducing practices that make the systems
perspective amenable to creative ideas.
10.6 Conclusion
In this chapter, I led a discussion to understand the various facets that contribute
towards a holistic approach to employee engagement. I argued that a holistic approach
is one that considers the physical, emotional and psychological drivers that engage
people at their workplaces, and lead to greater productivity and overall organisational
performance.
I began the discussion by introducing various definitions of employee engagement.
I argued that the concepts of satisfaction and engagement are essentially different
although satisfaction drivers form an element of engagement. I went on to discuss
how engagement can yield benefits for the individual, team, business and the society.
This was followed by the discussion that the concept of employee engagement is not
generic and different professional cohorts may value different engagement drivers
and may be motivated by factors specific to them.
I talked about three prominent models from leading consulting and advisory
firms—Gallup, Great Places To Work Institute (GPTW) and Aon—and introduced
the subtleties of their points of view and approach to assessing engagement levels at
the workplace. I discussed a detailed case study of my experience of leading an
engagement study project with a manufacturing firm in India that I called Poten-
tial Earthmovers. I took the reader through the project lifecycle of the mandate. The
approach and analyses demonstrated how understanding interconnections, flexibility
in approach and ability to see beyond functional barriers could make recommenda-
tions that were systemic and more impactful.
I closed the chapter with an overall narration on a holistic approach to employee
engagement.
[email protected]
References 303
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10.2 What Is Employee Engagement

10.2.1 Engagement Is Not Satisfaction

Fig. 10.1 Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene model

As Newman et al. (2010) say, whereas satisfaction is about satiation, engagement

10.2.2 Benefits of an Engaged Workforce

An engaged workforce can bring in a range of benefits at various levels—individual,

Higher engagement has positive outcomes on the individual employee. An engaged

10.2.3 A Stratified Approach to Employee Engagement

I categorise professional as white-collar workers who are involved in managerial and

10.2.3.2 Service Oriented

Operators are driven by immediate gratification in terms of monetary returns and

10.3 Employee Engagement Frameworks and Approaches

When it comes to employee engagement, Gallup is perhaps the most well-recognised

Gallup’s approach on engagement study is based on 12 credible questions, Q12,

10.3.1.1 Gallup’s Q12

The hallmark of Gallup’s employee engagement study is the Q12. According to

sense of responsibility towards their team members. Open communication and a

10.3.1.2 Perspectives from Gallup

Fig. 10.2 Gallup macroeconomic path (Source Gallup 2015)

10.3.2 Great Places to Work Institute

Trust Index is calculated as a consolidation of all dimension-wise scores. The Trust

• Operational: Increase in employee productivity is seen. Employees feel safe and

Fig. 10.3 Aon engagement drivers (Source Aon)

10.4 Employee Engagement Case Study

Here I will share my experience of leading an employee engagement study. I was

10.4.1 About the Company

10.4.2 The Consulting Mandate

Fig. 10.4 Engagement study process at potential earthmovers

• Seek support in a focused action planning workshop to agree on a way forward

10.4.2.1 Survey Design

10.4.2.3 Analysis and Reporting

because 21% of people were “nearly engaged”. 2% of employees were “completely

to employees to attend development centres to enhance their professional skills.

Our analytics enabled us to create an engagement linkage model based on studying

Recommendations around framework and design elements sought to establish greater

Implementation and communication of the recommendations could be enabled

Framework and design elements sought to revisit Potential Earthmover’s Employer

Implementation and design elements sought to establish organisational leadership

Implementation and communication of the recommendations could be enabled

Framework and design elements sought to create a transparent performance man-

at Potential Earthmovers. Manager Scorecards brought focus and accountability to

quote: “Although 90% of India’s labour force continues to be in the unorganised

10.5 A Holistic Approach to Employee Engagement

A holistic approach to employee engagement takes a 360° view of how an employee

themselves, there cannot be any singular approach for employee engagement. In

Organisations are also working proactively on making workplaces more women

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