Enhancing Employee Engagement for Competitive Advantages

The concept of employee engagement is crucial for organizations to meet their strategic goals and objectives. It enhances the commitment and satisfaction level of employees, leading to a competitive advantage. Employee engagement measures have given positive benefits to firms, such as Harrods, in terms of delivering best services to employees. The summary highlights the importance of employee engagement in today's scenario, where lack of satisfaction among workers can lead to attrition and complications for the organization.

HUMAN RESOURCE

TABLE OF CONTENTS
......................................................................................................................................................1
1. INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................1
2. THE CONCEPT OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT ................................................................2
3. EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT AND ORGANISATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS ....................6
4. EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT PRACTICES AT HARRODS .................................................8
5. CONCLUSION .........................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

ILLUSTRATION INDEX
Illustration 1: Model of antecedents and consequences of employee engagement.........................4
Illustration 2: Factor which facilitate employee engagement..........................................................5

1. INTRODUCTION
HR (human resource) is being regarded as one of the most important part of an
organization. This is due to the fact that respective department plays critical role in terms of
maintaining the motivation and satisfaction of workers. In today's scenario, the given concept has
gained greater importance (Andrew and Sofian, 2012). This is because, it is the employees only
whose fruitful suggestions helps the enterprise with regard to attain the tactical goals and
objectives which is being framed by it. In addition to this, corporation can also add value to their
existing product by using the skill and efficiency of their workers.
However, all these mentioned works will be performed by those employees only who
feels highly committed towards their work. This is because, lack of commitment from the side of
workers will lead to impact the strategic goal of enterprise. It is the reason why, the concept such
as employee engagement has been viewed by many organizations as the critical HR approach.
Hence, in order to make the employee engaged towards their work, enterprises are using
different strategies such as offering lucrative salary and giving rewards etc. Despite making all
these measures, many firms are still going through with the issues such as lack of employee
engagement (Ford, 2011).
In this regard, from the latest report on employee survey it is assessed that globally
around 25.3% of employees feels highly committed and engaged towards their work (HR’s role
in employee engagement, 2016). But, in Europe around 23.9% employees are committed with
their work. However, when thorough analysis has been done upon European market then in this
condition it is assessed that in UK and Ireland 83% employees does not feel engaged towards the
job. But, in Nordics the percentage is slightly low which is of 72%. The statistics depict that
employee engagement is the matter of concern for many firms. Hence, for the enterprises it is
essential that they should take significant action towards the issue because if not taken then it
becomes difficult for the organization to maintain their effectiveness in the competitive market in
an effectual way.
With an aim to analyse the employee engagement practices and its interrelationship with
organizational effectiveness, Harrods is taken into consideration. Harrods is the UK upmarket
departmental store which was founded in the year 1834 (Harrods, 2016). As per 2013 statistics,
it has the team of 12000 employees. Currently, Harrods employs different HR practices with an
aim to make its workers highly engaged in their assigned work. The present study starts with the
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brief description regarding the concept such as employee engagement (Merrill and et.al., 2013).
Afterwards, critical evaluation of interrelationship between employee engagement and
organizational effectiveness will be carried out. Finally, Harrods employee engagement
strategies will be analysed and accordingly an effective conclusion will be drawn.
2. THE CONCEPT OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT
There are many researches has been carried out by the scholars upon the subject of
employee engagement. Thus, they all have come up with varied view points regarding the
subject. In accordance with the given context, Crawford and et.al., (2014) have stated that
Employee engagement is the type of measure which depicts the employee passion or
commitment towards their job. It is essential for the company to gather the information in order
for managers to assess whether and how much its employees are feeling motivated and
committed to their job. Thus, on the basis of given information, varied types of decisions can be
taken by the manager of the corporation.
However, Andrew and Sofian, (2012) elucidate that employee engagement is the
emotional commitment that workers have towards the firm as well as its goals. This is because,
employee engagement practice is which not only restricted to enhancing motivation level of
employees as it plays very effective role in terms of establishing emotional connection between
the employees and its assigned roles and responsibilities. This concept states that employee
engagement is the practice which forms emotional links between the employees and firm's goal.
In addition to this, some scholars (Shuck, Reio Jr and Rocco, 2011) have reviewed that
the concept of employee engagement has been defined in many ways. In terms of psychological
state, it is expressed as directing the efforts of the employees towards their work role. On
contrary to this, physical aspect state employee engagement as the energy which employees
required to put on with an aim to perform their assigned job roles and responsibilities in an
effectual manner. However, the positive and negative attitude which workers develops about
their job tend to be considered as emotional aspect about employee engagement.
Furthermore, with an aim to carry out detailed analysis towards the aspect that why
people feel more or less committed with their job, assistance has been taken from the theoretical
model which is of social exchange theory. In this regard, as per the view point of Wollard and
Shuck (2011) social exchange theory entails that the behaviour which people carries out in social
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environment is the result of exchange process. Here, the main objective of given exchange is to
maximize the benefits and minimize the costs.
The psychology of employees totally works on the basis of social exchange theory. The
perspective of employees regarding the area where they work totally based upon the notion that
what kind of treatment which they receive from their firm or from the side of their employers.
This tend to generate positive and negative attitude of the employees about their organization.
For example, generally it has been seen that employees tend to develop negative attitude towards
the organization or job if firm does not give importance to the needs and demands of its
employees. However, Van Dooren, Bouckaert and Halligan (2015) have explored that workers
tend to perform effectively if they see that the efforts which they are putting towards the job has
been effectively recognized and appreciated by the employers. This leads to enhance the
commitment level of workers towards their job and make them highly motivated and satisfied.
But, the given statement is being critically evaluated by the Sonenshein and Dholakia
(2012) that employee engagement goes beyond job satisfaction and it is also not being categorize
under the category of motivation. Here, engagement is something which firm offers to its
workers. However, the engagement or commitment level of employees totally based upon the
support and resource which they receive from the organisation.
In order to support the given argument, assistance is being taken from the antecedents
and consequences model of employee engagement. This model give explanation regarding the
number of factors which disengage employees from their work and reduces their commitment
level towards the job (Wilkinson and et.al., 2014).
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Illustration 1: Model of antecedents and consequences of employee engagement
(Source:Parmenter, 2015)
According to the view point of Parmenter (2015) antecedents are those factors which
employees found out in their existing working condition. Hence, antecedents of employee
engagement are job characteristic, perceived support from supervisor, rewards and perceived
organisational support etc. These all given factors plays very important role in making
employees engaged with their work. For example, in return of giving services to the corporation,
employees always expect that the performance which is given by it should be rewarded and
appreciated by its employers (Marchington and Wilkinson, 2005). However, if they will not
receive that at that time they would think that firm does not have any value of them. Hence, they
will not make measure in terms of giving their best performance to the corporation in an
effective manner. Due to this, the sales and profitability related condition of the organisation will
be impacted in a negative manner.
But, if organisations showcases their serious concerns towards all above antecedents at
that time several consequences of employee engagement will be incurred by the firm such as job
satisfaction, organisational commitment and organisational productivity etc. Besides this, there
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are some factors assessed which facilitate employee engagement. The assessed factors are
depicted in following diagram:
Illustration 2: Factor which facilitate employee engagement
(Source:Gruman and Saks, 2011)
According to the view point of Crawford and et.al. (2014) the factors which engages
employees at work also helps in enhancing the motivational and satisfaction level of workers in
an effective manner.
Moreover, for the purpose to get the information about the employees who are engaged at work,
the X model of employee engagement plays very effective role. Here, by using the X model it
can be identify by the manager of Harrods that whether its employee’s engagement level is high
or low. The given model categorizes employees in A to E alphabetical series. Here, “A” indicate
the type of employees who are highly engaged as well as satisfied with the existing working
condition of firm. In the similar way, E consists of type of employees who are disengaged as
well as highly dissatisfied with the working environmental of Harrods (Dalal and et.al., 2012).
With the use of given model, effectiveness of the employee engagement practices as
being used by cited firm can be identified. For example, manager of Harrods has identified that
most of its employees belongs to E category where level of employee engagement is very low.
Then in the given circumstances, firms must have to make the significant measure with an aim to
enhance the satisfaction level of its employees. Here satisfaction of workers can be enhanced by
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asking problem related to their dissatisfaction. On the basis of this information, varied type of
action will be taken by cited firm.
3. EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT AND ORGANISATIONAL
EFFECTIVENESS
There is an interconnection is being assessed between employee engagement and
organisational effectiveness. But, before giving explanation of the same the concept such as
organisational effectiveness will be explored. In this context, as per the view point of AUTHOR
organisational effectiveness entails about the firm's ability to meet its goals and objectives in an
effectual manner. However, Cole and et.al. (2012) have elucidated that organisational
effectiveness depicts about the corporation efficiency which enable it with respect to achieve an
effective position in the competitive business environment.
Different argument have been carried out upon the subject such as employee engagement
and organisational effectiveness. Here, some studies have argued that both concepts are
positively related with each other however, results of some studies are not supporting the given
statement and consequently they depicting that there is a negative interconnection exist between
the given concepts. In accordance with the given context, as per the view point of Jackson and
Malthis (2010) the concept such as employee engagement helps in delivering positive outcome
to the firm which can be in the form of high profits, high sales, customer satisfaction and
management of talented and skilled employees within firm. In this regard, it has been seen that
firms irrespective of their industry have the ultimate aim of carrying out improvement in their
sales and profits. The given objective can be met by corporation, if it possesses the team of
competent and talented employees (Menguc and et.al., 2013). However, such team can be
retained by the enterprise if it will make its employees feel like that they are being valued by
them. Thus, in order to give such type of feeling firm can use different factors which facilitates
employee engagement. By complying with the given type of activity only, the aims and
objectives of corporation will be met.
Mone and London (2014) argues that employees who feels satisfied with their work tend
to stay within the enterprise for the longer period of time. Here, Robertson, Jansen Birch and
Cooper (2012) have found that the work engagement is positively related with the organisational
commitment. In this context, Welch, (2011) has identified that 41% of the engaged employees
have said that they would like to get connected with the company even if they see that the
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corporation is incurring continuous losses. Hence, it is correct to said that the employee
engagement practices make the employee loyal towards their firm.
Wollard and Shuck (2011) have evaluated that there are some instances happens within
firm which lead to impact the motivation and satisfaction level of the workers who feels highly
engaged with their job. The instances could be high work load, unavailability of adequate
resources and ambiguous work roles etc. The employees does not have any control over these
situations. Hence, the workers who cannot tolerate to work under the given circumstances makes
the decision to leave the firm. Thus, it is correct to said that the factors which is out of the control
of workers leads to affect their engagement level towards the assigned work. The direct impact
of given condition will be seen upon the effectiveness of the enterprises.
According to the view point of Marchington and Wilkinson (2005) employee engagement
enables firms with regard to give their best services to the buyers’. The firm capability to deliver
the high quality of services is largely dependent upon its employee’s effectiveness. In this
context, it has been argued by Crawford, E. R. and et.al. (2014) that employee engagement is the
only practice which enable firm with regard to deliver the high quality services to the respective
buyers. This is because, the firm’s training and development program is another measure which
helps firm in delivering best services to the customers.
In addition to this, the organisation will be consider as effective if it takes all sort of
measures in terms of enhancing and maintaining the satisfaction level of the workers in an
effectual manner. With specific reference to the stated statement, as per the view point of
Jackson and Malthis (2010) the employees who are highly engaged with their job will more
likely to develop loyal buyers for the firm than those who does not feel committed. This is
because, it has been seen that engaged employees have better knowledge regarding the ways of
meeting the needs of tiher customers. This is because, they understand their job roles and
responsibilities in an effective manner. Hence, they make their efforts with regard to maintain the
satisfaction level of their buyers in an effective way. This thing will lead to deliver positive
outcome to the corporation which can be in the form of increased profits and sales.
However, it is to be evaluated by the Robertson, Jansen Birch and Cooper (2012) that
engaging employees at work is not a simple task. This is because of variation in the needs and
demands of the workers. For example, some employee feels satisfied when firms take measure
for enhancing the ineffective skill of them. In the similar way, some employee feels highly
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satisfied when they get recognition for the work which is being assigned to them. Thus, finding
an effective measure for engaging employee at work is tedious and time consuming approach.
Furthermore, Ford, (2014) has depicted that engagement causes direct impact upon the employee
productivity, wherein it has been assessed that engaged employee will tend to make efforts in
terms of delivering their best performance to the corporation. Herein, the study which was
conducted upon 50000 employees have found out that the committed and engaged employees
tend to perform 20% better than their co-workers. However, Wyatt’s (2007) survey which was
conducted upon 946 companies across 22 countries had determined that the workers who are
committed with their job are likely to be counted under the category of top performer. Thus, it is
very correct to say that employee engagement contributes towards the organizational
effectiveness. But still, there are some negative consequences associated with the employee
engagement which leads to hamper the effectiveness of the enterprise in a negative manner
(Wollard and Shuck, 2011). Therefore, the overall analysis entails that it is very beneficial for the
firm that it should take necessary measure with regard to make its employees engaged with their
work. This is because, if not taken then the outcome of firm will be impacted.
4. EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT PRACTICES AT HARRODS
In the given section, the HR strategies employed by the Harrods in order to make its
employees highly engaged with their assigned work will be discussed. Harrods is the retail firm
of UK which has established its unique brand image in the respective market. There are many
drastic changes happens within the business environment. Some these changes seems to cause
positive impact upon firm however some of them will lead to cause negative effective upon the
enterprise. Hence, it is right to said that no two days are same.
One of the drastic change in the business environment has also being faced by the
manager of Harrods which has forced him to rely its focus upon the employee engagement type
of practices. During the year 1989, Harrods had faced serious issue of financial losses because of
the movement of its large section of buyers towards other firm. In this context, it was analysed
that during the given year, many of the firm's customers were started sourcing their product
directly from the Chinese market. Due to this, cited firm had incurred huge losses (Sonenshein
and Dholakia, 2012).
However, in order to deal with the given situation firm has taken the decision of making
the employees engaged at their work. In this regard, Harrods has adopted number of ways for the
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purpose to make employees engaged towards their job. The ways consist of making changes in
leadership, developing supporting environment, using an effective means for giving rewards and
arranging training and development activities for the workers etc. As per the view point of
Crawford and et.al. (2014) The type of leadership style used by the firm causes significant
impact upon the employee engagement. While doing work, workers always require some support
and assistance from its employers. However, if they will not get such support at that time they
will feel highly dissatisfied from their job and ultimately make the decision to leave the firm. It is
the reason why, it is essential for the manager that it should adopt an effective style of managing
the people at work. The given thing has been effectively understood by the manager of Harrods.
The manager of cited firm complies with the democratic leadership approach wherein they
listened the problem which is being faced by the workers and accordingly make the measures
with respect to mitigate the same. In addition to this, as per the view point of Dalal and et.al.
(2012) democratic leader also make the employees feel like that they are being considered as the
important part of corporation.
Herein, it is assessed that Harrods takes suggestions from the workers before reaching on
to the one decision. Furthermore, it also involves the employees in the process of making the
decision and hence through this way only it makes its workers highly engaged and committed
with their assigned work. Besides this, according to the view point of Mone and London (2014)
in order to fulfil the roles and responsibilities which are associated with the job, employees will
require different type of skills which needs to be developed by organisation only. Hence, in this
context it is analysed that cited corporation organizes an effective training and development with
the help of which it tends to develop such skills among its employees in which they are
hindering. By complying with the given type of activity only, Harrods boost the confidence of its
employees and make them committed towards the enterprise.
Moreover, Robertson, Jansen Birch and Cooper (2012) have assessed that employees
feels less engaged when they do not get appreciation for the work which is being carried out by
them. This thing has also being effectively understood by the retail firm. Thus, in order to work
upon the same HR department offers different rewards to the employees which is in both
financial and non financial form. It is through this way, only firm maintains the satisfaction level
of its workers.
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It is because of implications of given tactics only, several benefits has been gained by
firm. Here, IRS report published in 2009 state that financial turnover of company has increased
significantly. It was £6 million in 2003, but in 2008 it rose up to £10 million. Consequently, the
application of employee engagement tactic have also causes the effect upon employee turnover
ration. Herein, it is analysed that Harrods has experienced 12% decrease in its staff turnover
ratio.
5. CONCLUSION
Articulating to all the facts from the whole report, it is concluded that for the enterprises,
it is very beneficial that they must follow the employee engagement practices on a regular basis.
It is due to the fact that, the given practice will assist firms in meeting their strategic goals and
objectives in an effectual manner. In addition to this, the concept also helps in enhancing the
commitment as well as satisfaction level of employees towards their work. In today's scenario, it
is very important for the organisation to take appropriate measures to enhance as well as
maintain the satisfaction level of its workers. This is because, lack of satisfaction among workers
will lead to raise the level of attrition within firm. This may create several complications in front
of the enterprise like Harrods.
In addition to this, by engaging employees at work, firms can gain the competitive
advantages. For instance, the firm has the competitive advantage with regard to delivering the
best services to the employees. This can be achieved by implementing the employee engagement
type of practices within firm in an effective way. It can also be stated that employee engagement
measures as being applied by firm has given positive benefits to the firm.
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