University of Lincoln: Employee Engagement, Communication, Motivation

This report, prepared for the University of Lincoln's Lincoln International Business School, delves into the critical importance of employee engagement, communication, and motivation within the job evaluation process. It examines how these factors contribute to a company's stability and growth, emphasizing the role of employees as key stakeholders. The report explores the impact of employee engagement on productivity, sales, and profitability, highlighting the benefits of engaged employees, such as improved turnover time and reduced defects. It further discusses the implementation of employee engagement through strategic approaches, manager-employee relations, employee voice systems, and trust-building. The report also emphasizes the importance of communication in organizational change and job evaluation, referencing Lewin's change model. The report concludes with findings and recommendations to enhance job evaluation processes and improve organizational outcomes. The paper also includes an executive summary, table of contents, references, bibliography, and appendices.

University of Lincoln
Lincoln International Business School
Degree title: INSERT YOUR DEGREE TITLE i.e. BSc Engineering Management
Importance of employee engagement, communication and motivation in job evaluation
Integrating Professional Experience
Student name: INSERT NAME
Student number: INSERT STUDENT NUMBER
Tutor Name: INSERT YOUR IPE TUTOR’s NAME
Submission Date: INSERT DATE
Word Count: Report: Reflective Learning Log:3000

Executive Summary
The objective of the paper is to analyze the importance of employee engagement, motivation
and communication in job evaluation process of the organization. Employee engagement is
crucial for the organization as they are the main backbone of the company. On the other hand,
in order to engage the employees an effective communication and motivational strategy is
essential. Thus, an organization can employ an effective job evaluation process by linking these
two factors.
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Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction.........................................................................................................................3
1.1 Overview..............................................................................................................................3
1.2 Background of the study......................................................................................................3
2.0 Employee engagement.......................................................................................................4
2.1 Impact of employee engagement.........................................................................................5
2.2 Implementation of employee engagement...........................................................................6
3.0 Communication........................................................................................................................8
3.1 Business Communication....................................................................................................8
3.2 Communication in organizational Change...........................................................................9
3.3 Communication Benefits in Business.................................................................................10
4.0 Motivational Strategies..........................................................................................................11
4.1 Strategy approach for motivation.......................................................................................12
4.2 Benefits of implementing Motivational Strategies..............................................................14
5.0 Conclusion.............................................................................................................................14
5.1 Report Findings..................................................................................................................14
5.2 Recommendations.............................................................................................................15
Reference List..............................................................................................................................16
Bibliography.................................................................................................................................19
Appendix......................................................................................................................................20
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1.0 Introduction
1.1 Overview
In today’s world, organizations are growing in a fast pace and giving a strong
competition to its competitors. Along with the growing environment, the companies are also
developing their job position. However, the process of engaging a new job position is not an
easy task for them as there are various credentials to be kept in mind by the mangers of the
company before forming a new job role. This process of evaluating the importance of a position
is known as job evaluation. Job evaluation process helps the managers and human resource
department compare the responsibilities of a new job position with that of other positions and
decide on the pay structure given to the new position. However, the process of evaluation is not
an easy task (Aarons et al, 2014). Three important factors need to be considered for successful
job evaluation process such as employee engagement, communication and motivation. These
three factors are held as a backbone for successful job evaluation process. This is because
during job evaluation there are various new things to be incorporated and lack of communication
with the employees will lead to their failure of taking part in it. There are various live examples
that also prove that employee engagement is an essential part in a successful job evaluation
(Albrecht et al, 2015).
This paper discusses the importance of employee engagement, communication and
motivation in bringing a successful job evaluation process. It further discusses about the impact
of lack of these factors n the job evaluation system in an organization.
1.2 Background of the study
Management of the business and the above-mentioned factors are crucial for a
company’s stability and growth. This is because employees should always consider being the
main stakeholders of the business. It is through their effort that the company can grow and
prosper in the way they want. Lack of support from the employees will result in a rapid downfall
of the company because the organization will be unable to conduct any work without them.
Similarly the employees should also be considered as main stakeholders of the company while
formulating or deciding on a new job evaluation process (Antwi et al, 2016). Thus, it is a
responsibility that the managers of the company organizes and cooperates with the employees
for successful implementation of the job evaluation process. Job evaluation process may involve
various processes and it might happen that the employees are not aware of the new system that
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the organization is structuring. This will affect the employees negatively as they the ultimate
person to use those systems (Bakker et al, 2013).
Along with the employee, engagement managers should also try to form some
motivational speech and reasons to increase the enthusiasm of the employees in taking part in
the process. This is because motivation can only pull the employees and help the organization
to meet its goal. Enthusiastic employees are the one that can do anything for the organization if
supported well by their managers and HR of the company. Lastly, along with employees and
motivation, communication is also important because without a proper communication channel
the mangers can never be able to convey the messages to the employees. Communication is
the one that helps to create a link between the three processes for bringing an organizational
change. Employee engagement, communication and motivation are directly or indirectly related
to the job evaluation process. A failure of one will lead to the downfall of the plan of the
organization (Bal, Kooij, and De Jong, 2013). Thus, the importance of these three processes
and their role in job evaluation has been discussed below.
2.0 Employee engagement
Employee engagement is the most important factor from the three factors mentioned above.
This is because they are the active part of the business and it is through their effort that the
company is able to operate. Further, the employees are the one, which will help the organization
to implement the new change management system for proper job evaluations. Thus,
employees should always be kept in the first place for any decision making process. This is
because any negative feedback from the employees after the implementation of the new
process will prove to be costly to the organization. The workers are the actual motivation to the
organization and they are the right person to contact with for knowing the suitability of the new
system (Barrick et al, 2015).
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Figure 1: Employee Engagement Outcomes in Business
(Source: Garber, 2014: 198)
From the above figure, it can be stated that due to low absenteeism rate of the
employees, the company experiences high productivity, sales and profitability.
2.1 Impact of employee engagement
Employees have various affect on the organization and in turn on implementing a job
evaluation process. A good bond between the organization and the employees will automatically
lead to an increase in the efficiency level of the process. Moreover, employees also help the
organization to guide in creating a job position that will bring more customers for the employers.
However, to get the correct advice and guidance form to employees the organization should first
approach them and let them know the actual reason behind the job evaluation process that they
are planning to take. Approaching the employees after all, the task will not benefit the
organization n any way. Moreover, a job evaluation process also helps the organization to
evaluate the performance of the already working employees (Guest, 2014). This helps them to
know number of best performing employees and train the employees those are lacking
capabilities. For the effectiveness of this process also the mangers needs to talk to the
employees. It through efficient interaction they will be able to know the problems faced by some
of the workers and the training and guidance they need from the company. Thus, after analyzing
the impact employees put on the organization it can be said that companies with fully engaged
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employees can help the entity grow fruitfully and retain their productivity and customer base
level (Huang et al, 2014).
Figure 2: Benefits Offered by Engaged Employees in Business
(Source: Kumar and Pansari, 2015: 612)
From the above figure, it can seen that process turnover time has improved as high as
70%. This has improved the productivity and has reduced the defects in quality.
2.2 Implementation of employee engagement
Engaging the employees in every crucial task of the organization and bringing about a
success in the job evaluation process is not an easy task. It requires some methods through
which the company can engage the employers in job evaluation. The company can implement
employee engagement process through four ways.
Firstly, the company can adopt strategic approach through which they can engage with
the employees effectively. In this approach the company can judge the understanding of the
employees about the objective of the company and decide the workers that have good
knowledge about the company. This is because a fully informed worker will be very helpful in
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guiding the organization in taking new job evaluation process for both hiring new job role and
analyzing the performance of the existing employees (Longenecker et al, 2017).
Secondly, developing manager employee relation is crucial for the entity as the
managers are the one that engage with the employees more than the actual owners are of the
business. Thus, forming a good relationship between the employees and their managers is yet
another way of implementation of successful employee engagement system (Mazzei, 2014.).
Thirdly, the organization should implement a employee voice system in which the
workers can share their grievances and problems. This will help the managers to carry out the
job evaluation process effectively by knowing the reason behind much of the underperformed
employees in the company. Thus, they will be able to work on the grounds the workers are
facing problems and work according to the benefit of the organization (Rana, 2015).
Lastly, the most important task to be done for effective employee engagement process is
building trust between employees as well as between the employees and the managers. This is
because; lack of trust will never allow the above three process to be successful. With the lack of
trust the employees will back off from sharing their problems as well as views in taking up any
job evaluation process.
The below figure depicts that culture and engagement are interdependent on each other
in an organization.
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Figure 3: Employee Engagement Implementation Factors
(Source: Kumar and Pansari, 2015: 612)
3.0 Communication
3.1 Business Communication
Communication plays a vital role in the evaluation of job processes. There must be
proper communication between the employee and the management. The employees should be
made to clearly understand the rules of the company and the changes that are going to take
place so that they can work according to that. There must be transparency and honesty
between the employees and the management group of the company. There must be a proper
relationship within and outside the company in the evaluation of job. Communication is
important in job evaluation when the system is not clear to the employees and there is
misunderstanding among them (Chane and Martin, 2014). The company should use such a job
evaluation system which is easier to understand and use. The managers must be trained
properly and there must be transparency in communication because they will provide training to
the employees according to the requirement. Proper communication in job evaluation helps in
giving solution to the problem as it builds consistency and equity in the entire system through
the various processes of designing the job. Communication is important in the evaluation of jobs
because it helps in making different kinds of plan, executing different kinds of decisions,
exchanging the information among the employees. According to Jim Rohn, "The challenge of
leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be
thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but
without folly."
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Figure 4: Business Communication Process
(Source: Brounstein et al., 2014: 128)
In the above figure, a communication system in an organization is shown whereby
managers and employees can communicate with each other properly.
3.2 Communication in organizational Change
Based on the Luwin’s change model, communication in job evaluation can be
implemented in the change management system in the following way:
1. Unfreezing Stage: Communication is important in job evaluation because in this
stage the employees are communicated by the management group about the changes that are
going to take place within the company. This stage is important because it helps in overcoming
the different kinds of problems that arises in times of job evaluation. The employees must be
aware of the various objectives, goals and processes that will take place within the organization.
The employees are communicated with the various changes that will affect the organization.
The messages in this follow a hierarchal form.
2. Change Stage: Communication plays an important role in this stage because the
employees who will be affected in the process of job evaluation are only considered in this
phase. The employees are aware of the change that will take place in the evaluation of their job.
The knowledge of the employees about their particular role in the company will help in the
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reduction of tensions and conflicts between the two groups i.e. the management group and the
employees.
Figure 5: Lewin`s Change Model
(Source: Chaney and Martin, 2014: 164-171)
3. Refreezing Stage: In this stage, it is vital that the employees accept the changes that
will be taken by the company in the evaluation of the job processes. In this stage,
communication is important to clear the doubt of the employees regarding the new process of
job evaluation, providing information about the rewards and appraisals. This phase is important
to make clear and transparent communication between the employees and the management.
3.3 Communication Benefits in Business
A transparent and clear communication will help the organization in the evaluation of the
job processes in the following ways:
1. Strengthening the bond between the employees
2. Helps in building teamwork
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3. Creation of more employee engagement
4. Spread of global business
5. Adjustment of the salary and appraisal system
6. Providing proper training to the employees
7. Managing the candidates based on their talents
Figure 6: Benefits of Effective Business Communication
(Source: Lazarus, 2015: 41)
The figure above shows the various benefits of effective communication in job innovation
such as enhancing professional image, building healthier relationship.
4.0 Motivational Strategies
Motivation is the external and internal factor in the organization which helps in boosting
the employees in the commitment of their job. The managers must try to motivate the
employees so that they can concentrate and contribute to the development of the company. In
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case of job evaluation, if there is no such ideals which will keep the employees motivated, they
will not be willing to work for the company and thus the job evaluation process will not be
successful. The company must develop the job evaluation system in such a way that it helps in
improving the reward and the appraisal system, and creating a friendly work environment
(Scarborough, Cornwall and Zimmerer,2016).
4.1 Strategy approach for motivation
The various strategies that are to be implemented by the company for motivating the
employees in the process of job evaluation are described below:
1. Recognize individual contribution: The managers must try to develop a keen sense
of observation before evaluating the job performance of the employees. They must thoroughly
check the individual performance of the employees. This will also motivate the employees as
their individual efforts will get recognized. The employees will feel that they are highly engaged
in the job.
2. Provide Training- Training and development of the employees is important because
it will help them in recognizing their capabilities. In job evaluation, training is important because
when the employees gets promotion or needs to improve further in their job role, they need to
remain focused and motivated in their job role.
3. Provide Proper Guidance- Providing guidance in times of emergency situation is
important in the evaluation of job. The employees are to be encouraged to remain motivated so
that they can work for the development of the company. Guidance is to be provided by the
senior employees and the management authority to the new employees who have joined the
organization and are trying to perform better. This will help in uplifting the position of the
company.
4. Invite to Decision making: The employees must also be invited to give their opinions
so that it becomes easier for the company to adopt such a system which will help them in
evaluating the job. This will create a sense of enthusiasm among the employees and they will
stay motivated. The senior employees must also be assigned with various kinds of task to help
the junior employees so that they remain motivated and also help their co-workers. If needed,
some employees can also be invited to give their suggestions and opinions regarding the
evaluation of jobs (Shwom and Snyder, 2015)
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Figure 7: Motivation Categories in Business
(Source: Su and Chen, 2014: 87)
The flowchart reflected above shows that the various internal and external motives in an
organization that lay impact on job evaluation.
5. Consider Ideas: The ideas of the employees must also be taken into consideration
which will help the company to retain the employees when evaluating their performance. This
will also help the employees to stay motivated and they can contribute to the development of the
company
6. Create Flexibility: There must be flexibility in the evaluating the performance of the
employees. If the company adopts some strict measures, the employees will be demotivated
and they will not be willing to work in that particular organization.
7. Reward System: In case of job evaluation, there must be certain reward s and
recognitions that are to be given to the employees in order to keep them motivated. This will
help in improving the productivity of the employees and the management can evaluate the job
on the basis of their performance before and after the reward system (Slack, Corlett, and Morris,
2015).
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4.2 Benefits of implementing Motivational Strategies
The application of mot of motivational strategies provides several benefits to an
organization, which are as follows:
1. Integration of Human Resources: Motivation is important in job evaluation as it helps in
utilizing the available workforce. These will also help the employees to stay enthusiastic and
stay motivated.
2. Development of efficiency of the employees: The efficiency of the workers depends on
their motivation. If the job evaluation process is not accepted by the employees, they will not be
willing to work in the company.
3. Achievement of the organizational objective: The motivation of the employees is also
important in fulfilling the various business objectives in the process of job evaluation. The
organization must try to create a friendly environment in the evaluation of the job processes.
4 Development of friendly relationship: Motivation also helps in the development of friendly
relationship among the employees in the process of job evaluation. The management must
respect the employees and adopt such a job evaluation system which will not affect the
employees (Xing et al, 2016)
5.0 Conclusion
5.1 Report Findings
On the basis of the above report, it can be concluded that engagement of employees is
vital for job evaluation. If the employee is not adequate and proper, the employee will not be
willing to share their ideas and work for the development of the company. Secondly,
communication is also important because it will help the employees to know the various
processes that the organization will adopt in job evaluation. The employees must also properly
communicate with the management so that it will benefit both the parties. As compared to any
other issue, communication largely benefits a business firm. Thirdly, motivation is important
because if the employees are not willing to work, it will be useless to adopt the job evaluation
processes. Efforts must be given to keep the employees motivated so that they can work for the
development of the company.
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5.2 Recommendations
Based on the above analysis on the importance of employee engagement, motivation
and communication some recommendations can be made on the ways the company can
improve on these grounds. These recommendations will help the organization to take up
successful job evaluation process along with employee support.
I. Firstly, the managers and all high-level bodies of the organization should provide a clear
picture of their motive behind the job evaluation process to the employees.
II. The mangers should conduct a detail survey about the organization in order to know the
needs of new employees and the need of analyzing the performance of the existing
employee.
III. The company should carry out a proper communication plan and vehicles to
communicate important news and development of the job evaluation process.
IV. Conduct training and educate the employees about the process of job evaluation that the
organization wants to use so that the workers get to know the system as well and
become enthusiastic about engaging in the process.
V. Company should also offer some extra incentive to the workers to keep them motivated
for actively take part in the job evaluation process.
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Appendix
Title of entry
Job evaluation process causing confusion and uncertainty amongst employees
Brief description
Cipla is an international pharmaceutical company with its headquarters in Indian. Cipla has its
footprints in different regions including South Africa (SA) where I am based. Harmonisation and
standardisation of processes and procedures is key in any global company like Cipla to make sure
that there is alignment across all the regions. As part of standardisation, Cipla recently conducted a
global job evaluation and grading exercise. Job evaluation is a scientific approach of determining job
grade. 350 job descriptions were evaluated using Hay grading system to determine new grades, more
than 23000 employees were mapped to new bands and grades. SA had 87 roles which were
evaluated, with 1020 employees mapped against new grades. A job evaluation exercise was
conducted by Korn Ferry Group
South Africa was using Patterson grading system, which was familiar to the employees. Dimensions
used by Patterson is different from what Hay system uses to determine grades. Patterson uses seven
to nine dimensions, while Hay uses three dimensions. A scientific approach used by these two
systems to weigh and rate different dimensions is not the same. Hay system is commonly used mostly
by the global organisations. It is therefore critical that employees are trained at the initial phase of the
process when changing from one system to the other, which did not happen in our case.
As Head of HR for SA region, I was required to implement a new grading system. As part of
implementation I had to conduct sessions with staff to explain the changes. At that point, I
encountered a lot of resistant from our employees who were not comfortable with a new grading
system as they did not understand how it worked. I was not able to conduct those sessions
successfully due to lack of cooperation as most of our employees were disgruntled. It became evident
during the sessions that employees were going through the emotions of frustration and depression as
they did not understand the system. Most of the employees shown their discontentment by not attend
the sessions and not accepted the letters confirming their new grades. They felt that a lack of
engagement and proper communication at the beginning was a clear indication that the company did
not consider them as stakeholders. Therefore, they were not prepared to listen to something they
were not made aware of. I then recommended to the company to have training sessions conducted by
20

the job evaluation consultant (Korn Ferry). We had to delay the implementation in our region as
Reflection on outcomes
I believe things would have been different had we invested time to create an aware of the grading
system. Lack of consultation with employees had a negative impact to the business. As the HR
practitioner, I did not play my role effectively to avoid employees feeling despondent and resisting a
new system. I should have advised the company to have training sessions with our staff on the new
system. Job evaluation is one of the HR processes, therefore, I should have known better that keeping
employees engaged throughout the process was critical. I tried my best to get a buy-in from our staff
but unfortunately it was difficult as they felt that they were excluded throughout the process.
The situation made me to realise that a constant employee engagement and communication is key
when bring about a change. Personally, I feel that a proper employee consultation would have helped
to prepare the employees for a change. Employees are the most important asset in the organization
and should be treated as part of the shareholders. Employees were left with an impression that they
are not valued by the company. In any business venture, we realize that it is mandatory to make every
procedure and a new venture that the organization gets into know to its staff.
Reflection on processes
Job evaluation is important as it applies an objective system in determining grades. A job grade would
attract a specific rate of pay, therefore, it has to be done properly. It is important for an employee to be
paid as per their grades. It is necessary to take employees through change management process
when a new grading system is introduced to the organisation. This would eliminate any doubt about
their grades. Unfortunately, in our case no change management process was adopted. When
reflecting on what happened during those sessions, I feel disappointed that I did not do enough to
avoid it from happening. It would have been avoided had I made sure that employees are engaged at
every stage of the processes.
Education is critical when an organisation is going through a change process. Since the company was
changing from Patterson to Hay system, it was important for them to be taken through a change
process. Employees were familiar with the previous system, therefore, it was necessary for them to be
educated on the new system. A change became a shock to our staff as they had not been prepared
for it. The entire process was completely centralized with few people within the organization knowing
and understanding what was happening.
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Reflection on the experience of others
When talking to my colleagues from the other regions, they did not have challenges with implementing
a new system as we had in our region. It was not a challenge as they had communicated this to their
staff to prepare them before it was implemented. They were able to get a buy-in from their staff
through constant engagement and education. They had realised that it was a big change for their staff,
therefore, it was necessary for them to have a change management plan. Their plan included
education to make sure that employees are made aware of the system and how it would benefit them.
In addition, they also had question and answer sessions to make sure that employee concerns were
taken care of.
Reflection on personal experience
I was very disappointed with myself, as I was not able to proactively think about the consequences of
not having a change management plan. It was disappointing that an important process like this one
was not given an attention it deserves to avoid employees going through emotions. Employee
engagement should have been a priority for me to make sure that there is inclusion. I am not proud of
the role I played as a change agent in my region, considering that other regions did not have
challenges we had in our region.
The fact I had to recommend that we delay our implementation it was a bad reflection personally as I
always like to take a lead when it comes to delivery. It was disappointing that we were not able to live
up to our reputation within an organisation, as a we are known region of taking a lead on employee
inclusion. HR is expected to drive employee motivation to make them feel associated to the
organisation.
Learning from reflection
Looking at the situation, it is clear that our failure as management to have a change management
process led to confusion and lack of buy-in. This has been a learning not only for me but also for the
management team. I realised that it would have been difficult for us to continue with implementing a
new grading system with our staff not understanding how it worked. I have drawn a change process
which is going to include education to enhance their understanding and questions directed at them.
Training sessions have been conducted by a grading consultant (Korn Ferry) to give employees
comfort that a process followed to determine their new grades was above board. They have also been
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trained on how a rating system to determine their grades works. Employees have been given an
opportunity to share their views about a new system to make sure that they have full confidence in the
system. Employees were clear after a training that Hay cannot be compared to Patterson system as
they use different dimensions to determine grades. I am happy with the role that Korn Ferry played to
alleviate any fears our employees had.
As part our engagement strategy, we have started making employees aware of what is happening in
the organisation so that they are informed in advance. I have started having monthly meetings with
different departments to enhance employee engagement. This is used also to keep employee
motivated to avoid uncertainty with the direction the business is taking. Employees are encouraged to
full participate when these initiatives are taking place.
Action plan
I plan to improve on employee engagement and communication as a means of getting a buy-in from
our staff. It is also important to make some of employees to be champions of a change process so that
they will see themselves as part of it, as opposed to them looking at it as one of the company
processes. Listening to the views of the employees is important as it encourages them to
communicate their concerns to the organisation. Management would have start affording employees
an opportunity to share their thoughts and ideas for consideration by the company. Openness about
what the organisation is doing and trying to achieve would assist in maintaining high level of trust
between management and staff. I would also need to promote inclusion of our staff when going
through these changes so that they remain motivated and willing to adopt new changes.
I am planning to explore the following topics further and look at the impact it has to an organisation if
adopted properly;
Employee engagement- I will be looking at how it makes employees feel associated to the
organisation if they are engaged. Instilling a sense of pride knowing that you are in touch with what is
happening within the organisation. An impact of employee engagement to the business as a sub-
heading, looking at how it would build and develop commitment levels among workers.
Communication- Using communication as a tool to make sure that employees are provided with
knowledge and clear information. I will also be looking a business communication process as a tool to
disseminate information at different stages of the process. I would further explore how communication
assist in clarifying doubts, answering questions and give employees comfort.
Motivation- Here I will be looking at how do we motivate employees for a change. I will also explore
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the following sub-headings as a tool to motivate staff;
 Providing training
 Provide Guidance
 Invite to Decision Making
 Consider Ideas
 Create Flexibility
Key Learning Point (as bullet points)
 The employees should always be in the front line to be considered for decision making and
policy setting.
 Proper change management system is key in any organisation to make sure that a change
process runs smooth.
 Communication, honesty, and transparency are important aspects of a change process in an
organization.
 It is essential to first communicate a policy to the employees before it is implemented to
manage their fears and expectations.
 An organization should always uphold high profile of the most respected organizational culture
and values which will push them forward.
 Any initiative received negatively by the employees may have a direct negative impact on their
performance.
 Employee inclusion in any change process is critical to avoid resistance to change.
 Education as a tool to provide knowledge and promote an awareness. Question and answers
sessions is an important part of education to enhance employee understanding.
 Delegate some activities to staff to work on in order to develop a sense of ownership of that
process.
Date: 21 August 2017
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