Employee Engagement, Diagnostic Tools, and EVP: A Report for Argos

This report examines employee engagement within Argos, a UK-based retail company, focusing on strategies implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic. It reviews the concept of employee engagement, highlighting drivers such as safety, learning and development, communication, work-life balance, and healthy relationships. The report evaluates various diagnostic tools used to measure employee engagement, including pulse surveys, eNPS, and stay/exit interviews, alongside an analysis of employee absenteeism and turnover rates. Furthermore, it outlines the construction of an Employee Value Proposition (EVP) tailored to the current pandemic context, emphasizing monetary and non-monetary benefits. The report concludes by underscoring the importance of employee feedback and continuous evaluation to ensure effective engagement strategies within the organization.

Managing People

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………………. ……3
REVIEWS THE CONCEPT AND DRIVERS OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT…………….4
EVALUATES DIAGNOSTIC TOOLS TO MEASURE THE
ENGAGEMENT…………………………………………………………………………………..5
CONSTRUCTING AN EMPLOYEE VALUE PROPOSITION ………………………………...7
CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………………………..10
REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………………..11

INTRODUCTION
Managing People in an organization is a concept in which employees are trained, motivated,
their problems are resolved, conflicts are solved, and manages in a form that their productivity
and engagement in the company increases. (Leroy and et.al., 2018.) It helps in the development
of the organization with the personal growth of employees. Argos is a retail company in the UK,
with about 833 stores and about 29 million happy customers worldwide. It is the subsidiary
company of Sainsbury's supermarket. This report will explain employee engagement and its
drivers while evaluating diagnostic tools to measure engagement. It will also cover an analysis of
the strategies used in employee engagement.
Reviews the concept and drivers of employee engagement
Employee Engagement and its drivers, tools to measure employee engagement, constructing
EVP
Employee engagement refers to the concept that employees are totally dedicated toward the
organization and work with full responsibility and accountability to achieve the organizational
goal while satisfying the personal objective. Employee engagement creates trust and boosts the
employees to work for the growth of the organization. It shows the positive attitude of employees
toward customers, clients, users, and society. (Kang and Sung, 2017.) The concept of employee
engagement is related to organizational culture. Employees' skills and knowledge used by the
company and the output result in innovation and new ideas for the progress and growth of the
company.
When the world is suffering from the pandemic Covid-19, the management of employees in
an organization is a challenging task. Covid-19 has changed the work culture and new ways of
working are adopted by Argos. The new culture has developed new drivers for employee
engagement to maintain their level of employee engagement. Here are some drivers of
employee engagement that are implemented by Argos at the time of the Covid-19 situation -

Safety and Security of Employees - In the Covid-19 situation, one of the basic needs is the
safety and security of employees. When the working area is safe and all precautions are
considered by the company, employees feel safe to work with the company. It increases the trust
and confidence of employees toward the company and employees are more engaged in work.
Learning and development - As many employees are working from home and some in flexible
working hours, to engagement employees new process of learning and development is created by
Argos. The company is proving online learning of new tools and technique which are used
during work from home like Google Meet, use of AI in the interview, and new technologies.
This new working culture will also help employees in the future for career growth.
Constant communication - As employees are working from home, regular communication is
very important. With constant communication employees feel connected with the company while
working from home. Communicate through video calls, skype chat, and scrum calls, it will create
a sense of belonging toward the company.
Work-life Balance - Flexible working hours have disturbed the work-life balance of employees.
The company should prioritize the work and try to maintain the proper balance between works
and like. (Popli and Rizvi, 2016.) Motivational videos, webinars for practicing healthy life, stress
management through online surveys, and more such exercises should be adopted by the
company.
Building Healthy Relationship - When employees are directly in contact with the managers and
team leaders, they feel more engaged toward the organization. When a healthy relationship is
built between employees and managers it directly impacts the productivity of employees and
their job performance also increases. The leader should have the capability to maintain
confidence and trust among employees.

Evaluates diagnostic tools to measure the engagement
When management is bad, the level of employee engagement decreases. Bad management is
when the top-level employees do not have effective leader quality and fail in managing team
members. The productivity of the organization get declines and employee morale also
diminishes. The problems in an organization if not get resolved it lower employee engagement.
To understanding the problems in an organization employee engagement tools are used. Here are
some tools to know the problems in the organization -
Pulse Surveys
Pulse Survey checks the employees' feedback about work and organization on regular
basis. This is also called an engagement survey to know the problems employees are facing in
the organizations. The survey includes some questions which are related to employees thinking
toward the company, workers, and personal growth in the organization. The survey also asked
employees about their suggestions and any modifications in the current working conditions of
organizations. Like in the current situation of Covid-19, what changes can be done during the
remote working of employees and it can be more effective for employees and organization.
(Risley, 2020.) The answers in the survey are recorded, and the same questions are asked after a
time period, weekly, monthly, quarterly. If the answer is the same again and again, it shows that
problem is not resolved. A pulse survey is more in demand because they do not take a long time
and their analysis is faster than any other survey. Regular pulse survey creates a trend of
employee feedback and organization can work on the improvement.
eNPS
Net Promoter Score (eNPS) is mainly used to measure employees' satisfaction level and
trust of employees toward the organization. The main focus is on the understanding of
employees and the company. Argos employees are asked about the services and satisfaction level
they accomplish during their work. (Yaneva, 2018.)The question is to be answered on a scale of

0-10. The answer between 0-6 are detractors and 9 and 10 are promoters. Argos employees are
asked questions like -
 How likely they are satisfied working remotely
 How likely they are committed with work during covid-19
 How likely they are satisfied with the safety precaution of the company
 How likely they are satisfied with the compensation and benefits are given by the
company during Covid-19
The employees who are on the list of promoters are satisfied with the work situation,
while detractors’ employees are affected by the new work culture of the organization. The score
is calculated by deducting promoters from detractors.
Net Promoter Score = % of Promoters minus % of Detractors
It is a quick and easy method to measure employee engagement and in remote working,
the survey can be sent online and get the answer online only. Google forms help to make such
surveys online and the link can be sent to every employee. This survey is affordable and mostly
every employee participates in it.
Stay and Exit interviews
The interview is a more suitable form to collect information from employees as one to
one discussion is there between HR and employee. In the pandemic situation, leaving a job
means that employees got a better opportunity or the employee is facing many problems from the
organization. Exit interviews and stay interviews are different from each other. When employees
want to leave the company then, a stay interview is held. While when employees resign from the
company, then exit interviews are processed. (Maynard, 2020.) During the stay, interview
employees discuss their problem with Hr they are facing in the organization and the reasons for
leaving the organization. Stay interview is also done when employees are working and satisfy
with the organization, they are asked about the reasons to stay in the same organization and how
they develop trust in the company. In exit interview problems of the organization are pointed out

by employees while in a stay interview employees explain the positive aspects of the
organization. Information collected in such interview are like the relations with other team
member, leaders, and mangers, problems employees faced while working remotely, flexible
working hours are disturbing their personal life, do they want any change in work condition
related to the Covid-19 situation.
Employee Absenteeism and Turnover Rate
In the current situation of the pandemic, the absenteeism and turnover rate has increased
with a large number. The absenteeism in Argos was almost 4.5% in the last 8 months, which is
not a good sign for the growth of the company. Many employees have taken early retirement
from the company looking at the Covid-19 situation. The rate of employee absence and turnover
are analysed to know how likely employee engagement is working in Argos. The normal
turnover rate is 10% that is not a problem for the company, but when the number raises, it shows
poor employee engagement. (de Reuver and et.al., 2019.) Employee turnover and absenteeism
decline the rate of return of investment as productivity falls down. If some employees are absent
for long period without any reason, it will affect the work of other employees and even on the
customers. For example, in a store of Argos, there is 20 billing counter with each employee
handling each counter. If 5 employees get absent then there will be only 15 billing counter which
will create a rush in other counter tables. The only way to lower the rate of Absenteeism and
turnover is to understand the problems of employees and find a suitable solution for them.
Motivating employees and building trust with employees are also ways to reduce turnover.
Constructing an employee value proposition
Employee Value Proposition (EVP) is the value which employees get to work in the same
organization and engage with the work of the organization. The value can be monetary or non-
monetary. (Mascarenhas, B.G., 2019.) The employees' skills, knowledge, and experience are
evaluated to provide benefits from the organization. It is the method to appreciate employees and
in return, employees are dedicated to the company.

The construction of the employee value proposition should be made considering the
current situation of Covid-19, as the pandemic has decreased the level of engagement in
employees. An employee value proposition is constructed on four pillars looking at the current
pandemic situation -
Analysis of the current situation of the company - First step is to know the current
situation of Argos relating to the pandemic. As the sale and profit of the company during covid-
19 had declined, so to provide monetary benefits to all employees can be difficult for the
company. Looking at the crises, the EVP will focus more on non-monetary perks. If the
advantages are monetary for some employees then work on the percentage to be given to
employees. The percentage will be based on the current sales and profit of Argos.
Monetary and non-monetary benefits - Estimate the value of monetary and non-
monetary benefits. Select the employees which will be rewarded with monetary and employees
with non-monetary advantages. (Jyothi, 2016.) Monetary advantages include bonus, covid-19
insurance, travel compensation, broadband, and electricity charge refundable if working from
home. Non-monetary advantage includes promotion, recognition, job security, safe and secure
office environment, career opportunity, and perks.
Promoting employee Value Proposition - After preparing the list of monetary and non-
monetary benefits, promotion is essential. As employees will get aware of the latest EVP and
other people who are looking for the job get attracted toward company EVP. (Bagienska, 2018.)
The promotion should be communicated with a clear idea and on the right channel. It should be
published on the company's websites, social media account, circular, offer letter, and
performance development materials.
Evaluate the Result - The selected candidate is satisfied with the new EVP, which is the
most important process. Feedback of employees is necessary because to know that it created
employee engagement or not. (Tursunbayeva and et.al., 2018.) It also evaluates that the selected
person is the right choice for EVP and there were no gaps while targeting the employees.

Employees' reactions to the new EVP should also be noted and changes they want in the new
EVP should be altered.

CONCLUSION
The report explains that employee engagement is the process that involves the satisfaction
of employees in the organization. It shows that to increase employee engagement in the situation
of pandemic Covid-19, the company should understand the new working condition of employees
and try to maintain work-life balance during remote working. To solve the problem of employees
various measure models are used, which help in calculating employee engagement. The new
EVP created for the current situation and analysis that it helps in employee’s satisfaction.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Bagienska, A., 2018. EMPLOYEE VALUE PROPOSITION AS A TOOL OF EMPLOYER
BRANDING. Economic and Social Development: Book of Proceedings. pp.370-379.
de Reuver, R., and et.al., 2019. When do bundles of high performance work systems reduce
employee absenteeism? The moderating role of workload. The International Journal of
Human Resource Management. pp.1-21.
Jyothi, J., 2016. NON-MONETARY BENEFITS & ITS EFFECTIVENESS IN MOTIVATING
EMPLOYEES. CLEAR International Journal of Research in Commerce &
Management. 7(5).
Kang, M. and Sung, M., 2017. How symmetrical employee communication leads to employee
engagement and positive employee communication behaviors. Journal of
Communication Management.
Leroy, H., and et.al., 2018. Managing people in organizations: Integrating the study of HRM and
leadership.
Mascarenhas, B.G., 2019. Employer Branding, Employee Value Proposition, and Employee
Experience: New Approaches for People Management in Organizations. In Strategic
Employee Communication (pp. 97-103). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
Maynard, B., 2020. Strategies to Improve Employee Engagement in Retail Stores.
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Risley, C., 2020. Maintaining Performance and Employee Engagement During the COVID-19
Pandemic. Journal of Library Administration. 60(6). pp.653-659.
Tursunbayeva, A., and et.al., 2018. People analytics—A scoping review of conceptual
boundaries and value propositions. International Journal of Information Management.
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Yaneva, M., 2018. Employee Satisfaction vs. Employee Engagement vs. Employee
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