Employee Engagement and Its Value for the 21st Century Company

This essay critically examines the significance and value of employee engagement within 21st-century organizations. It emphasizes that engaged employees are crucial for maintaining a competitive advantage, fostering innovation, and driving organizational success. The essay explores how employee engagement contributes to higher retention rates, reduced absenteeism, and increased customer satisfaction. It also highlights the importance of employee engagement in building employee loyalty and fostering a positive work environment. The essay references various studies and reports to support its arguments, concluding that organizations must prioritize employee engagement to navigate the challenges of the modern business landscape and achieve sustainable growth. The work underscores that the commitment and dedication of employees are vital for overcoming challenges in a competitive market and achieving organizational goals.

Talent management

Talent management
“Critically discuss the importance and value of employee engagement for the 21st century
organization”
In the present era, the concept of employee engagement has attained a significant attention. To
bring improvisation in employees and also in the organizational performance, it is important to
have engaged workers in the workplace. It can be said that employee engagement helps the
employees to be happier at work as well as in their lives. Engagement can be considered as
essential HR variable for the companies. The employees who are engaged in the operational
activities make additional efforts, learn more and provide creative ideas (Yadav, 2016). So, in
this paper the discussion will be made on the concept of employee engagement and its
importance for the 21st century organization.
According to Perrin (2009), employee engagement is the ability to which employees thinks, feel
and act in relation to the goals of the company. It also includes the extent to which the workers
can put their efforts in form of creative ideas. In the 21st century it is important to have engaged
employees in the workplace as it will assist in maintaining the competitive advantage in the
market. It can be argued that it is the responsibility of the higher authority to maximize the
engagement level of the employees in the workplace. The employees who are dedicated towards
thee work can be known as the organization ambassadors as they represent the organizational
activities. It is examined that employee engagement should be present as it creates the feeling
among the employees to achieve success in the highly competitive market (Johari et al., 2013).
Employee engagement can be taken into consideration by the companies in 21st century to bring
improvisation in the stability. It is stated that the employees who are not engaged results in
enhancing the cost of the company which can be taken as the loss. But in the present era, the
engagement level of the employees is high so it is one of the advantages for the companies to
give tough competition to the competitors present in the market (Mone and London, 2018).
There are various benefits or importance that relates with the engagement level of the employees.
2

Talent management
(Source: Sarkar, 2011).
It is analyzed that in the present scenario, the companies have to face the challenge in relation to
retaining the employees. As, the markets heats up and the companies emphasizes on expansion,
retention can be said as the key concern for the management. To maintain the retention rate in
the 21st century the companies should emphasize on enhancing the engagement level of the
employees towards the assigned work. It is seen that the opportunity for the employees is
enhancing and they have a wide scope of getting good pay from the other competitors present in
the market (Albrecht el al., 2015)
So, by considering the job opportunities and also high level of competition it is important to
boost the commitment level of the employees in context to the organizational activities. The
increase in employee engagement can also offer the benefit of better growth and high employee
satisfaction. It has been investigated by “The energy project” that the employees who give
importance to their work are three time likely to stay with the companies. The report also stated
that 1.7 times higher job satisfaction can lead to 1.4 times more engagement. Therefore,
employee engagement has an important role in maintaining the high retention rate in the
workplace. It can be also known as the tool through which the commitment and dedication level
of the employees can be enhanced (Sarkar, 2017).
Employee engagement can be stated as one of the important tool for the companies in 21st
century that assist in enhancing the satisfaction level of the customers. The satisfaction level of
3

Talent management
the customers can only be maintained when they attain good services from the company. It can
be argued that the employees are only the one who can satisfy the customer or can offer them
good services. The employee who is dedicated and committed towards the work can focus on
boosting the satisfaction level of the customers as for they consider organizational success as
their success. It can be evaluated that engaged employee’s correlates positively with the
satisfaction level of the customers. The employees are known as the internal customers of the
company so their level of satisfaction has an essential role in maintaining the growth of the
company (Yin, 2018). Therefore, it can be stated that employee engagement has value in relation
to boosting the satisfaction level of the customers towards the organizational activities.
(SOURCE: LEAN CX, 2018).
High engagement level of the employees also plays significant role in reducing absentees in the
workplace. When the employees are committed towards their work, they will enjoy completing
the assigned work within the assigned deadline (Cloutier et al., 2015).
In the 21st century, the companies are facing the issue of high rate of absentees, so in relation to
this issue it can be said that employee engagement is important. The engagement of the
employees towards the work can assist in maintaining the ratio of absentees in the workplace. If
4

Talent management
the employees in the workplace are dedicated and involved towards the assigned work with their
interest then it would be easy for them to work without taking any holidays or leaves (Alfes et
al., 2013). So, it can be said that employee engagement also helps the companies in 21st century
to minimize the percentage of absentees in the workplace that positively impacts the overall
productivity in the workplace.
It is analyzed that the employees who are committed towards the work assigned by the
management will always emphasize on supporting the business in downtrend. The workers will
always support the organization when they are facing any challenge. It can be considered as one
of the benefits for the organization as it will help in recovering the loss and also the issue faced
by the management. In 21st century there are many issues that can be faced by the companies
such as high level of competition, customer satisfaction and also the issue related with boosting
the sales of the products and services. Hence, it can be stated that at this time it is important for
the employees to actively participate in the organizational operations so that it could be easy for
the organization to overcome it. Without the support of the employees, it would be not possible
for the companies to face the challenges in the highly competitive market. In this context,
employee engagement can be considered as the valuable aspect that can assist the companies in
maintaining the challenges (Kaur, 2017).
Importance of employee engagement also relates with the loyalty of the employees towards the
work assigned by the management. If the employees are involved in the organizational activities
and giving their best then it will assist in boosting the loyalty and honesty of the employees. In
21st century it is difficult for the companies to find the employee who is honest and dedicated
towards the work. But it can be argued that it is in the hand of management to boost the
engagement level of the employees so that they can work in the organization by having positive
mindset towards the assigned work (Shuck, Adelson and Reio Jr, 2017).
It is examined that employee engagement also plays an essential role in creating positive
environment in the workplace. The employees who are engaged will have positive attitude and
behavior which will also assist in boosting the positive culture. The engagement level of the
employees and positive culture of the company has a close connection. If the employees are
performing with dedication in the workplace then it showcase that they will also emphasize on
creating positive culture. The employees who are engaged towards the activities of the company
5

Talent management
can focus on maintaining proper coordination in relation to the activities. It helps to create
supporting behavior of the employees for each other. Hence, it can be said that employee
engagement helps the companies to maintain the positive culture which assist in maintaining the
behavior of the employees (Thompson, Lemmon and Walter, 2015).
It is concluded that employee engagement plays an important role in managing the operational
activities of the organization in 21st century. It is important for the higher authorities to focus on
maintaining the engagement level of the employees so that it could be easy to attain positive
outcome in the highly competitive market. In 21st century, the companies have to face the issues
related to high level of competition and also the issue related customer satisfaction. So, by
considering these issues, it can be said that employee engagement is important to be considered
by the companies as it plays an important role in attaining the set targets. Employee engagement
in the workplace helps to boost productivity, boost customer satisfaction, assist in retaining the
employees, boost positive culture and also it has a major role in boosting the loyalty of the
workers. Therefore, it can be stated that in 21st century it is necessary for the management of the
companies to focus on maintaining the commitment level of the employees so that positive
outcome can be attained.
6

Talent management
References
Albrecht, S.L., Bakker, A.B., Gruman, J.A., Macey, W.H. and Saks, A.M., 2015. Employee
engagement, human resource management practices and competitive advantage: An integrated
approach. Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, 2(1), pp.7-35.
Alfes, K., Truss, C., Soane, E.C., Rees, C. and Gatenby, M., 2013. The relationship between line
manager behavior, perceived HRM practices, and individual performance: Examining the
mediating role of engagement. Human resource management, 52(6), pp.839-859.
Cloutier, O., Felusiak, L., Hill, C. and Pemberton-Jones, E.J., 2015. The Importance of
Developing Strategies for Employee Retention. Journal of Leadership, Accountability &
Ethics, 12(2).
Johari, J., Adnan, Z., Yean, T.F., Yahya, K.K. and Isa, S.N., 2013. Fostering employee
engagement through human resource practices: A case of manufacturing firms in
Malaysia. Jurnal Pengurusan (UKM Journal of Management), 38, pp 82.
Kaur, S., 2017. Antecedents and consequences of employee engagement: A literature
review. IUP Journal of Organizational Behavior, 16(3),pp78.
LEAN CX, 2018. Lean CX Infographic – More Incredible Benefits Of Employee Engagement.
[Online]. Retrieved from : http://www.leancxscore.com/lean-cx-infographic-more-incredible-
benefits-of-employee-engagement/
Mone, E.M. and London, M., 2018. Employee engagement through effective performance
management: A practical guide for managers. Routledge.
Sarkar, S., 2011. A study on employee engagement at manufacturing industries. Global
management review, 5(3),pp.82.
Shuck, B., Adelson, J.L. and Reio Jr, T.G., 2017. The employee engagement scale: Initial
evidence for construct validity and implications for theory and practice. Human Resource
Management, 56(6), pp.953-977.
7

Talent management
Thompson, K.R., Lemmon, G. and Walter, T.J., 2015. Employee engagement and positive
psychological capital. Organizational Dynamics, 44(3), pp.185-195.
Yadav, L.K., 2016. Employee engagement among academicians: Interaction effect of perceived
organizational support and individualism. Vilakshan: The XIMB Journal of Management, 13(1),
pp.21-38.
Yin, N., 2018. The influencing outcomes of job engagement: an interpretation from the social
exchange theory. International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, 67(5),
pp.873-889.
8