{"id":7501,"date":"2020-10-22T07:12:21","date_gmt":"2020-10-22T12:12:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/?p=7501"},"modified":"2020-12-18T20:52:13","modified_gmt":"2020-12-19T01:52:13","slug":"can-we-transform-employee-engagement-into-a-competitive-advantage-yes-heres-how","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/can-we-transform-employee-engagement-into-a-competitive-advantage-yes-heres-how\/","title":{"rendered":"Can We Transform Employee Engagement into a Competitive Advantage? Yes, Here&#8217;s How"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-7509\" src=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/5-Dimensions-of-EE-Stock-image-1-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/5-Dimensions-of-EE-Stock-image-1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/5-Dimensions-of-EE-Stock-image-1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/5-Dimensions-of-EE-Stock-image-1-1024x683.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/>Organizations typically focus on <a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/browse\/stream\/customer-centric-design\">Customer-centric Design<\/a> in their <a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/strategic-planning\">Strategic Planning<\/a> and overlook the critical driver of <a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/browse\/stream\/performance-management\">Performance<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/business-toolkit\/growth-strategy-growth\">Growth<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/operational-excellence\">Operational Excellence<\/a>\u2014their employees.\u00a0 With cut-throat competition now the norm the realization has become clearer that employees are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The face of the business and create lasting\u2014or perishing\u2014brand impression.<\/li>\n<li>Sources of innovation and organizational knowledge.<\/li>\n<li>Representation of the company\u2019s service philosophy.<\/li>\n<li>Expected to live by its <a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/browse\/stream\/culture\">Organizational Culture<\/a> and values.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/business-toolkit\/employee-engagement\">Employee Engagement<\/a> has emerged as one of the significant pillars on which the <a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/business-toolkit\/competitive-advantage\">Competitive Advantage<\/a>, Productivity, and Growth of an organization rests. \u00a0What, exactly, does it mean when an employee is engaged?\u00a0 Employee Engagement, over the years, has been thought of in terms of:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Personal engagement with the organization.<\/li>\n<li>Focus on performance of assigned work.<\/li>\n<li>Worker burnout.<\/li>\n<li>Basic needs (meaningful work, safe workplace, abundant resources).<\/li>\n<li>Attention on Cognitive, Emotional and Behavioral components related to an individual\u2019s performance.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Although Employee Engagement is widely seen as an important concept, there has been little consensus on its definition or its components either in business or in the academic literature.<\/p>\n<p>Kumar and Pansari\u2019s 2015 study define Employee Engagement as:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>a multidimensional construct that comprises all of the different facets of the attitudes and behaviors of employees towards the organization.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The multidimensional construct of Employee Engagement has been synthesized into the following 5 components (or dimensions).<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Employee Satisfaction<\/li>\n<li>Employee Identification<\/li>\n<li>Employee Commitment<\/li>\n<li>Employee Loyalty<\/li>\n<li>Employee Performance<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/browse\/flevypro\/5-dimensions-of-employee-engagement-5272\">5 dimensions of Employee Engagement<\/a> have been found to have a direct correlation with high profitability, as substantiated by a number of research studies:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/browse\/flevypro\/5-dimensions-of-employee-engagement-5272\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-7507\" src=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/5-Dimensions-of-EE-Slide-deck-image.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1002\" height=\"752\" srcset=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/5-Dimensions-of-EE-Slide-deck-image.png 1002w, https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/5-Dimensions-of-EE-Slide-deck-image-300x225.png 300w, https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/5-Dimensions-of-EE-Slide-deck-image-768x576.png 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1002px) 100vw, 1002px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>For instance, a study of 30 companies in the airline, telecom and hotel industries shows a close relationship between Employee Engagement and growth in profits.\u00a0 After controlling other relevant factors\u2014i.e., GDP level, marketing costs, nature of business, and type of goods, the study found:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Highest profitability growth\u201410% to 15%\u2014in companies with highly engaged employees.<\/li>\n<li>Lowest level of profitability growth\u20140% to 1%\u2014in companies with disengaged employees.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Research reveals that Employee Engagement affects 9 performance outcomes; including Customer Ratings, Profitability, Productivity, Safety Incidents, Shrinkage (theft), Absenteeism, Patient Safety Incidents, Quality (Defects), and Turnover.<\/p>\n<p>The differences in performance between engaged and actively disengaged work units revealed:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Top half Employee Engagement scores nearly doubled the odds of success compared with those in the bottom half.<\/li>\n<li>Companies with engaged workforces have higher earnings per share (EPS).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These 5 dimensions become the base for measuring Employee Engagement in a meaningful manner that permits managers to identify areas of improvement.\u00a0 To assess an organization\u2019s current status of Employee Engagement, a measurement system is needed that includes:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Metrics for each component of Employee Engagement.<\/li>\n<li>A scale for scoring metrics in each component.<\/li>\n<li>A comprehensive scorecard that pulls everything together.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Let us delve a little deeper into the first 2 dimensions of Employee Engagement.<\/p>\n<h2>Employee Satisfaction<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Definition<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Employee Satisfaction is the positive reaction employees have to their overall job circumstances, including their supervisors, pay and coworkers.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Details<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>When employees are satisfied, they tend to be:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Committed to their work.<\/li>\n<li>Less absent and more productive in terms of quality of goods and services.<\/li>\n<li>Connected with the organization\u2019s values and goals.<\/li>\n<li>Perceptive about being a part of the organization.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Metrics<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The 5 metrics that gauge Employee Engagement in terms of Employee Satisfaction include:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Receiving recognition for a job.<\/li>\n<li>Feeling close to people at work.<\/li>\n<li>Feeling good about working at the organization.<\/li>\n<li>Feeling secure about the job.<\/li>\n<li>Believing that the management is concerned about employees.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>We take a look at another dimension central in significance.<\/p>\n<h2>Employee Commitment<\/h2>\n<p><strong>Definition<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Signifies what motivates the employees to do more than what\u2019s in their job descriptions.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Details<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Employee Commitment is much higher for the employees who identify with the organization.\u00a0 This element:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Develops over time and is an outcome of shared experiences.<\/li>\n<li>Is often an antecedent of loyalty.<\/li>\n<li>Induces employees to guard the organization\u2019s secrets.<\/li>\n<li>Pushes employees to work for organization\u2019s best interests.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Research has found that employees with the highest levels of commitment:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Perform 20% better.<\/li>\n<li>Are 87% less likely to leave the organization.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Metrics<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The 3 metrics that gauge the Employee Commitment dimension of Employee Engagement include:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Commitment to deliver the brand promise along with knowledge of the brand.<\/li>\n<li>Very committed to delivering the brand promise.<\/li>\n<li>Feels like the organization has a great deal of personal meaning.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Interested in learning more about these <a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/browse\/flevypro\/5-dimensions-of-employee-engagement-5272\">foundational pillars to Employee Engagement<\/a>? You\u00a0can <a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/browse\/flevypro\/5-dimensions-of-employee-engagement-5272\">download\u00a0an editable PowerPoint on <strong>5 Dimensions of Employee Engagement<\/strong> here<\/a><u>\u00a0<\/u>on the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/browse\">Flevy documents marketplace<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2>Do You Find Value in This Framework?<\/h2>\n<p>You can download in-depth presentations on this and hundreds of similar business frameworks from the <a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/pro\/library\">FlevyPro Library<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/pro\">FlevyPro<\/a> is trusted and utilized by 1000s of management consultants and corporate executives. Here&#8217;s what some have to say:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;My FlevyPro subscription provides me with the most popular frameworks and decks in demand in today\u2019s market. They not only augment my existing consulting and coaching offerings and delivery, but also keep me abreast of the latest trends, inspire new products and service offerings for my practice, and educate me in a fraction of the time and money of other solutions. I strongly recommend FlevyPro to any consultant serious about success.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">\u2013 Bill Branson, Founder at Strategic Business Architects<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;As a niche strategic consulting firm, Flevy and FlevyPro frameworks and documents are an on-going reference to help us structure our findings and recommendations to our clients as well as improve their clarity, strength, and visual power. For us, it is an invaluable resource to increase our impact and value.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">\u2013 David Coloma, Consulting Area Manager at Cynertia Consulting<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;As a small business owner, the resource material available from FlevyPro has proven to be invaluable. The ability to search for material on demand based our project events and client requirements was great for me and proved very beneficial to my clients. Importantly, being able to easily edit and tailor the material for specific purposes helped us to make presentations, knowledge sharing, and toolkit development, which formed part of the overall program collateral. While FlevyPro contains resource material that any consultancy, project or delivery firm must have, it is an essential part of a small firm or independent consultant&#8217;s toolbox.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">\u2013 Michael Duff, Managing Director at Change Strategy (UK)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;FlevyPro has been a brilliant resource for me, as an independent growth consultant, to access a vast knowledge bank of presentations to support my work with clients. In terms of RoI, the value I received from the very first presentation I downloaded paid for my subscription many times over! The quality of the decks available allows me to punch way above my weight \u2013 it&#8217;s like having the resources of a Big 4 consultancy at your fingertips at a microscopic fraction of the overhead.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">\u2013 Roderick Cameron, Founding Partner at SGFE Ltd<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Several times a month, I browse FlevyPro for presentations relevant to the job challenge I have (I am a consultant). When the subject requires it, I explore further and buy from the Flevy Marketplace. On all occasions, I read them, analyze them. I take the most relevant and applicable ideas for my work; and, of course, all this translates to my and my clients&#8217; benefits.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: right;\">\u2013 Omar Hern\u00e1n Montes Parra, CEO at Quantum SFE<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Organizations typically focus on Customer-centric Design in their Strategic Planning and overlook the critical driver of Performance, Growth, and Operational Excellence\u2014their employees.\u00a0 With cut-throat competition now the norm the realization has become clearer that employees are: The face of the business and create lasting\u2014or perishing\u2014brand impression. Sources of innovation and organizational knowledge. Representation of the&hellip;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/can-we-transform-employee-engagement-into-a-competitive-advantage-yes-heres-how\/\" rel=\"bookmark\"><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Can We Transform Employee Engagement into a Competitive Advantage? Yes, Here&#8217;s How<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":7509,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"","neve_meta_content_width":0,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[2235,2234,122,1683,2233,2238,1000,2237,2239,298,2236,315,129,328,793,116,22,128],"class_list":["post-7501","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-organization","tag-5-dimensions","tag-brand-impression","tag-competitive-advantage","tag-customer-centric-design","tag-dimensions-of-employee-engagement","tag-employee-commitment","tag-employee-engagement","tag-employee-identification","tag-employee-loyalty","tag-employee-performance","tag-employee-satisfaction","tag-growth","tag-metrics","tag-operational-excellence","tag-organizational-culture","tag-performance","tag-productivity","tag-scorecard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/110"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7501"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7501\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7793,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7501\/revisions\/7793"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flevy.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}