Why Employee Engagement is Important?

Category: Business

There is no standard definition of employee engagement but William A. Kahn provided the first formal definition as “the harnessing of organization members’ selves to their work roles. In engagement, people employ and express themselves physically, cognitively, and emotionally during role performances.” Employee engagement is defined as the level of effort an employee gives to the organization’s interests. In other words, it is “the extent to which an employee feels passionate about his or her job, is committed to the organization, and puts extra effort into it.” It does not necessarily mean the happiness or satisfaction of employees. It fails to address the employees’ involvement and emotional commitment towards the organization. So, we can define employee engagement as “the emotional commitment the employees have towards their organization and its goals.” According to a study carried out by Gallup, engaged employees have an entirely different attitude toward work and the company than disengaged ones. The study found that engaged employees believe their work can help the company grow while disengaged employees believe their work has little meaning and doesn’t contribute to the growth of the company. This idea of disengaged employees creating a negative work environment affects not only their work but also the work of their colleagues. Therefore, the company’s productivity will suffer, ultimately harming both its employees and their performance.