Employee engagement

Key points: 

• Learning about employee engagement.
• Identifying key engagement enablers.

Key contents: 

Employee engagement refers to the extent to which employees feel passionate about their jobs and how committed they are to the organisation.

There are different engagement drivers:

• Leadership: management, supervision…
• Performance: career development and training, work performance..
• Work: Communication, associate involvement..
• Basics: Work organisation, work atmosphere, total rewards.
• Company practices: quality and customer services.
• Brand: Company direction and image.

The outcomes of engagement are varied. They include positive feedback about the organisation, intense desire from employees to be in the organisation, and extra effort to drive the goals of the company.

For the business this means more talented workforce, more operational effectiveness in productivity, safety and efficiency; more customer satisfaction and retention; and more revenue, sales, income and shareholder return.

Engaged and satisfied employees are pleasant to work with, grateful, don’t show signs of stress, have low absenteeism cases,  are passionate about their work, trust the organisation, help other employees, take initiative, are customer-oriented and go beyond the company’s expectations.

Cases read:

• A: What Is Employee Engagement?
• B: The Hay Group 2014. New Rules of Engagement. URL: http://f.datasrvr.com/fr1/414/25154/Hay_Group_New_Rules_of_Engagement_Report.pdf
• C: Engaging for success enhancing performance through employee engagement 

Legal Compliance and Discipline and Grievance

Key points: 

• Learning about employee and management rights.
• Learning about managing employees and discipline.

Key contents:

Within an organisation, both employees and employers have rights. Employee rights include statutory rights, contractual rights, and other types such as privacy, free speech, etc. Statutory rights include safe work conditions, the right to form a union, protection from discrimination and racism, etc. Contractual rights are the ones stated in the employment contract and policies.

Just like employees, employers also have rights which are supported by property laws and common law. These include the right to manage workforce, hire, fire, assign, and discipline employees. Also employers have a right to fire an employee at any given time and for any reason, except if any of the following are involved: public policy exceptions, implied contracts or lack of good faith and fair dealing.

There are times when the rights of the employer and the employee are in conflict, so HR professionals have to balance the rights by designing policies that are fair to both parties.

Discipline is the tool that managers use to change the behaviour of an employee. It can be approached in two ways: a progressive approach relies on punishment that leads to firing. Positive discipline uses counseling to encourage the employee to change their behaviour.

Difficult employees who exhibit poor performance and insubordination must be dealt with the use of discipline. However, discipline may not be the best way in all of the cases. The need to use discipline can be avoided by having a good HRM system.

Source

• Gomez-Mejia, L.R., Balkin, D.B. and Cardy, R.L. 2016. Managing Human Resources. Global Edition 8/E. Pearson. London, Chapter 16.

 

 

Employee Wellbeing and Health and Safety at Work

Key points:

• Understanding safety and health laws, responsibilities, compensation systems, and the method to maintaining a safe and healthy work environment.
• Learning about the Occupational Safety and Health Act.
• Being aware of health and safety issues, such as AIDS, violence, traumas, chemicals, etc.

Key contents:

There is two types of workplace safety laws:

1. Workers compensation, an insurance system that is funded by the employers and operates at a state level. It is intended to ensure good medical care to employees, and also income for them and their dependents. It also requires higher insurance premiums from employers who have a bad history of workplace accidents and injuries in order to encourage them to invest in safety.
2. OSHA: Occupational Safety and Health Act, a federal level law that dictates the safety standards in the workplace. It keeps record of work injuries and illnesses, and it is enforced through inspections, fines, criminal penalties and citations.

AIDS, violence in the workplace, trauma disorders, etc… are the main issues for employers. To deal with those issues the employers must be able to balance individual rights with the needs of the company.

Employee assistance programs help employees deal with physical, mental, or psychological problems that have an effect on their job performance. Wellness programs help employees identify health risks and deal with them before they become a big problem.

For example, one of the cases reports about Moritz Erhardt, a Merrill Lynch intern that died from an epileptic attack in the shower after working three days in a row in a bank. The employers hadn’t checked his medical history, even though Erhardt had a past of epileptic fits, and also, the employers weren’t able to recognize anything wrong with Erhardt during his work.

Source:

Gomez-Mejia, L.R., Balkin, D.B. and Cardy, R.L. 2016. Managing Human Resources. Global Edition 8/E. Pearson. London, Chapter 16.