Employee Engagement: What it means for a Company and Why is it Important?

Oraroo can provide through its functionalities a number of indicators of Employee Engagement (e.g. tendencies of absenteeism or, on the contrary, overwork). Oraroo combines measurements of Engagement (e.g. generate and send surveys) with the possibility of collecting Permanent Feedback and increasing the Feeling of Belonging in Remote or Hybrid working conditions.

Oraroo facilitates:

1. The process of generating and distributing to the entire Company of Surveys that consider the Measurement of the Engagement and implicitly of other related variables such as: Satisfaction, Motivation, Commitment, etc. After employee responses are collected, Oraroo facilitates the Analysis and Processing of the data and based on them identifies Trends and Patterns that may be relevant to Management. Further, starting from this data, the Manager will know what the needs of its employees are and will be able to develop an appropriate strategy to increase engagement
2. According to studies, frequent turnover rates can be a sign of low Employee Engagement. Through the data it provides, Oraroo can identify these trends and provide information that could help Management discover possible reasons why a high number of Employees chose to change their jobs in a short period of time
3. Absenteeism is also associated with a low level of Engagement and Satisfaction. Oraroo quickly identify these tendencies, which helps the Manager to address the situation in a timely manner. Thus, in addition to effectively solving the employee’s behaviour, observing this trend in advance can help develop a relationship of trust and authenticity between the Manager and the Employee
4. Starting from Meaning and Purpose, also within Oraroo can be performed systems for recognition and appreciation of the achievements of employees. For example, in Oraroo can be voted “employees of the month” or employees can receive feedback from other colleagues. Also, for example, when it is an employee's birthday, he receives a birthday wish when he logs into the platform. Such a system encourages the importance and uniqueness of each employee and is very useful to increase Engagement especially in a Remote or Hybrid work environment

For more details or a demo: contact@oraroo.eu

For example, too frequent and uncontextual use of Surveys:

Although Surveys are an effective tool for measuring Satisfaction and Engagement in work, their overuse can have a negative impact on Engagement. The frequency rate and lack of clear context can make employees questioning the Company`s motive to provide the surveys and feel less confident and automatically less Engaged.

Too many Surveys also make feedback difficult to go through, which is why action plans and strategies end up being put into practice when is too late.

In addition, the increased frequency of providing Surveys can lead to a decrease quality of the answers and employees will be tempted to provide shorter, more inconsistent answers while at the other end, those who process the answers will encounter incomplete or invalid data.

Engagement involves increasing Motivation, while Performance involves increasing Productivity. It is true that there is a connection between them, and the level of engagement positively influences the level of productivity, but if the difference between them is not properly understood, the Manager may face an imbalance.

The focus can only be on increasing Employee Engagement, and while the employee is “happy and excited” about the job and the work environment, he is not productive enough and has a low performance compared to the high level of engagement he presents. This imbalance can occur because the Manager is focused only on the motivational area and employee well-being (organizes social events for the  employees; creates and distributes surveys, etc.), but loses sight of other factors related to work performance (provision of training; creation of professional development opportunities; provision of clarity and flexibility in work tasks, etc.).

Thus, the Company will achieve uneven results that will show that although Employee Satisfaction is Increased, Productivity and Performance at the Business level are lower.

Studies have shown that about 70% of the Employee Engagement is determined by the manager’s strategy and behavior, and therefore one of his priorities would be to actively and continuously pursue employee engagement in the team or teams he coordinates. Thus, the Manager is important to facilitate and ensure that:

• Employees know clearly what the goals and targets of their work are;
• Employees can ask for and find support from management if necessary;
• Employees are actively explained and considered how their work is connected to the success of the company.

In order to facilitate this process, the Manager must maintain continuous contact with the employee and provide feedback. For example, according to statistics, Employees who receive daily feedback from the Manager are 3 times more engaged than Employees who receive feedback from the Manager once a year.

Employee Experience at work represents the entire journey he has taken along the Company. It includes his experience from the recruitment and hiring process to post-exit Employee-Company Interactions.

Engagement and Experience can often be confused, although they represent different aspects. However, it is true that the two can influence each other, and the stimulation and increase of Engagement directly influences the Employee’s Experience in relation to the job and the Organization.

Specifically, Engagement is based on Employee Motivation and Satisfaction, while Experience is based on a much broader range of interactions and emotional connections that an employee has formed within a Company (work environment, relationship with the manager and other colleagues; the onboarding process, etc.).  Both are important, but they are measured differently and must be viewed from different perspectives.

Engagement is generally measured by Surveys, that are designed to measure the Engagement and Emotions that the Employee feels about his or her job, while Experience is rather measured through Feedback.

For example, according to studies, the Engagement of Current Employees of a Company influences the quality of potential Future Employees of the Company. About 70% of Employees in the labour market use recommendations from current or former employees of a Company in the process of choosing a potential new job.

The theoretical framework on which Engagement is based is made up of 4 hierarchical levels that together lead to the creation of a work environment that is based on support and trust. These levels give the Manager an overview of how he can create his work strategy to Increase Engagement:

• Basic
• Individual
• Teamwork
• Growth

It is also worth mentioning that each level is important and the Manager is required to ensure that employees know what is expected of them and have the right materials and equipment to do their work while meeting needs on the second, third and fourth levels.

The reason why it is essential to monitor and develop the degree of Engagement is that in the absence of Employee Engagement on an individual level, there can be no Engagement on a collective level, either. So it becomes impossible to create homogeneous working teams and thus it becomes much more difficult to achieve satisfactory results at the Business level.

While at first glance Engagement is often associated with an employee’s degree of “happiness” at work, in fact, it is more than that. People need to find and build a purpose and meaning around their work, they want to be appreciated for their efforts and feel that their work matters. Thus, the following aspects play an important role in the process of Engagement:

• Purpose
• Development
• A Caring Manager
• Ongoing Conversations
• Focus on strengths