WILLIAM KAHNS ENGAGEMENT THEORY 1990 THEORY OF MOTIVATION

WILLIAM KAHN'S ENGAGEMENT THEORY 1990 THEORY OF MOTIVATION

Introduction Of Engagement Theory William Kahn in 1990 provided the first formal definition of personnel engagement as "the harnessing of organization members' selves to their work roles; in engagement, people employ and express themselves physically, cognitively, and emotionally during role performance. In 1993, Schmidt proposed a bridge between the pre existing concept of 'job satisfaction' and employee engagement with the definition: "an employee's involvement with, commitment to, and satisfaction with work. Employee engagement is a part of employee retention. " This definition integrates the classic constructs of job satisfaction (Smith et al. , 1969), and organizational commitment (Meyer & Allen, 1991). In a 2015 interview with Workforce Magazine, William Kahn summarised how managers could apply his theory: “Approach employees as true partners, involving them in continuous dialogues and processes about how to design and alter their roles, tasks and working relationships, which means that leaders need to make it safe”.

Meaning: ◦ Engagement Theory is a fundamental concept in the effort to understand describe, both qualitatively and quantitatively, the nature of the relationship between an organization and its employees. An "engaged employee" is defined as one who is fully absorbed by and enthusiastic about their work and so takes positive action to further the organization's reputation and interests. An engaged employee has a positive attitude towards the organization and its values. In contrast, a disengaged employee may range from someone doing the bare minimum at work, up to an employee who is actively damaging the company's work output and reputation. ◦ Engagement Theory is a methodological framework for understanding social complexity. It takes social life or social relations as its base category, with 'the social' always understood as grounded in 'the natural', including humans as embodied beings. ◦ As Kahn concluded that the freedom to “bring oneself” into the work makes people more engaged with the work process. In short, engagement as originally de nied was all about bringing one’s personal skills and interests to the job.

Employee Engagement Definition: “Approach employees as true partners, involving them in continuous dialogues and processes about how to design and alter their roles, tasks and working relationships – which means that leaders need to make it safe enough for employees to speak openly of their experiences at work. ” -William Kahn Organizational Psychologist ◦ Employee engagement is the extent to which employees feel passionate about their jobs, are committed to the organization, and put discretionary effort into their work. Employee engagement goes beyond activities, games, and events. Employee engagement drives performance. ◦ Generally speaking, employee engagement is a workplace method designed to improve an employee’s feelings and emotional attachment to the company, their job duties, position within the company, their fellow employees, and the company culture. HR departments can use employee engagement tactics to boost wellbeing and productivity across all company levels.

Key Points: 1. Freedom of Opinion: ◦ Kahn’s concept of safety in our Freedom of Opinions. Work should be a safe space for employees to voice their views without fear of reprisals. Think about Google’s Project Aristotle working groups. 2. Availability Concept: ◦ Kahn’s availability concept encompasses many aspects of the workplace. The physical Environment needs to be right for a person to apply themselves. 3. Management Support and Peer Relationship: ◦ Management Support and Peer Relationships reflect the interpersonal connections that enable an employee to harness their full self.

Key Points: 4. Vigour: ◦ High levels of persistence, energy, and mental resilience while working, and the willingness to invest effort in one’s work. 5. Dedication: ◦ Being strongly involved in one’s work, and experiencing a sense of significance, enthusiasm, inspiration, pride, and challenge. 6. Absorption: ◦ Being fully concentrated and deeply engrossed in one’s work, whereby time passes quickly and one has difficulties with detaching oneself from work.

Drivers of Engagement Theory: ◦ Employee's personal resources ◦ Employee perceptions of job importance ◦ Employee clarity of job expectations ◦ Career advancement / improvement opportunities ◦ Regular feedback and dialogue with superiors ◦ Quality of working relationships with peers, superiors, and subordinates ◦ Perceptions of the ethos and values of the organization ◦ Effective internal employee communications ◦ Reward systems and recognition for individual talents of the employees ◦ Strong HR business partner who takes the role of leading change ◦ Quality of Life and a balanced work-life for all employees and managers

Burnout: (Introduction) ◦ Burnout is a prolonged response to chronic emotional and interpersonal stressors on the job. It is defined by the three dimensions of exhaustion, cynicism, and inefficacy. The experience can impair both personal and social functioning, and thus contributes to a decline in the quality of work and interpersonal relationships. As a reliably identifiable job stress syndrome, burnout clearly places the individual stress experience within a larger organizational context of people's relation to their work. Interventions to alleviate burnout and to promote its opposite, engagement with work, can occur at both organizational and personal levels. The social focus of burnout, the solid research basis concerning the syndrome, and its specific ties to the work domain make a distinct and valuable contribution to people's health and well being. ◦ The topic of burnout (Schaufeli & Baker) establishes engagement as a positive dimension of well being, with burnout being negative. Burnout involves low levels of energy and is a psychological syndrome that leads to feelings of cynicism, detachment, and exhaustion seen as the erosion of engagement. In short, when one feels “energized” at work, that person is more inclined to exert effort.

Components of Employee Engagement: Validation: ◦ Validation is the unconditional recognition of an employee’s intrinsic human value. It is offered regardless of performance, and involves listening, caring, and responding from the heart. It is the cornerstone of any relationship, whether inside or outside the workplace. Recognition: ◦ Recognition is conditional praise based on job performance, behaviour, and attitude. As positive expression of appreciation for a job well done and expectations exceeded, it serves as the bedrock of a high performance culture. Recognition should be consistent, trustworthy, and frequent. Feedback: ◦ Feedback encompasses periodic, confidential conversations about performance, behaviour, and attitude designed to foster an employee’s personal growth and improvement. Feedback provides critical and supportive insight about how their work is viewed by their manager and additional company stakeholders (other teams, vendors, customers).

Characteristics of Employee Engagement: Mutual Trust: ◦ Trust is the base of any organisation. Letting people do their work without telling them how to perform it is one of the best ways to engage staff Job and Career Satisfaction: ◦ The individual who is satisfied with their career and the way their career graph is raising prefers to stick to the organisation for a very long period of time. Credible Leadership: ◦ As mentioned earlier, an engaged workforce doesn’t need directions for performing a specific job from time to time

Characteristics of Employee Engagement: [cont. ] Focused and Keen to Take up Challenges: ◦ An engaged workforce is entirely focused and knows what to do and when. Better Performance: ◦ Employee engagement is directly related to better performance. Problem Solving Attitude: ◦ Engaged workforce not only delivers its job responsibilities but also keeps a problem solving attitude always.

Advantages of Engagement Theory: 1. Engaged employees boost productivity Reports show that employees who are invested in their roles are more productive than those who aren’t. According to a Gallup poll, engaged employees are 21% more productive than their less engaged counterparts. 2. Employee engagement increases customer satisfaction People who are passionate about their work are often the best people to interact with your customers. Why? Because that passion is infectious and your customers will take notice. 3. You’ll retain your best people: Engaged employees are involved and invested in their roles and are therefore less likely to leave their job. Sometimes your best people aren’t engaged—and you may risk losing them. Keeping them engaged is absolutely essential to keeping them at your organization doing their best work. 4. Employee engagement enhances company culture People who are engaged in what they do are, in general, easier to work with. And not because they’re happier or more cheery, either. It’s because they exemplify a culture of employee engagement. 5. Engagement is a symptom of success In other words, engaged employees are engaged not because they’re productive or easy to work with, but because they feel their work matters. They feel valued. And when their successes are recognized, your people will feel like they’ve succeeded in making a meaningful impact at work.

Disadvantages of Employee Engagement Theory: 1. Embracing the status quo. For most companies the competitive environment is relentless. In order to succeed, they need to constantly adapt. 2. Pushing employees into burnout. When encouraged, it’s easy for highly engaged employees to become so involved in their job that they stop being concerned about other important parts of their lives. 3. Giving an unfair edge to certain personality types. Although few people acknowledge this, engagement is not just driven by situational factors: it is also the result of individuals’ personality. 4. Undermining the benefits of negative thinking. While it’s true that positive mindsets bring openness and creativity, it’s also true that more critical ones can bring focus and attention.

Conclusion: ◦ Engagement is a term that has often been configured to it the needs of a particular study, and not a concrete term that has presented obviously discernible qualities. All of this work is being done to effect improvements in organizational effectiveness. Outcomes cited range are widely varying and include improvements in customer satisfaction, reduced burnout/turnover, improvements in safety, overall job performance improvements, and many more. ◦ In general, employee engagement describes people who are committed to their work and the goals and values of their company. To put it another way, engaged employees show up and are involved, not only because they’re paid to be, but because they’re invested, emotionally or otherwise. ◦ An organization that supports and encourages employee engagement is going to do better overall.

Thank You Presented By: Vaibhavi Vyas Christo Delightson Davidraja