Ø Rewards and Recognition
Rewards and recognition
play an important role in boosting employee performance and employee engagement
at large. Recognition means valuing and caring about the employees'
contributions. It is essential for companies to recognize their employees
(McGregor, 1960). Further studies show that it is better to recognize employees
rather than give incentives (Deci & Ryan, 2000). Employee recognition
involves both monetary as well as non-monetary programs (McAdams, 1995). The
example of employee recognition involves writing their names in the company’s
newsletter, letters of commendation, extra time off and verbal appreciation.
This is a form of caring and appraising the employees. The non-monetary awards
are more motivating than the financial award. In this way, the employees think
that they are being valued. As per Bersin and Associates companies with
recognition programs that are highly effective at improving employee engagement
have 31% lower voluntary turnover (King 2018).
Figure 1.0 : How Employee Recognition Creates Value to the Organization.
As depicted in the figure
employees respond to appreciation expressed through recognition of their good
work, because it confirms their work is valued. When employees and their work
are valued, their satisfaction and productivity rises, and they are motivated
to maintain or improve their good work which would eventually lead to
achievement of employee engagement (Das and Narendra 2018).
Table 3.0: Analysis on the Methodologies
Adopted by Four Leading Private Sri Lankan Banks to Drive Employee Engagement.
|
Bank |
Influencing
Factor/ Rewards and Recognition
|
|
Commercial Bank
|
ü Felicitation of 25
years of service. ü Internal promotions. ü Succession planning
for senior management level and executive grade. |
|
Hatton National Bank |
ü Fair Remuneration and benefits
where in 2019, Rs 11.4Bn spent on remuneration. ü Performance based
remuneration where all the permanent employees are entitled to a variable pay
component in addition to the fixed pay. |
|
National
Development Bank |
ü 'Young talent within'
- A program to recognize the academic and extra–curricular achievements of
employees’ children. ü Employee recognition
awards. ü NDB staff reality talent fest.
|
|
Sampath Bank
|
ü Sampath STARS (Special
Thanks and Recognition Scheme) an initiative to recognize special talents and
achievements. ü Bank's annual rewards
programme to recognize children of employees who have excelled in public
examinations, sports. ü Internal promotions. ü Succession planning
where over 95% of senior grades filled internally. |
(Source:
Commercial Bank Annual Report 2019, HNB Annual Report 2019, NDB Annual Report
2019, Sampath Bank Annual Report 2019)
Ø Health & Safety
The perception of
employees about their health and safety at work will likely influence their
relationship with the working environment. The following suggestions were
forwarded by National Safety Council as safety measures that can be
applied in the workplace which would also help to drive employee engagement
(Daily Advisor 2019).
ü Safety suggestions. Creating an anonymous space—or
an online form—for employees to request change will help give them a voice and
relieve them of whistleblower fears in speaking up.
ü Forums. Bringing together employees
from different departments and/or locations to discuss safety topics can give
them a fresh perspective on their workplace while also creating a stronger
sense of community across your organization.
ü Surveys. To gauge where employees stand
on an issue, consider implementing a short multiple-choice survey to benchmark
perception. It can also include a brief comment area to capture any related
thoughts that were not part of the survey. Employees appreciate it when their
views are sought out and valued.
ü Stand-down. A stand-down is a work
shutdown that can (1) demonstrate how seriously the company takes safety; (2)
teach employees how to address hazards and incidents; and (3) contribute to a
dialogue with the employees about safety that promotes engagement.
ü Drills. While drills are a key element
in compliance, they also demonstrate the value of employees working as a team.
ü Safety projects. Getting employees involved in safety
initiatives can benefit the organization as well as the individual. Encourage
team members to come up with something personally significant to them like
checking tire pressure as employees arrive at work, or making sure everyone is
wearing the proper personal protective equipment. Be sure to recognize
employees for their contributions.
As per Rigoni and Nelson
(2016), a Gallup’s 2016 study has shown that in 82,000 business units and 1.8
million employees in 230 organizations, across 49 industries and in 73
countries, that organizations with high engagement scores have recorded 70%
fewer safety incidents. Thus, it proves that health and safety is an essential
driver of employee engagement.
Table 4.0: Analysis on the Methodologies
Adopted by Four Leading Private Sri Lankan Banks to Drive Employee Engagement.
|
Bank |
Influencing
Factor/ Health & Safety |
|
Commercial Bank
|
ü Medical consultation
programmes. ü Health programmes. |
|
Hatton National
Bank
|
ü Conduct of health and
wellness programs such as Free Eye Camp, Special training on first aid, free
medical consultation in collaboration with Nawaloka Hospital, “Introduction
to Mindfulness Techniques” workshop. ü Heightened security procedures covering the
branch network. |
|
National
Development Bank |
ü Medical consultation
programmes. |
|
Sampath Bank
|
ü Personal accident
cover providing 24/7 * 365 coverage. ü Comprehensive Medical
scheme to cover patient treatments and hospitalization charges. ü Providing medical
loans at concessionary rates. ü Full sponsorship to
obtain gym facilities for employees during 2019. ü Emergency Notification
System' to provide staff with information regarding emergency rescue and
relief services in the event of a disaster. ü Virtual walk challenge
to encourage employees to make exercising a challenge. |
(Source:
Commercial Bank Annual Report 2019, HNB Annual Report 2019, NDB Annual Report
2019, Sampath Bank Annual Report 2019)
Ø Employee Relations
Employee relations focus
on the management of the relationship between the employees and the employers
in order to heighten their commitment (Gennard & Judge, 2002). The studies
on employee relations on employee engagement empirically prove that employee
relations have significant positive influence on employees’ performance level
and influence on employee engagement level at the job place. When employees
find harmonious relations with the organization they feel encouragement to do
more work for the organization (Ahmed and Jaaffar 2017).
Robinson (2020), has
stated an effective employee engagement program should comprise of the
followings,
ü Working conditions.
Table 5.0: Analysis on the Methodologies
Adopted by Four Leading Private Sri Lankan Banks to Drive Employee Engagement.
|
Bank |
Influencing
Factor/ Employee Relations |
|
Commercial Bank
|
ü Maintaining a healthy
relationship between Ceylon Bank Employees’ Union and the Association of
Commercial Bank Executives. ü Manager's conference,
Townhall meetings, Regional review meetings, Branch marketing meetings. ü Sport Fiesta. |
|
Hatton
National Bank
|
ü Monthly staff
meetings. ü Staff trips including
families. ü Yearend parties. ü Sport activities like
sports fiesta. ü Manager's conference,
Townhall meetings, Regional review meetings, Branch marketing meetings. |
|
National Development
Bank |
ü Open-door culture
where employees are encouraged to put forward any suggestions to the
Management Team. ü Coffee with CEO- an
opportunity for all employees to communicate openly with the CEO. ü Religious events. ü Staff trips including
families. ü NDB kiddies party and
the annual NDB dinner dance |
|
Sampath Bank
|
ü Frequent and direct
communication with Sampath Bank Employee Association. ü MD's Desk
Communication Initiative to share vital information, business progress and
convey the management expectations. ü MD's Business Club an
internal blog to receive open feedback from the team members. ü Team gatherings and
constant communications between the management and the team. ü Annual athletic
championship meet, six a side cricket tournament. |
In essence it can be stated that training and development, remuneration and benefits, rewards and recognitions, health and safety and employee relations are key factors to focus on in the journey of achieving employee engagement.
References
Ahmed, S., Jaaffar, A. R. B., 2017. Influence of Employee Engagement on
Employee Promotion Opportunity and Performance Relationship in Developing
Context: Critical Evaluation with PLS-SEM Analysis Technique
Commercial
Bank Annual Report
2019 (Online) Available from: https://www.combank.lk/newweb/images/pdffiles/2020/Commercial_Bank_Annual-Report_2019-CSE-Version.pdf (Accessed on 4th November 2020).
Daily
Advisor, 2019. Safety and Employee Engagement—what’s in it for them? (Online)
Available from:
https://ehsdailyadvisor.blr.com/2019/07/safety-employee-engagement-whats/ (Accessed on 5th November 2020).
Das,
S., Narendra, P., 2018. Impact of Rewards and Recognition on Employees in the
Banking Sector. International Journal of Latest Technology in Engineering,
Management & Applied Science (IJLTEMAS) Volume VII, Issue VI.
Deci,
E., and Ryan, R., 2000. 'What' and 'Why' of Goal Pursuits: Human Needs and the
Self- determination of Behaviour, Psychological Inquiry, 11, 4, pp 227-268.
Gennard, J., Judge, G., 2002.
Employee relations.
HNB Annual Report 2019 (Online) Available from:
https://www.hnb.net/images/annual_reports/2019/integrated-report-2019.pdf (Accessed on 4th November 2020)
King, S. 2018. How Recognition and Rewards Impact Employee
Engagement and Performance? (Online) Available from:
https://www.growthforce.com/blog/how-recognition-and-rewards-impact-employee-engagement-and-performance
(Accessed on 5th November 2020).
McAdams,
J.L., 1995. 'Rewarding Special Performance: Low-cost, High-impact Awards,' in
The Performance Imperative: Strategies for Enhancing Workforce Effectiveness,
(eds). H. Risher and C. Fay, San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass, pp. 361- 388.
McGrevor,
D., 1960. The Human Side of Enterprise, New York: McGraw-Hill.
NDB Annual Report 2019 (Online) Available from:
https://www.ndbbank.com/cms/media/2612/AnnualReportFinal-449aa5e6b379a0e547ebde1f9443f1cc9a7aeb82.pdf (Accessed on 4th November 2020)
Rigoni,
B., & Nelson, B., 2016. Few millennials are engaged at work. (Online) Available from: http://www.gallup.com/
business journal/195209/few-millennials-engaged-work.aspx. (Accessed on 5th November 2020).
Sampath Bank Annual Report 2019 (Online) Available from:
https://www.sampath.lk/images/annual_reports/ar2019.pdf (Accessed on 4th November 2020)
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ReplyDeleteHR can formulate a communication strategy, that provides focus on organizational goals and determine methods of communication and information points. For example, it can be through a town hall meeting, bulk text messages or internal comm email etc. Establishing strong communication channels will have a positive and significant effect on employee engagement(Mansoor and Hassan 2016).
ReplyDeleteYes Janaka, Engaged personnel are always optimistic, keep good interpersonal rapport with each other, and also show high level of performance in the organization (Jena, Pradhan, & Panigrahy, 2018). Tiwari and Lenka (2019) revealed that functional, economic, and psychological benefits upsurge employees' level of engagement. Results indicate that internal corporate communication, perceived communication satisfaction, knowledge sharing, continuous learning, and intrapreneurship were positively associated with employee engagement.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI am in agreement with your statement on Employee relations mentioned on your blog. Employee Relationship Management is essential in today’s competitive business world. Building and maintaining healthy employee relations is a key requirement for your business to succeed. No one can succeed alone without great teamwork I suggest the below steps too could help to manage employee relationships: a) Enhancing communication channels and motivation in employees, 2). Creating a uniformed vision, 3). Embracing equality and being a great leader etc.....(Jamaldeen, R. 2017)
ReplyDeleteHi Malika, Employee performance can be effected by some conditions like job satisfaction, working environment, motivation and stresses (Kakkos et al., 2010). The strategic management of human resources is considered crucial for the achievement of the various organizational and individual outcomes including employee job satisfaction (Ooi et al., 2007).
DeleteHi agree with you, it identified professional development, empowerment, performance effective feedback, communication, fair treatment and equivalent opportunities, co-operation, pay and benefits, image, health and safety, and overall employee well-being as key drivers in employee engagement (Sahoo & Misra, 2012).
ReplyDeleteYes Ranga, Parsley (2006) revealed that the effective communication as a significant driver of
Deleteemployee engagement. A part of effective communication, enhancing the communication skills of managers and making communication as part of performance against organization goal are also vital. Communication becomes more critical resource under certain and stressful circumstances. Management and along with managers and supervisors should play a role to ensure that employees and their jobs are associated to mission and vision of the concern organization. This will send a message directly or indirectly to the employees to feel that they are chief and being cherished by the organization. Study by Shaffer (2004) found that organization has improved their productivity and safety ratings through engaging employees by means of carefully administering communication to fabricate trust.
Respect is one key factor that influences engagement. If the level of respect for an individual is high, so does the engagement levels. The moment respect is lost, people disengage. Similarly, it’s hard to feel a sense of commitment and loyalty to an organization, if one disrespects it. There are 5 areas distinguished in the ‘Respect Model’ and based on each area’s involvement by an individual’s engagement level could be identified. The levels are; Organization, Leadership, Team members, Work and individual (Marciano, 2010).
ReplyDeleteHi Sonali, Adding to your statement , Wech (2002) argued that the success of high-quality relationships is contingent on the level of mutual respect and trust. The foundation of employee engagement is respect, trust, and performance. Respect can foster a sense of psychological safety, a sense of belonging and support members to feel secure. Moreover, employees’ commitment and engagement can be obtained by demonstrating respect by leaders (Melhem, 2019).
DeleteSirisetti (2012), stated that improved engagement arises when there are positive working relationships, employee input in decision making, and assist to growth and development with learning opportunities. Workplace aberration that is aspects that destruct an organization, will decrease as employee engagement increases (Johnson, 2011). Positive mindset can turn into benefits for companies, management and workers (Rousseau, 2006).
ReplyDeleteYes Chamila, Good interpersonal relationships mean a positive environment and a supportive work climate that are necessary to produce better results. Positive interpersonal relationships facilitate many desirable outcomes such as organizational learning, cooperation, effectiveness, and employee loyalty. Valued interpersonal relationships are expected to build a positive workplace environment where people feel comfortable, happy, motivated, and treated fairly. Such positive workplaces are required for organizations to achieve a high level of organizational and personal outcomes and performance (Melhem, 2019).
DeleteI think that 'actively disengaged workers are the greatest threat to an enterprise. Companies must therefore be able to recognize these people. Increased productivity, increased absenteeism, too many breaks, getting late to work and leaving too early are some tell-tale signs (Bhattacharyya, 2018).
ReplyDeleteYes Malinga, In a survey conducted by Netsurvey to analyze responses from 200,000 employees across 40 companies in 60 countries, several troubling trends were found, including engagement scores decline with employee tenure, meaning that employees with the deepest knowledge of the company typically are the least engaged (Kaufman et. al. 2014).
DeleteMay et al (2004) suggests that employee engagement is linked to emotional experiences and wellbeing. Emotional factors are connected to an individual’s personal satisfaction and the sense of inspiration and affirmation they get from their work and from being part of their organization (Towers Perrin 2003)
ReplyDeleteHi Supun , engaged employees have emotional association with their work as well as their organization. Engaged employees always trust in the leaders of the organization. Hence, engaged employees are more dedicated and committed toward their work as well as organization.Engaged personnel are always optimistic, keep good interpersonal rapport with each other, and also show high level of performance in the organization (Jena, Pradhan, & Panigrahy, 2018).
DeleteIt also elaborates that higher employee engagement level results in lower absenteeism and job stress and better well‐being and health. Further research shows that employee engagement has an effect on a company's bottom line and is sturdily linked to business performance (Saks, 2017).
DeleteWhile agreeing with you and wish to comment, according to the Vance (2006) Job and task design, Recruitment, Selection, Training, Compensation, Performance management and Career development. will affect employees’ level of engagements.
ReplyDeleteYes Sohan , Rodriguez Walters (2017), explained that employees are the backbone of the organization. All levels of employees such as strategic, tactical and operational, needs training and development. In other words, Training and development will bridge the gap between business and management of career development programme (Kunenc 2009).
DeleteKnowledge sharing is an important activity that enhanced an individual capability to retrieve new data and resources for the purpose of learning, problem solving, and self-improvement (Din and Haron, 2012). The success of knowledge sharing in business is not only technological but also related to behavioral factors.
DeleteHi Thilini, adding more information to your views, Employee engagement is a relatively new concept (Macey & Schneider, 2008) and the factors that produce engagement may be different from those that produce more traditional employee outcomes such as job satisfaction and organizational commitment (Macey et al., 2009).
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteHi Kelum, Job satisfaction is a fulfilling or optimistic expression consequential of the consideration of one’s activity (Azash et al, 2011). Organizations today have realized the importance of motivated and satisfied employees as important contributors towards long term objectives. It has made organizations to cater to the expectations and needs of the employees and could expect the
Deletesimilar response. Motivation also positively influences performance at individual and group level
ultimately affecting the organizational performance (Risambessy et al 2012).
Hi Thilini, when concerning about the factors influencing employee engagement, Hewitt (2013) has identified worldwide that four out of ten employees are not engaged today and the reason for increasing the disengagement is mainly competition, pressure and work-life imbalance.
ReplyDeleteYes Eranga, It is important for HR managers to better understand and implement the practices and policies which are effective predictors and promoters of employee motivation, employee retention and employee productivity, organizational processes, values of the organization, management, challenges in employee role, employee work/life balance, information, compensation, workplace environment and their products and services (Glen 2006).
DeleteAccording to Gallup (2002) there are three types of people: engaged employees, not engaged employees, and actively disengaged employees. Engaged employees are builders who consistently strive to give excellence within their roles. Not engaged employees focus on the tasks spelled out to them rather than the goals of the organization. They do what they are told to do. Actively disengaged employees are dangerous individuals who not only do not perform well but also demotivate the performer in the organization
ReplyDeleteYes Asanka, employee engagement is one of the new techniques of building the relationship between an organization and its employees. An "engaged employee" is one who is entirely absorbed by and passionate about their work and so takes constructive action to further the organization's standing and interests. An organization with 'high' employee engagement might therefore be likely to surpass those with 'low' employee engagement. It is not surprising that corporate executives are consistently ranking the development of an engaged workforce as an organizational priority (Ketter, 2008). The challenge today is not just retaining talented people, but fully engaging them, capturing their minds and hearts at each stage of their work lives.
DeleteGallup (2006), proposed that employees could be divided into three types with regard to their level of engagement, Engaged, Not-Engaged and Actively Disengaged, with the later being of most concern to the employer brand as a result of sharing their discontent with their co-worker and the wider world.
DeleteWhite (2006), has found that almost two third’s (60%) of the surveyed employees want more opportunities to grow forward to remain satisfied in their jobs. Strong manager-employee relationship is a crucial ingredient in the employee engagement and retention formula.
ReplyDeleteHi Kanishka, According to Swaminathan and Rajasekaran (2010), employee engagement occurs when Satisfaction, Motivation and Effectiveness intersect. Employee engagement has been found to be positively related to individual job performance. Studies have found positive relationship between employee engagement and organizational performance outcomes: employee retention, productivity, and profitability. Employee engagement would be a predictor to organizational commitment, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB), and may lead to intention to leave (Bhatnagar & Biswas, 2010).
ReplyDeleteSix management functions emerged in order of importance as critical determinants of executive’s engagement according to Joshi and Sodhi (2011), namely, job content (autonomy, challenging opportunities for learning), compensation/monetary benefits (attractive salary vis-a`-vis qualifications and responsibility, adequate compensation for the work and intra-organisation parity), work-life balance (appreciative of personal needs, able to spend time with family), top-management employee relations (approachability of top management, their values and ethical conduct, equality in treatment, respecting the views of subordinates, providing an environment of working together), scope for advancement and career growth (well-designed policy, adequate opportunities for career growth and advancement, clearly laid down career growth paths; implementation of the promotion policy in a fair and transparent manner, help to the employees in achieving growth) and team orientation/team work (importance, cooperation in inter- and intra-department teams).
ReplyDeleteYes Surendra, The right performance management practices also can enhance employee engagement and commitment. Performance management processes operate on a continuous basis. Therefore, they provide perhaps the best ongoing opportunities for employers to foster employee engagement and commitment ( SHRM,2006).
ReplyDelete