JAIPUR NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

BBA -
307
A PROJECT ON
“EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT”

Submitted to the School of Distance Education & Learning in partial

fulfillment of the requirements for the award of the degree Bachelor
of Business Administration (BBA)
2019

SUPERVISOR: SUBMITTED
BY: Mr. Karthikeyan S ArunKumar S
Project Manager Enrolment No: JNU-jpr/de/18/01/88/00494
Bluewater, Dubai Roll No.: 0270120180072

Jaipur National
University
School of Distance Education &
Learning
Jagatpura, Near New RTO, Agra By-pass Road Jaipur-
302017

1
 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

This is to certify that the project report entitled "EMPLOYEE

ENGAGEMENT " submitted to Jaipur National University, Jaipur in
partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of the degree of
Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), is an authentic and original
work carried out by ArunKumar S with enrolment no.
JNU-jpr/de/18/01/88/00494 under my supervision and guidance.

The matter embodied in this project is genuine work done by the student
and has not been submitted whether to this University or to any other
University / Institute for the fulfillment of the requirements of any course
of study.

……………………… ………………………
Signature of the Student Signature of the
Guide Date: …………… Date:
……………..
ArunKumar S Mr. Karthikeyan S
Address: M.Tech
137, USA Trade Centre, Project Manager
Sharjah, UAE Address of the Guide:
PO 28008 137, USA Trade Centre,
Enrolment No.: JNU-jpr/de/18/01/88/00494 Sharjah, UAE

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 CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that
The project report in entitled
An analytical study of “EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT”
Submitted in the partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of
Bachelor of business administration (BBA) of Jaipur National University
By
ArunKumar S
enrolled for the batch 2017-2019
(Univ. roll no. 0270120180072)
Has been prepared under my supervision and guidance and no project of it has
been submitted for the award of any other and the work has not been published
in any Journal, magazine or book

PROJECT GUIDE

(KARTHIKEYAN S)
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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I wish to acknowledge the generous support provided by Mr. Karthikeyan S,

Project Manager, Bluewater, Dubai who guided , supervised my project &
providing me an opportunity for practical training. He is very kind, helpful and
ready to remove the constraints all the time.
I also express my sincere gratitude towards all the employees of the company for
providing us a chance to do our survey. They fully co-operated which helped me to
complete my project work. Last but not the least, I would like to thank all my
friends, relatives and others with whose help and support I was able to collect my
sample size.

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CONTENTS

Sr. Page
Topic
No. No.
Executive Summary 1
1. Chapter-I 2-4
1.1 Objective of the Research 2
1.2 Research Methodology 3
1.3 Selection of Study Area and Sample Size 4
1.4 Significance of the Study 4
1.5 Limitation of the Study 4
2. Chapter-II 5-14
2.1 Definition of Employee Engagement 6-10
2.2 Historical Background of Employee Engagement 11-12
2.3 Employee Engagement in India 13-14
3. Chapter-III 15-24
3.1 The Literature Review 15-24
4. Chapter-IV 25-57
4.1 Data Analysis and Interpretation of Employees 25-37
4.2 Data Analysis and Interpretation of HR Managers 38-57
5 Chapter-VI 58-59
5.1 Findings 58
5.2 Recommendations 59
6 Conclusion 60
7. References 61
8. Annexure 62-69

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Employee engagement is associated with many desirable outcomes, such as job

satisfaction, intention to stay and job performance. Companies with a greater
number of engaged employees typically have lower operating costs, higher
customer satisfaction and higher profits. There is a tangible monetary benefit to
5
companies investing time and resources in fostering higher engagement within
their employees. The task of precisely defining employee engagement is still
ongoing, but it is most often defined in terms of behaviours exhibited in the
workplace. Engaged employees are prepared to go the extra mile in pursuit of
workplace excellence. They are ambassadors for their organisations, who will
speak highly of the company and its people, even when they are not in a work
setting. An engaged employee is identifiable by workplace behaviours such as
losing track of time as they are so absorbed in the task at hand. This is distinct
from excessive overtime in order to give the impression of ‘hard work.’ Both
look the same, but one is productive for the employer- employee relationship
and one is not!
As the impact of engagement on business has been positive and has been linked
with higher profitability, practice has raced ahead of the underpinning research
in pursuit of creating a more engaged and hence profitable workforce.

I undertook research to aid understanding of the area by investigating the

relationship between employee engagement and the retention level.

At the same time I looked at the interplay between individual differences and
engagement levels of the organization. I hoped to discover best practices of the
organizations and the individual’s expectations from such strategies.

CHAPTER-I

1.1 OBJECTIVE OF THE RESEARCH:

1. To find out the employee engagement strategies in organizations.

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 2. To benchmark the employee engagement practices adopted in various
organizations.
3. To study the correlation between the employee engagement practices
carried out in the company and retention levels.

1.2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

TYPE OF RESEARCH: EXPLORATORY

PRIMARY DATA:
Data collection Method through Questionnaire Method was used and employee
responses on that were tabulated and represented in percentage form, which then
were analyzed and interpreted. This was followed by findings and
recommendations.
The questionnaire consisted of both open ended as well as multiple choice
questions based on 6 factors as listed below:
1. Attachment to the job
2. Agreeableness
3. Emotional stability
4. Openness to experience
5. Achievement orientation
6. Self-efficacy

The above factors are independent factors and retention of employees is

dependent on it.
SECONDARY DATA:
It was through a list of websites, books, journals, and newspaper and news
magazines articles as given at the end of this project in references, webliography
and bibliography.
HYPOTHESIS:
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The retention of employees is dependent on the independent factors.
SELECTION OF STUDY AREA AND SAMPLE SIZE
40 samples of employees and 9 samples of HR managers were collected from 7
companies namely:
1. Bluewater, Dubai
2. Westford, Dubai
3. Al Wahda, Sharjah
4. Keynes Group, Dubai
5. Eaton, Dubai
6. Exceed, Dubai
7. Westford India, Kochi

These companies were chosen as subject of study.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
People often lie in exit interviews about why they are leaving. Managers should,
of course, know in advance who is leaving and why. A comprehensive list like
this is of little value unless used as a guide to gather information as to how to
engage the employees so that to retain the talents in the organization.
LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
Age Limitation- I had access to the young employees that’s why the study is
mainly on the youngsters.
Family issues- The reason being I did not want to go into personal details and
stick only to job and organizational related issues.

CHAPTER-II

INTRODUCTION
Success today requires a good bit more than good attendance. Yet, multiple
studies in different countries and across industries show that employees who are
8
passionate about their jobs and the organizations in which they work are in the
minority. Some of the Survey conducted by few organization revealed that
approximately 19% of the employees are highly engaged The Corporate
Executive Board, looking at levels of engagement across 50,000 employees
around the world, placed only 11 percent in what they dubbed “true believer”
category.1 Towers Perrin’s recent “Talent Report” is slightly more optimistic,
finding just 17 percent of the 35,000 employees surveyed to be highly engaged.
40 to 70 percent of employees can be classified as neutral, middle of the road, or
agnostic. Worse yet, an alarming 10 to 20 percent of employees are actively
“disengaged”—just putting in their time or, worse yet, undermining or
badmouthing their organizations and bosses. The economic impact of low
engagement can be staggering.
The global survey shows that 34 per cent of the employees in India are fully
engaged and 13 per cent disengaged. As many as 29 per cent are ‘almost
engaged’.

What makes these numbers especially discouraging is that, supposedly, we have

evolved from the dark ages of “personnel management.” On one hand, for the
past two decades we have been trying to realize the benefits of empowerment,
teamwork, recognition, people development, performance management, and
new leadership styles. Evidently, there is a big difference between putting in
place initiatives that have the overall goal of increasing employee engagement
and truly seeing the payoffs.

2.1 Definition of Employee Engagement

Employee engagement can be defined as an employee putting forth extra

discretionary effort, as well as the likelihood of the employee being loyal and
9
remaining with the organization over the long haul. Research shows that
engaged employees: perform better, put in extra efforts to help get the job done,
show a strong level of commitment to the organization, and are more motivated
and optimistic about their work goals. Employers with engaged employees tend
to experience low employee turnover and more impressive business outcomes.

Employee engagement is more than just the current HR 'buzzword'; it is

essential. In order for organizations to meet and surpass organizational
objectives, employees must be engaged. Research has proven that wholly
engaged employees exhibit,

 Higher self-motivation.
 Confidence to express new ideas.
 Higher productivity.
 Higher levels of customer approval and service quality.
 Reliability.
 Organizational loyalty; less employee turnover.
 Lower absenteeism.

Need of Employee Engagement

The general principles of employee engagement have been around for decades.
During the past five years, though, there has been a surge in the popularity of
employee engagement.

There are four primary drivers.

1. People have become the primary source of competitive advantage. The
Brookings

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Institute (2003) examined the primary source of market value in today’s
organizations and how it has changed over time. In 1982, 62 percent of an
organization’s market value came from tangible assets and 38 percent from
intangible assets. Tangible assets include things like machinery, products,
facilities, etc. Intangible assets, on the other hand, include factors such as brand,
intellectual property, and, most important, the quality of the workforce. By
2002, 20 years later, the source of value had almost totally flipped. Almost 80
percent of market value today comes from the intangible with a scant 20 percent
coming from tangible assets. As we all have heard before, products can easily be
copied, a technological edge can prove fleeting, and more facilities can be built,
but the quality of an organization’s talent, its passion and commitment, is nearly
impossible to replicate. Engagement is the fuel that drives the value of
intangible assets.
2. Retention and the war for talent. The landmark 1998 McKinsey study, The
War for Talent, was among the first to talk about the potential for workforce
shortages due to the aging population. The study’s authors called upon
organizations to take more seriously their efforts to attract and retain talent, to
assure that they would be able to survive and thrive in the future. In the late
1990s and early 2000s, the slump in the global economy quickly took the
spotlight off of the anticipated talent shortage. And some predict that a portion
of today’s aging workers will delay their retirements out of necessity,
attenuating the expected talent shortage. Since 2003 the picture is once again
changing, albeit not as quickly as expected. For example, the Society for Human
Resources Management reported that 48 percent of the employees it polled are
actively seeking new jobs. Additionally, the workforce is getting older, with
many of the baby boomers hitting 60 in 2006 and ready to retire. Over and
above the workforce cost of increased retirements, companies are beginning to
take heed of the enormous financial costs of turnover and increasingly viewing
11
employee engagement as an imperative for keeping their key employees— and
attracting new ones—as the war for talent heats up once again.

3. Popular appeal. Remember the reengineering wave? Even those who used it
as more than just a guise for massive layoffs found it painful. Six Sigma
implementations are invaluable to business performance, but most companies
are finding them too complex to implement well. Engagement is a different
matter altogether. While it still takes patience to implement, engagement gets to
the “hard stuff” by focusing on the “softer stuff.” As one manager said: “It’s
about appealing to the head and the heart.” Engagement is about creating
passion, it’s about focusing on what people do well, and it’s about development
and recognition. Some have called employee engagement a form of positive
psychology which, on the whole, is an easy pill for organizations and their
employees to swallow.
4. Overwhelming impact. The human resources function has been under
pressure for decades to prove that it makes a difference. While CEOs may
espouse the importance of their workforces in their annual reports, when times
get tough, HR is among the first to get the budget axe. Why? A lack of
convincing evidence on the value of HR initiatives. HR professionals are
scrambling, according to a recent Conference Board report, to prove that their
activities and investments are both efficient and positively influential to business
strategy. The positive relationship between engagement and performance
(documented in hundreds of studies, with the evidence mounting every day)
provides a way for HR to prove its contribution. It’s a fact: The higher the level
of engagement, the higher the performance of the business. The research is not
inconclusive, not limited to one country or industry, and not contained to a few
hundred people—it’s overwhelming.

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How to Make Employees Engage

 Growth and development - An exciting position, with plenty of

opportunity for growth, learning, and advancement for employees is
always helpful in retaining employees.

 Support and recognition - Giving those rewards and recognition.

 In many instances, employee retention starts just as soon as an employee

is hired. If a company sees an unusual amount of potential in a new hire,
management could make them feel appreciated right off the bat. In a way,
this practice can be considered a combination of recruitment and retention
tools.

 Employee Participation in decision making is also a very effective

engagement activity in the organization.

 Aligning effort with strategy—Engagement begins with employees’

clear understanding of what they should be doing on the job. Each
employee needs a solid job description and a clear set of performance
expectations.

 Empowerment—Empowerment is a feeling of job ownership and

commitment brought about through the ability to make decisions, be
responsible, be measured by results, and be recognized as a thoughtful,
contributing human being rather than a pair of hands doing what others
say.

 Teamwork and Collaboration - In the context of engagement, teamwork

and collaboration require good relationships both within the work group

13
 and across work groups. Many organizations have strong teams with
members who work well with each other.

The Benefits of Employee Engagement

The power of employee engagement is that it is closely connected to business

results. When employees work in an environment in which they can focus their
attention on their work and have a drive to do their best, organizations
experience higher levels of productivity and profitability. Engaged employees
look for better ways to do their work, spend less time on wasted activities, and
make effective use of resources. In the end, companies deliver better products or
services and have more resources left to invest in further improvements.
Although it is an important consideration, high financial compensation is not the
only driver of increased employee retention. As addressed previously,
employees decide to stay with organizations for other reasons, such as growth
and development opportunities, strong leadership, and meaningful work.
Turnover costs organizations millions of dollars each year, and engagement has
a proven relationship to employee retention. No one likes going into a store
where the sales clerks are sullen, absent, or uncooperative. It’s easy to see why
customers notice engaged employees and are more satisfied and willing to
purchase again. For example Labadie, director of training and development at
CompUSA states, “When you walk into a store with high engagement scores,
you can sense the positive tone. Employees whistle and smile, they approach
customers, and the store gives off that elusive approachable feeling that
customers appreciate.” Organizations with engaged employees have more
satisfied customers, but it’s not just because employees have better interactions
14
with customers. Engaged employees are more likely to improve other critical
factors affecting customer satisfaction, such as responsiveness, product quality,
thought leadership, innovation, etc. Finally, higher engagement translates into
higher and faster revenue growth. Engaged employees are more innovative and
place more emphasis on meeting customer needs. The “what can I do better or
differently” attitude of engaged employees versus the “it’s not in my job
description” attitude of the unengaged simply leads to better financial
performance.

ASSESSING ENGAGEMENT

Over the past eight years, The Gallup Organization has been conducting
exhaustive studies of employee engagement to try and answer these fundamental
questions. One of a handful of engagement evangelists, Gallup has promoted the
value of measuring employee engagement through a series of books, seminars
and programmes; it has also taken the lead in identifying and managing the
factors that impact engagement levels.

In order to rate the engagement of a workforce, first Gallup assesses employees

to determine whether they are engaged, not engaged or actively disengaged.

Engaged employees are the stars in a company. Passionate about what they do,
they feel a strong connection to their company and perform at high levels every
day while looking for ways to improve themselves and the company as a whole.

Not engaged employees, according to Gallup, are the company zombies who
show up every day and put in just enough effort to meet the basic requirements
of their jobs. Without passion or innovation, these employees neither commit to
the company’s direction, nor do they work against it.

15
Actively disengaged employees are those who present a big problem for
businesses. Negative by nature, these people are unhappy in their work and they
compound their lack of productivity by sharing this unhappiness with those
around them. They are the proverbial bad apples who revel in their discontent
while undermining the accomplishments of others; as a result, not only do they
achieve little themselves, they also prevent others from being productive too.

2.2 HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

Over the past decade, the way in which people are managed and developed at
work has come to be recognized as one of the primary factors in achieving
improvement in organizational performance. This is reflected by popular idioms
such as “people are our most important assets”.

Back in the good old days of corporate world, things were simple. Companies
put people on career tracks straight out of college; they gave employees a job for
life and waved them goodbye with a gold watch at retirement. The promise of
the stable life as a company employee kept both morale and productivity high.

Then things changed. Competition increased, margins shrank, and shareholders

got more demanding. Suddenly, company staff were finding the very job
security they’d counted on was disappearing, and at speed. This upheaval meant
companies had to find new ways to motivate their employees in order to make
them more productive since, without stability, employees were looking for
something else from their employers. And thus, Engagement was born.

Engagement isn’t really a new idea; owners and managers have been talking
about engagement, in one form or another, for centuries… they just used
different words to express it. In former times, engagement focused more on
productivity and achieving results through threat of punishment or by means of
reward. But common sense - and good communication - eventually won out and,
16
today, organizations everywhere are spending serious money on all forms of
employee engagement. Boiled down, it simply means ‘developing a happy and
loyal workforce’. Enlightened managers now realize that any company as a
whole will benefit when its employees know what’s going on and they feel part
of the team. The tricky part is in defining what makes a workforce happy, and in
understanding how this good will translates into company success.

From the extant literature review, it is acknowledged that successful

organizations share a fundamental philosophy of valuing and investing in their
employees. In fact many research studies have described human resource
management as a means of achieving competitive advantage. Consistent with
this it is an equally important issue for the organization to retain their critical
(core) employees. Most organization today continues to struggle with retention
because they are relying on salary increases and bonuses to prevent turnover.
Essentially more organizations are now realizing that retention is a strategic
issue and continues to be a competitive advantage.

The term “engagement” stems from the work of Kahn (1990) who distinguished
between being engaged and disengaged at work. Putting the humanistic factors
together, Beer, Specter, Lawrence, Quinn-Mills and Walton (1984) created the
‘Harvard Business School’ model of HRM which focused on people in an
organization to be the key resource. In light of such critical emphasis being
placed on human capital, Paula Ketter has aptly noted, “Engagement is all about
creating a culture where people do not feel misused, overused, underused or
abused.”

At a very basic level, employee engagement draws from the tenets of the
‘Hierarchy of Needs’ as conceptualized by Maslow, the highest stage of which
is self-actualization; the pinnacle of an individual’s fulfillment of talent and

17
potential. This theory of ‘higher order needs’ was largely overlooked in the
heydays of scientific ‘assembly line’ manufacturing.

2.3 EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT IN INDIA

The recent Work Asia research study by Watson Wyatt Worldwide indicates
that India has the highest percentage of highly engaged workers at 78% in Asia
as compared to Japan, which has the lowest employee engagement level at 39%.

Head to head with China, the engagement level of the Indian worker is 20%
more than his Chinese counterpart. These are all encouraging signs - but the
challenges and the opportunities ahead are manifold. The imminent US
slowdown, shrinking of talent pool, slowdown in hiring, larger employee
expectations are all challenges for internal communicators to cope with. The
Gallup Organization describes employee engagement as the "the involvement
with and enthusiasm for work".

The challenges faced by organizations in India are around attrition,

communication, career development and engagement while trying to keep pace
with the explosive growth. Outsourcing outfits have the highest attrition rates
losing staff at a rate of between 100% and 200% a year. It is widely believed
that organizations spend an average of 36% of their revenues on their employees
but do not have a tangible way to measure its impact.

A Mercer study – ‘What’s Working’ – a series of national research on worker

insights, highlights factors that make a difference to employee engagement. The
survey’s 125 questions elicit views in the areas defined by Mercer’s Human
Capital Strategy Model and cover training and development, work environment,
leadership, performance management, work/life balance, communication,
compensation, benefits, and engagement.
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The India study throws up some fascinating directions for HR and internal
communication professionals. Employee engagement is no more just about the
employee’s intent to leave. The employee’s commitment to the organization and
motivation to contribute to the organization’s success plays a significant role.
The top three drivers in India are trust in senior management, how the
organization is perceived for customer service and fair pay. Surprisingly, from
an Indian context, the least valued factors in the continuum were benefits,
compensation and performance management.

In India, having a long-term career is considered positive and stable. Frequent

job changes are viewed negatively and therefore the high scores around the
commitment count are in line with the mindset.

Internal communication and HR professionals need to take note of the

employee’s need for giving feedback and to observe action taken from this.
Employees seem to be getting very little information on the organization’s
vision and future, a cause of concern. Other areas for action include the
organization’s reputation in the market – congruent to other research in this
space which believes that organization’s which are socially responsible are
considered better places to work. In the talent management bracket, managers
fare poorly for their involvement, understanding and support as well as for
merit-based appraisals.

In India, with many global players entering the market, the talent pool has now a
plethora of choices and even these multinationals are finding it tough to retain
staff. The Canadian HR Reporter writes that employees want to know where
their careers are heading and that is a critical component of the talent retention
strategy organizations need to focus on. Softer styles of leadership have a better

19
impact in India and China leaving organizations to develop or seek leaders who
can fill this need.

Chapter-III

3.1 THE LITERATURE REVIEW

Employee retention continues to remain a top priority at many organizations and

one that companies increasingly view as a driver of business strategy. Business-
critical knowledge can walk out the door when an employee leaves the
company. While employee retention figures have long been used by companies
as a measure of their performance in developing an effective organization, this
view of employee retention is not only outdated, but these figures may not be
comprehensive enough to truly determine the organization's effectiveness.
The concept of employee retention is more complex than simply evaluating
employee turnover from one year to the next. These figures of employee
retention can be somewhat misleading — it isn't necessarily the number of
employees an organization loses, it's the number of top-performing employees
that leave the company that should be of concern. For example, management is
one of the key reason’s employees decide to stay or leave an organization. If
there is high turnover among the management ranks, employees may also feel
unstable in this ever-changing environment. Yet, on the other hand, it may not
20
be the best business strategy to retain manager that is disliked by employees.
The business strategy of employee retention lies with employee engagement;
retention is an outcome of engagement. What most organizations fail to realize
is that employee engagement is the biggest retention factor they have control
over. Engaged employees not only stay longer with the organization, they are
more productive, more conscientious, make fewer errors, and take better care of
customers. The business strategy of employee retention must incorporate
methods that achieve a high level of employee engagement among the
organization's top performers, not necessarily the entire workforce.

The Importance of Retaining Top Performers

Many organizations ponder the questions, "What should the goal be for
retention?" and "What is an appropriate level for employee turnover?" Yet, in
asking these questions, many organizations don't realize that there are no set
answers. If, for example, an organization loses five percent of its top performers
every year, the results from this turnover could be potentially devastating to the
company. On the other hand, if the company is losing 20 percent of its least
productive employees, this could actually be very beneficial for the organization
and an opportunity to increase the strength of its workforce each year.
In other words, it's not just about retention anymore — it's about retaining the
very best people at each level within the organization. The key to effective
retention of top performers is to determine the factors that currently do, and will,
keep them engaged.
The Starting Point an organization must first determine who the top performers
and high potentials are within their workforce. Of the many ways this can be
accomplished, some include involving management at every level to create a list
of those employees who are performing at levels that exceed expectations and
those who exhibit the potential to become top performers or utilizing the results

21
from employee performance reviews to separate those who scored the highest to
lowest. This method of gaining a clear understanding of who the top performers
are within an organization is called employee segmentation. Once an
organization has segmented its workforce, it can then start to measure retention
among its highest potential and highest rated, or most productive, employees. By
viewing each segment separately, organizations are creating a more appropriate
benchmark to measure employee retention, i.e., is the organization retaining or
losing a high percentage of its best people?

Understanding Employee Engagement

Employee engagement can be defined as an employee putting forth extra
discretionary effort, as well as the likelihood of the employee being loyal and
remaining with the organization over the long haul. Research shows that
engaged employees: perform better, put in extra efforts to help get the job done,
show a strong level of commitment to the organization, and are more motivated
and optimistic about their work goals. Employers with engaged employees tend
to experience low employee turnover and more impressive business outcomes.

Employee engagement is more than just the current HR 'buzzword'; it is

essential. In order for organizations to meet and surpass organizational
objectives, employees must be engaged. Research has proven that wholly
engaged employees exhibit,

§ Higher self-motivation.
§ Confidence to express new ideas.
§ Higher productivity.
§ Higher levels of customer approval and service quality.
22
 § Reliability.
§ Organizational loyalty; less employee turnover.
§ Lower absenteeism.

Current studies show that organizations are focusing on the meaning of

employee engagement and how to make employees more engaged. Employees
feel engaged when they find personal meaning and motivation in their work,
receive positive interpersonal support, and operate in an efficient work
environment. What brought engagement to the forefront and why is everyone
interested in it? Most likely, the tight economy has refocused attention on
maximizing employee output and making the most of organizational resources.
When organizations focus attention on their people, they are making an
investment in their most important resource. You can cut all the costs you want,
but if you neglect your people, cutting costs won’t make much of a difference.
Engagement is all about getting employees to “give it their all.” Some of the
most successful organizations are known for their unique work environments in
which employees are motivated to do their very best. These great places to work
have been recognized in such lists as Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work
For.
The concept of engagement is a natural evolution of past research on high-
involvement, empowerment, job motivation, organizational commitment, and
trust. All of these research streams focus on the perceptions and attitudes of
employees about the work environment. In some ways, there are variations on
the same fundamental issue. What predicts employees “giving their all?”
Obviously, all organizations want their employees to be engaged in their work.

Hierarchy of Engagement

23
Employee Engagement at Each Level
In addition, employee segmentation is an important method to utilize when
evaluating employee engagement at each level. For instance, the factors that
engage the most productive employees in an organization may not be the same
as the factors that engage the least productive employees. Those employees who
receive the highest rankings on their performance reviews may tend to express
higher levels of job satisfaction when they are presented with challenging
opportunities that allow them to grow and learn. Those that receive the lowest
rankings might be more focused on issues surrounding work/life balance and job
security. While some factors, such as good communication, are important
among all employees, the attempt to focus on the full spectrum of factors that
engage the entire workforce may cause an organization to omit some of the
factors that are the most important to the company's most productive people.

Employee Satisfaction Does Not Equal Engagement

While organizations may be aware "through the grapevine" that employees are
unsatisfied, it's the reasons for the dissatisfaction that elude them. While

24
employee satisfaction is important, it's not the end game — it is only one piece
of employee engagement. Satisfaction is imperative in that, for those individuals
who are top performers, satisfaction may be derived from their achievement
orientation, their ambition, or their sense of responsibility. On the other hand,
the attempt to satisfy an under-performer who will only be content with a
lightened workload may not be a worthy cause. Again, the focus is on ensuring
that those individuals who have been identified as top performers and high
potentials are engaged in the organization.
As stated, employee engagement incorporates employee satisfaction, but also
includes the essential elements of pride, commitment and loyalty in the
organization. Engaged employees aren't concerned with meeting the minimum
requirements to complete a task, they are focused on what they can do to better
the company. Essentially, they take ownership in the company despite whether
or not they actually own a share of stock.
Drivers of engagement
 A two-way relationship between the employer and employee
 The importance of the individual being able to align themselves to the
products,
 services and values of the organisation
 The ability of the organisation to communicate its vision, strategy,
objectives
 and values to its staff so that they are clearly understood
 Management give staff sufficient ‘elbow room’ and autonomy to let them
fulfil their potential
 The employer is highly effective at engaging in two-way communication
with
 its staff, in particular encouraging upward communication

25
  Lastly, that management from the top to the bottom of the organisation
are ‘committed leaders’ and that the key role of the immediate line
manager/supervisor is recognised as one of the most important conduits to
achieving effective employee engagement.

People Work
Senior Leadership Work Activities
Manager Resources
Co–workers Processes

Total Rewards Opportunities

Pay Career
Benefits Opportunities
Engageme
Recognition Learning/Developm
nt
ent

Company Practices Quality of Life

People Practices Work/Life Balance
Policies
Performance Assessment
Company Reputation

Elements of Engagement
Some researchers conclude that personal impact, focused work, and
interpersonal harmony comprise engagement. Each of these three components
has sub-components that further define the meaning of engagement.
Personal Impact-Employees feel more engaged when they are able to make a
unique contribution, experience empowerment, and have opportunities for
personal growth. Past research concurs that issues such as the ability to impact
the work environment and making meaningful choices in the workplace are
critical components of employee empowerment. Some research on retaining
talent found that the perception of meaningful work is one of the most
influential factors determining employees’ willingness to stay with the
organization.

26
Focused Work-Employees feel more engaged when they have clear direction,
performance accountability, and an efficient work environment. Aside from the
personal drive and motivation to make a contribution, employees need to
understand where to focus their efforts. Without a clear strategy and direction
from senior leadership, employees will waste their time on the activities that do
not make a difference for the organization’s success. Additionally, even when
direction is in place, employees must receive feedback to ensure that they are on
track and being held accountable for their progress. In particular, employees
need to feel that low performance is not acceptable and that there are
consequences for poor performance. Finally, employees want to work in an
environment that is efficient in terms of its time, resources, and budget.
Employees lose faith in the organization when they see excessive waste. For
example, employees become frustrated when they are asked to operate without
the necessary resources or waste time in unnecessary meetings.
Interpersonal Harmony-Employees feel more engaged when they work in a safe
and cooperative environment. By safety, we mean that employee trust one
another and quickly resolve conflicts when they arise. Employees want to be
able to rely on each other and focus their attention on the tasks that really matter.
Conflict wastes time and energy and needs to be dealt with quickly. Some
researchers also find that trust and interpersonal harmony is a fundamental
underlying principle in the best organizations. Employees also need to cooperate
to get the job done. Partnerships across departments and within the work group
ensure that employees stay informed and get the support they need to do their
jobs.

Making Use of Engagement

Measurement of employee engagement can have many applications in the
organization. Earlier, it is mentioned that engagement could serve as a general
27
index of HR effectiveness in an HR scorecard. Also, engagement measures
serve as an easy way to benchmark the work climate against other organizations.
Other uses include:
Needs Analysis-The fundamental issues measured in engagement provide a
quick index of what leaders and HR need to do to make things better. In
addition, items in engagement surveys tend to be very actionable. This means
that leaders or others in the organization can take action that will affect the score
on a single item.
Evaluation-Many learning and performance interventions are designed to impact
some aspect of engagement. When an engagement measure is used as a pre-
implementation baseline, the impact of the intervention can be gauged by
measuring post-implementation changes in engagement.
Climate Survey-Some organizations like to use engagement measures as simple
indexes of the workplace culture. While more extensive surveys are valuable,
sometimes it’s easier to focus attention on a few simple and proven factors.
Leader or Department Feedback-Depending on the demographic information
collected when the engagement measure is implemented, one can create
breakout reports by department or leader. This means departments and leaders
can gain a better understanding of how engagement in their groups differs from
the rest of the organization. This information can be used to create development
plans or plans for larger-scale interventions.

Measuring the Impact of Employee Engagement

28
BENCHMARKING BEST PRACTICES

HSBC Global Resourcing

The companies try to make a match of it by positioning their organisations as a
‘fun workplace’ to engage employees. Speaking to the youth in the language
they understand, companies organise ‘dress down’ days based on festival
themes, distribute soft sports equipment which can be used inside the processing
floor and organise regular trips to movies as well as dining out. Acknowledging
that recognising employees for a job well done is a key retention tool, HSBC
Global Resourcing has regular rewards and recognition programmes where
outstanding agents get to bask in the glory of their achievements. Leadership
development is taken very seriously with first line managers getting to hone
their skills in various tools required to lead a team successfully. Empowerment
is a key ingredient in engaging employees and ensuring they stay that way. On
cue almost all BPO outfits organise regular focus group discussions and
interaction with the senior management to ensure everyone is heard. Internal
communication channels like intranets and message boards are liberally used to

29
reach out and branded goodies are regularly distributed to foster a sense of
belonging

Sun Microsystems
At Sun the virtual nature is partly due to flexible working practices. While
flexible working arrangements are a plus for many employees and reduces
facility costs for the organization, that flexibility comes with some downsides
like; isolation, loneliness and an increase in personal distractions. Isolation,
especially when paired with the demands of work in an increasingly competitive
environment, can wear down the sense of connection, commitment and
excitement about any job. Thus, a critical challenge for managers of virtual
teams is how to keep remote employees engaged.

At Sun, the concept of employee engagement starts right from the top.The CEO
interacts with Sun employees through WSUN, a forum on Sun’s intranet. He
uses this to sustain an active an ongoing dialogue on the corporate goals and
direction. Through this interactive on-line resource, he also solicits their
feedback and opinions
· Other senior management members engages with employees on technology
directions through his personal blog
· Business Unit Heads and Executive Vice-presidents have a target of holding
six ‘town halls’ with employees every year across the globe
· At the country level, Senior Management is tasked with constantly engaging
employees through various forums, communication media and events to build
excitement and passion including some that also reach out to the employees’
families.

Standard Chartered Group

30
They believe in the importance of building a work environment where every
employee feels highly engaged to apply their individual talents to deliver
sustainable business performance. They have been measuring employee
engagement worldwide since 2000 with a voluntary response rate consistently
over 95%. In 2007, the survey covered all 57 countries with 95% of employees
participating voluntarily. This is a significant achievement and a clear indication
that employees are committed to improving individual and team performance.
They have a continuous rise in both the number of engaged employees and
teams since the survey was introduced. We provide team-specific data to each
manager, which they use to discuss and develop action plans with their teams to
increase engagement

Conclusion
The competition for talent means that we have to be very good at attracting,
motivating and retaining talent. Our talented human capital is our biggest asset
and liability and we need to measure how well it’s adding value. Engagement is
an increasingly important human capital metric because:
— Engagement levels correlate with business performance
— Measuring Engagement tells us how well we are doing in the
competition for talent
— Driving Engagement levels higher improves our ability to attract,
motivate and retain talent and so generates value from our human
capital investment.

Engagement is not a simple matter. Nothing is more dangerous than measuring

engagement without making the commitment to act on the feedback.
Engagement has to be a leadership-driven initiative from the most senior level
all the way to the front line. No one affects an employee’s engagement as much
31
as his or her immediate leader. Engaged leaders’ coach proactively for success,
inspire loyalty and trust, and build an environment in which employees are
motivated and engaged. To foster an environment of engagement, organizations
need strong systems and strategies that promote and support engagement. Hiring
and selection systems that measure motivation and the propensity for
engagement, leadership training in certain skills (coaching, influencing others,
managing change), performance management and accountability systems that
provide direction, support, and objective assessments—all work together to
provide a foundation and environment in which engagement can flourish.
Ultimately, engagement lies in the heart of the employee. Measuring
motivational and job fit during the hiring process ensures that you select people
who can and want to find meaning in their work. Some people have personal
characteristics that correlate with higher levels of engagement, and those
characteristics can be screened for during the hiring process. Once you’ve hired
the right people, engagement can be either fuelled or hampered by the work
environment and quality of leadership. Building an engaged workforce is a long-
term, ongoing initiative. Because it requires a coordinated, consistent effort from
leaders, organizational systems, and individuals, it must be aligned and linked
with the most important organizational business drivers, or it will get pushed
aside by the daily press of work, and languish. In the end, the rewards are many.
A fully engaged workforce is a loyal workforce—expect turnover to drop. In
addition, an engaged workforce will give the extra effort your organization
needs to remain competitive.
Employee engagement is no longer just a buzzword or a management fad. It’s
no longer a fancy tool which can be taken off the shelf, dusted and pressed into
service; rather it’s a strategic imperative which can’t be taken for granted. As
customers increasingly demand enhanced levels of service and value for money,
alienating the hearts and minds of the employees is no longer possible without
32
organisational demise. Thus, the onus is now on the organizations to make the
first overture.

CHAPTER-IV
4.1 DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF EMPLOYEES
Q1. Do you know what is expected of you at work?
a) Strongly Agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly
Disagree
e) Not Applicable
Analysis:

33
68% of the sample agreed to the fact that they are aware about the work which
they have to perform while 32% are strongly agree on this fact.
Q2 At work, do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every day?
a) Strongly Agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly
Disagree
e) Not Applicable
Analysis:

Majority (53%) of the employees get the opportunity to do best of their work
everyday while 28% of them disagreed on this and 18% of them strongly agreed.

Q3 In the last three months, have you received recognition or praise for doing
good work?
a) Strongly Agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly
Disagree
e) Not Applicable

Analysis:

34
84% of the employees have received recognition or praise in the last three
months for doing good work while 11% of the employees are highly satisfied
with recognition in their organization and 5% of them has not received any
praise in the last 3 months.

Q4 Is there someone at work who encourages your development?

a) Strongly Agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly Disagree
e) Not Applicable
Analysis:

35
Generally people feel sense of belongingness when someone is their at their
workplace to support them and 84% of the employees agreed on this fact while
8% have strongly agreed and the other 8% disagreed.
Q5 At work, do your opinions seem to count?
a) Strongly Agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly
Disagree
e) Not Applicable
Analysis:

Employees participation in decision making is again a criteria of measuring

employee engagement. 87% of the employees have agreed that their decision
seems to count, 10% strongly agreed to this and only 3% have disagreed.

Q6 Are your associates (fellow employees) committed to doing quality work?

36
 a) Strongly Agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly
Disagree
e) Not Applicable
Analysis:

79% of the sample agreed that their fellow employees are committed to do
quality work while 11% have disagreed on this fact. 5% of them have chosen
strongly on this and the other 5% has given no comments on this.

Q7 In the last year, have you had opportunities at work to learn and grow?
a) Strongly Agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly
Disagree
e) Not Applicable
37
Analysis:

Learning and Development is one of the most important aspect to find out the
employee engagement in the organization. 66% have agreed that they get the
opportunity to learn and grow in the organization while 21% of them have
strongly agreed on it. 8% of the employee have not given any reply and 5% were
disagree.
Q8 Are the pay and benefits in your organization comparable to similar
companies?
a) Strongly Agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly
Disagree
e) Not Applicable
Analysis:

38
 42% of the sample is satisfied with pay and packages of their organization
while 32% are highly satisfied with it. 16% disagree on the competitive pay
and benefit packages.
Q9 Are job promotions in this organization fair and objective?
a) Strongly Agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly
Disagree
e) Not Applicable
Analysis:

Half the percentage (50%) of the employees believe that the promotions are
done objectively, 31% strongly agree to the fairness of the same while 13%
doubt the fairness and objectivity of the process.
Q10. Are organization policies clearly communicated in the organization?
a) Strongly Agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly
Disagree
e) Not Applicable
Analysis:

39
47% of the sample has agreed to be clear on the policies that prevail in their
respective organizations. A good proportion of 42% strongly agreed on the
clarity while only 11% reported ambiguity on the policies.
Q11. Do you see yourself continuing to work for this organization two years
from now?
a) Strongly Agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly
Disagree
e) Not Applicable
Analysis:

A majority of 50% has agreed to continue to serve in the same organization for
next two years, 24% are very much willing to do the same whereas a stricking
26% of the employees are those who are on the verge to leave the organization
since they are not even commiting for next two years.
Q12. Do you recommend your friends/relatives in your organization?

40
 a) Strongly Agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly
Disagree
e) Not Applicable
Analysis:

24% of the sample surveyed strongly believe in recommending friends and

relatives to their organizations, 63% agreed to this while 13% has disregarded
the option.
Q13. Select and rank the following engagement tools applicable in your
organization. Please rate the options, from 1- 8 (1 being the lowest and 8
being the highest).
a) Stress Management
b) Work life balance
c) Career development
d) Employees Participation in decision making
e) Counselling/ Feedback
f) Rewards and Recognition Schemes
g) Employee Referral Scheme
h) Retirement Plans
Analysis:

41
Rewards and recognition schemes to be the most popular engagement tool
amongst the employees, next is efforts on Career develoment. Employee
participation in decision making and Counseling/ Feedback seem to be equally
effective, next in line is Employee referral scheme. Stress management is then
regarded as important but Retirement plans and Work life balance surprisingly
seem to be of least effective.

42
CHAPTER-V

5.1 DATA ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF HR MANAGERS

1. Does your company have a clearly stated and published employment

policy?

a) Yes
b) No
Analysis:

43
A whooping majority of 89% of the managers has agreed to the existence of a
clearly stated and published employment policy and only 11% has denied it.

2. Does your company communicate its corporate goals to all employees?

a) Yes
b) No

Analysis:

44
Everyone (100%) has agreed on communicating corporate goals to all the
employees.
3. Do you communicate what is expected out of the employee?
a) Yes
b) No

Analysis:

100% positive response has been received when asked about whether the
expectations are communicated to the employees.
4. Do you allow your subordinates to take their own decisions?
a) Yes
b) No
Analysis:

45
A majority of the sample surveyed has responded that they allow their
subordinates to take their own decisions and only 11% informed that this is not
the case.
5. Is there any involvement of employees in their performance appraisal?
a) Totally involved
b) Partially involved
c) Not involved
Analysis:

45% of the managers agreed in totally involving the employees in the

performance appraisal process, 33% agreed on a partial participation while 22%
said there is no involvement at all.
6. After appraisal do you communicate to the employees the areas in which
they are lacking?
a) Yes
b) No
46
Analysis:

Employees are given feedback about their performance after the appraisals in
view point of 89% of the managers but 11% has denied any such feedback
system in place.
7. Do you involve the employees to set their Key Performance Areas?

a) Yes
b) No
Analysis:

A majority of 78% of the sample has informed that the employees have a say
when it comes to setting their key result areas and 22% has disregarded this
option.
8. What are the retention tools which have gained popularity amongst the
employees? Please rate the options on a scale of 1 to 8, 1 being the
lowest.
47
 i) Stress Management

j) Work life balance

k) Career development

l) Employees Participation in decision making

m) Counseling/ Feedback

n) Rewards and Recognition Schemes

o) Employee Referral Scheme

p) Retirement Plans
Analysis:

Employee participation in decision making to be the most popular engagement

tool amongst the managers closely followed by Rewards and recognition

48
schemes, next is efforts on Career develoment. Work life balance seem to be the
next priority, next in line is Employee referral scheme. Stress management and
Counseling/ Feedback are then regarded as important and Retirement plans
surprisingly seem to be the least effective.
9. Are incentives linked to achievement of individual goals?

a) Yes
b) No
Analysis:

78% of the managers have agreed to a close association of incentives and

individual goals but 22% has denied any such association.

10. What factors of the rewards scheme contribute the most in retaining the
employees? Please rate the options on a scale of 1 to 7, 1 being the
lowest.
a) Compensation and benefit programmes
b) Stock ownership and profit sharing
c) Recognition programmes
d) Idea collection schemes linked to rewards for idea generation
e) Long service and good performance awards
f) Competitive compensation packages

49
 g) Material benefits like trips, food and discount coupons, etc.
Analysis:

Compensation & Benefit programs are observed as the most effective rewards
scheme closely followed by Competitive compensation packages. Idea
collection scheme is the next important tool and Long service & good
performance awards follow that. Next in line is Stock ownership & Profit
sharing. Material benefits and Recognition programs have come up as the least
effective tools.

11. What are the activities you conduct to build the team-spirit in the
organization?
50
 a) Small team recreational activities, such as cricket, trips to the cinema
b) Social activities, such as family gatherings
c) Community outreach activities such as volunteering and fund-raising
d) Any other, please specify
Analysis:

Only two of the options have received some response when asked about the
efforts in the areas of team building in the organization. Here Small team
recreational activities are the most preferred way and some importance is given
to Social activities in the organizations surveyed.
12.How often do you conduct training programs?
Analysis:

56% of the organizations quarterly conduct training programs in their

organization while 22% conduct it monthly and 11% of the sample surveyed
51
conduct the training sessions as and when required. 11% of them also conduct it
yearly.
13. At what level of hierarchy in the organization do you conduct these
training programmes?

a) Higher level

b) Middle level

c) Lower level

Analysis:

55% of the organizations conduct training session for each and every level of the
employees while 18% of the organizations conduct it for Middle level and lower
level of the employees while 9% of the samples conduct it for Higher level only.

52
 14. What is the objective of training the employees?

a) To enhance their current set of skills as per the organization’s

requirement

b) To unleash the hidden skills/ talent

c) To update them on the technological advancements

d) To fill the gap of expected-actual performance

e) All of the above

f) Any other, please specify

Analysis:

A combination of all the options has scored the highest when asked about the
objective of training the employees. Individually, enhancing the current skills as

53
per the organization’s requirement, unleashing the hidden skills/ talent and
updating them on the technological advancement have also scored well.

15. Is there a provision of flexibility in terms of working hours? Please tick

the appropriate option.

a) Flex-time
b) Telecommuting
c) Job Sharing
d) Any other

Analysis:

When questioned about providing flexibility in terms of working hours,

maximum managers agreed to provide flex-time. Telecommuting, Job sharing,
a combination of all these options and any other, each has scored equally.
16.Do you think the current engagement policies are effective in retaining
the employees in the organization?

54
 a) Yes

b) No

Analysis:

67% of the managers agreed that the engagement strategies of their organization
help in retaining the employees in the organization while 33% has disagreed on
this fact.

55
 17.What percent-decrease range have you observed due to the efforts in
retaining employees?

a) 1 – 5 %
b) 5 – 10%
c) 10 & above

Analysis:

Half of the organizations observed 5-10% of retention due to the

implementation of engagement strategies in the organizations and other half has
observed 1-5% of retention due to the strategies followed.

56
 18. In general, how do the employees respond to such engagement tools?

a) Positively
b) Negatively
c) Indifferent

Analysis:

67% of the managers have observed positive effect on the employees of the
engagement strategies while 22% said it is indifferent for the employees and
11% has responded negatively.

19. Have you come up with any innovative idea for retaining employees?
Please mention.

Analysis: Majority of the sample survey has not been able to come up with any
of the innovative ideas in line with retaining employees.

57
CHAPTER - V
FINDINGS

1. To engage the workforce, most of the organization surveyed periodicaly

recognise employees and provides flexible working hours.

2. Nowadays employees are involved in decision making in the organization

and majority of the employees agreed on this fact.

3. Most of the organizations allow their employees to participate in

performance appraisals and to set their own Key Performance Areas.

4. Compensation & Benefit programs are observed as the most effective

rewards scheme

5. For team building companies generally do small team recreational

activities and social activities.

6. Majority of the sample are loyal towards their organization and they also
recommend their friends and relatives to join the organization.

7. Stress management, Retirement plans and Work life balance surprisingly

seem to be of least effective engagement strategies according to the
employees.

8. Majority of the organizations agreed that the engagement strategies of

their organization help in retaining the employees in the organization.

9. Majority has observed 5-10% of reduced attrition rate due to the

implementation of engagement strategies in the organizations.

58
CHAPTER- VI

6.1 RECOMMENDATIONS

1. As contrary to what managers believe that decision making is the most

effective tool, the employees still prefer rewards and recognition. The
Managers should focus on the rewards and recognition schemes in their
organization.
2. Practically people don’t give much importance to stress management
programs, work life balance and retirement plans so there is scope of
improvement in this area.
3. To increase employee engagement, the organizations should:

a. Provide variety: Tedious, repetitive tasks can cause burn out and
boredom over time. If the job requires repetitive tasks, look for
ways to introduce variety by rotating duties, areas of responsibility,
delivery of service etc.

b. Conduct periodic meetings with employees to communicate good

news, challenges and easy-to-understand company financial
information. Managers and supervisors should be comfortable
communicating with their staff, and able to give and receive
constructive feedback.

c. Indulge in employee deployment if he feels he is not on the right

job. Provide an open environment.

d. Communicate openly and clearly about what's expected of

employees at every level - your vision, priorities, success measures,
etc.
59
 e. Get to know employees' interests, goals, stressors, etc. Show an
interest in their well-being and do what it takes enable them to feel
more fulfilled and better balanced in work and life.

f. Celebrate individual, team and organizational successes. Catch

employees doing something right and say "Thank you."

4. As we have got a very good response from employees so the companies

should have the engagement strategies to retain the employees.

CONCLUSION

Employee retention continues to remain a top priority at many organizations and

one that companies increasingly view as a driver of business strategy. Business-
critical knowledge can walk out the door when an employee leaves the
company. While employee retention figures have long been used by companies
as a measure of their performance in developing an effective organization, this
view of employee retention is not only outdated, but these figures may not be
comprehensive enough to truly determine the organization's effectiveness.
The concept of employee retention is more complex than simply evaluating
employee turnover from one year to the next. These figures of employee
retention can be somewhat misleading — it isn't necessarily the number of
employees an organization loses, it's the number of top-performing employees
that leave the company that should be of concern. For example, management is
one of the key reason’s employees decide to stay or leave an organization. If
there is high turnover among the management ranks, employees may also feel
unstable in this ever-changing environment. Yet, on the other hand, it may not
be the best business strategy to retain a manager that is disliked by employees.
The business strategy of employee retention lies with employee engagement;
60
retention is an outcome of engagement. What most organizations fail to realize
is that employee engagement is the biggest retention factor they have control
over. Engaged employees not only stay longer with the organization, they are
more productive, more conscientious, make fewer errors, and take better care of
customers. The business strategy of employee retention must incorporate
methods that achieve a high level of employee engagement among the
organization's top performers, not necessarily the entire workforce.

If effective engagement practices are in place, the organizations can curb the
growing attrition rates especially in IT and Banking sectors. Thus, the research
study proves the significance of engagement activities as a part of retention
strategy in an organization.

REFERENCES
ANNEXURE 1

61
 WEBLIOGRAPHY
https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/case-studies/adobe-building-
momentum-abandoning-annual-performance-reviews-check
https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/case-studies/employee-
recognition-intuit
https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=55208
https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/data-driven-guide-becoming-effective-
boss
The Foundation For Global Employee Engagement: A Behavior-Based Model
for Leaders & Practitioners

www.scribd.com/doc/3071101/Employee-Engagement-Impact-on-Business-
Outcomes

http://forewordcommunications.wordpress.com/2008/06/17/what-is-employee-
engagement/

http://ebn.benefitnews.com/asset/article/524821/staying-current/understanding-
employee-engagement-through-global-lens.html

ANNEXURE 2

BIBLIOGRAPHY

62
 Business Research Method by William Zikmund

Topic: Survey research and Data Analysis

 Marketing Management by Philip Kotler

Topic: Conducting Marketing Research

 Marketing Management by Ashok Sharma, Anju Gupta, Neetu Mathur

Topic: Marketing Research

 Company manual and brochures.

QUESTIONNAIRE FOR EMPLOYEES

ORGANIZATION NAME

DESIGNATION EMAIL ID

63
Q 1. Do you know what is expected of you at work?

a) Strongly Agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly

Disagree

e) Not Applicable

Q 2. At work, do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every day?

a) Strongly Agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly

Disagree

e) Not Applicable

Q 3. In the last three months, have you received recognition or praise for doing
good work?

a) Strongly Agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly

Disagree

e) Not Applicable

Q 4. Is there someone at work who encourages your development?

a) Strongly Agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly Disagree

e) Not Applicable
Q 5. At work, do your opinions seem to count?

a) Strongly Agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly Disagree

64
 e) Not Applicable

Q 6. Are your
associates (fellow employees) committed to doing quality work?
a) Strongly Agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly Disagree
e) Not Applicable

Q 7. In the
last year, have you had opportunities at work to learn and grow?
a) Strongly Agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly
Disagree
e) Not Applicable

Q 8. Are the pay and benefits

in your organization comparable to similar companies?
a) Strongly Agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly
Disagree
e) Not Applicable

Q 9. Are job promotions in this

organization fair and objective?
a) Strongly Agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly
Disagree
e) Not Applicable

Q 10. Are
organization policies clearly communicated in the organization?
a) Strongly Agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly
Disagree
65
 e) Not Applicable
Q 11. Do you see yourself continuing to work for this organization two years
from now?
a) Strongly Agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly
Disagree
e) Not Applicable

Q 12. Do you recommend your friends/relatives in your organization?

a) Strongly Agree b) Agree c) Disagree d) Strongly

Disagree
d) Not Applicable

Q13. Select and rank the following engagement tools applicable in your
organization. Please rate the options, from 1- 8 (1 being the lowest and 8 being
the highest).
a) Stress Management
b) Work life balance
c) Career development
d) Employees Participation in decision making
e) Counselling/ Feedback
f) Rewards and Recognition Schemes
g) Employee Referral Scheme
h) Retirement Plans

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 “THANK YOU”

QUESTIONNAIRE FOR HR MANAGERS

ORGANIZATION NAME

DESIGNATION EMAIL ID

1. Does your company have a clearly stated and published employment policy?

a) Yes
b) No

2. Does your company communicate its corporate goals to all employees?

c) Yes
d) No

3. Do you communicate what is expected out of the employee?

a) Yes
b) No

4. What are the engagement tools which have gained popularity amongst the
employees? Please rate the options on a scale of 1 to 8, 1 being the lowest.

a) Stress Management

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b) Work life balance

c) Career development

d) Employees Participation in decision making

e) Counselling/ Feedback

f) Rewards and Recognition Schemes

g) Employee Referral Scheme

h) Retirement Plans

5. Are incentives linked to achievement of individual goals?

a) Yes
b) No
c)
6. What factors of the rewards scheme contribute the most in engaging the
employees? Please rate the options on a scale of 1 to 7, 1 being the lowest.

a) Compensation and benefit programmes

b) Stock ownership and profit sharing
c) Recognition programmes
d) Idea collection schemes linked to rewards for idea generation
e) Long service and good performance awards
f) Competitive compensation packages
g) Material benefits like trips, food and discount coupons, etc.

7. What are the activities you conduct to build the team-spirit in the
organization?

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a) Small team recreational activities, such as cricket, trips to the cinema
b) Social activities, such as family gatherings
c) Community outreach activities such as volunteering and fund-raising
d) Any other, please specify

8. How often do you conduct training programs?

9. At what level of hierarchy in the organization do you conduct these training

programmes?

a) Higher level

b) Middle level

c) Lower level

10. What is the objective of training the employees?

a) To enhance their current set of skills as per the organization’s requirement

b) To unleash the hidden skills/ talent

c) To update them on the technological advancements

d) To fill the gap of expected-actual performance

e) All of the above

f) Any other, please specify

11. Is there a provision of flexibility in terms of working hours? Please tick the
appropriate option.
a) Flex-time
b) Telecommuting
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c) Job Sharing
d) Any other

12. Do you think the current retention strategies are effective in reducing
attrition rate?

a) Yes

b) No

13. What percent-decrease range have you observed due to the efforts in
retaining employees?
a) 1 – 5 %
b) 5 – 10%
c) 10 & above

14. In general, how do the employees respond to such engagement policies?

a) Positively
b) Negatively
c) Indifferent

15. Have you come up with any innovative idea for engaging & retaining
employees? Please mention.

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“THANK YOU”

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