Week 5 - Chapter 4: Employee Engagement (for WS only)

Explain the concept of the survival curve:

A model stating that new starters in an organisation are more at risk of leaving in the first six weeks of commencing a new job. The likelihood of leaving decreases as the length of employment increases. Some reasons attributed to the induction crisis are the lack of organisational fit, imperfect expectation setting, leading to employee burnout and overselling of the position. The first phase of the survival curve is the induction crisis, which occurs within weeks of a new starter joining the organisation and carries with it the highest likelihood of an employee leaving the organisation. The differential transit phase of the survival curve reflects the period when the employee begins to settle into their new work environment and starts to feel more comfortable in their new role. As this settling process continues, the risk of an employee leaving the organisation tends to decrease. This phase typically occurs within the first few months of employment. The final stage, settled connection, is suggestive of those employees who become fully socialised into the organisation.

What is a cohort analysis?

Cohorts may be employees from various departments or grouped by gender or ethnicity. Cohort analysis can be particularly insightful in relation to an analysis of skill sets. The development of individual staff profiles aids this process by easily identifying where turnover rates are high among a particular set of employees with a particular skill set. The reasons for this high level of turnover among a particular group of employees can then be examined and strategies put in place to reduce the level of turnover

What is employee engagement?

Employee engagement is a broader concept than work engagement insofar as it includes not just the relationship of the employee to their work, but also their relationship with the organisation itself. Engagement is linked to higher task performance, higher personal initiative and more innovative behaviour, which benefits the team and the organisation. Engagement is also linked to higher organisational commitment and retention, and lower absenteeism and turnover rates, which can be quantified in financial terms. Employee burnout is the opposite of employee engagement, where they withdraw from work due to emotional or physical reasons.

How much turnover is too much, and why is it important to trully undestand turnover rates?

Not all turnover is necessarily bad. A certain level of turnover can result in positive benefits for an organisation. As new employees join an organisation, they often bring fresh perspectives and even ignite new discussions and debates. On the opposite side, turnover may also include those individuals who are underperforming and are forced to leave the organisation. This is likely after having been through the performance management and development system, with clear indicators of insufficient improvements in output. Additionally, employees may leave prior to being forced out when it is clear the situation is unlikely to improve. Nevertheless, generally, high-performing employees are more likely to seek out new opportunities. This is due to the fact that they are more likely to be sought after by others, and to be ambitious to advance their careers. Conversely, an underperforming employee is unlikely to want to leave an organisation where their underperformance is not being actively managed. Different business models will have different costs associated with turnover. The cost of turnover will be higher in a limited hiring pool with specific qualifications or technical abilities, or very high training costs. However, a lower turnover cost is associated with an unlimited supply of qualified applicants, who have low training costs. Equally, some businesses operate successfully with high turnover and their business model is based around a high turnover rate.

Which companies are the most successful in their onboarding activities and why?

Successful companies are those that strike a balance between information delivery and relationship development, some examples for meaningful information are: - Tailoring the information given to new starters; - Explaining the roles and responsibilities of the key people they will be interacting with during the course of their work; - Ensuring that they fully appreciate the strategic goals of the organisation and how their work will contribute to the achievement of these goals.

What costs are associated with labor turnover?

The costs of labour turnover vary by sector and organisation. Nevertheless, every organisation has costs associated with dismissing an individual from the organisation. Furthermore, there are payroll costs and the calculation of outstanding contractual obligations, such as paid holidays. During an ongoing recruitment process, there is the cost of additional staff drafted in, or overtime, in order to take up the excess workload. Moreover, there are recruitment and selection costs. There are also the costs of underperforming individuals who are working out their notice, as employees can often reduce their input after handing in their notice

Describe onboarding:

The mechanism through which new employees acquire the necessary knowledge, skills and behaviours to become effective organisational members and insiders. Research has shown that a failure to socialise new starters can have a substantial negative impact on an organisation, including high levels of unmet expectations, leading to poor attitudes and negative behaviour that, in turn, often result in high levels of turnover. To successfully conduct onboarding, organisations should first identify the outcomes that are most important to them, given their strategy and objectives, and then provide the socialisation resources that will be most effective in meeting these.

What is employee turnover?

The number of people who leave an organisation and need to be replaced in order to maintain production or service. Some of these factors are beyond the control of the organisation, such as the employee moving to a new location, a change in family circumstances, retirement and so on: pull factors. There are also push factors, factors that negatively impact an employee and may be the trigger for them to think about leaving an organisation. The main push factors are a lack of promotional and developmental opportunities. Measuring employee dissatisfaction is vital to identifying push factors.

What is retention?

The strategic approach adopted by organisations to keep productive employees from seeking alternative employment.

What is the difference between the informational and relational approach?

The traditional informational approach is: - a formal welcome from the new starter's supervisor and introduction to team members; - possibly a general tour of the premises; - an overview, which may include information on organisation-wide trends, key strategies being pursued, key clients etc.; - a presentation on centralised administrative arrangements - expense claims, rules covering absence, discipline, holidays, computer and telephone usage, etc. While the relational approach focuses on helping new starters rapidly establish a broad network of relationships with co-workers, from whom they can access the information they need to be productive members of the team.

What why employee engagement surveys important?

They can help an organisation determine the level of turnover intention within the organisation and identify rewards that are most likely to support the employee to be dedicated to their work and the organisation. Given that all employees do not place the same value on the rewards on offer, either financial or non-financial, the key to success is that organisations know what it is their staff value and target specific groups if necessary. Flexible benefits, when employees select the benefits that best meet their needs from a set number of benefits, are one way of achieving this.

How do you measure turnover?

Turnover rate = 100*(number of leavers / average amount of employees)

?What is work engagement

Work engagement describes how an employee is physically, psychologically and emotionally connected to their work or task. When employees are engaged, the following is evident: - Vigour describes how the employee is physically connected to their work, demonstrating high levels of energy and mental resilience; - Dedication describes how the employee is emotionally connected to their work, demonstrating strong involvement and experiencing a sense of significance, challenge, inspiration, enthusiasm and pride in one's work; - Absorption describes how the employee is psychologically connected to their work, demonstrating a state of full concentration; they are so happy and engrossed that time seems to fly by.