Chennai: Efforts to engage employees are a distraction from getting the real work done and reveals a disillusioned group of leaders, a report has said. The leaders are then unlikely to embrace further initiatives, it added.
The above is the findings of a research conducted by Dale Carnegie of India in its third edition of its annual rountable series, the Expert Forum.
The event is a thought leadership event bringing together country’s foremost thought makers to provide concepts for organisational success.
The theme of this year’s roundtable discussion was, ‘Employee Engagement: Making Engagement a Daily Priority for Leaders’.
According to the research, 70 per cent leaders believe that employee engagement has a strong impact on financial performance, meaning the remaining three in 10 question the validity of that link.
Twenty two per cent reported that they believe their organizations are spending too much time and money trying to engage employees, while a further, 26 per cent say efforts to engage employees are a distraction from getting real work done, revealing a disillusioned group of leaders.
Although there are enough instances to prove that engaged employees are a competitive advantage, and the impact on the bottom line is indisputable. Yet, the research findings revealed otherwise.
Some of the delegates present at the roundtable were Rajkamal Vempati from Axis Bank, Ritu Rakhra from Dell and Ajay Venkatesh from Ernst & Young.
The panellists present at the roundtable were from different countries from the Dale Carnegie global fraternity. A release from Dale Carnegie stated that the discussions of the roundtable were based on a survey of the report.
Chairperson and managing director, Dale Carnegie of India, Pallavi Jha, said, “Employee engagement should be an ongoing effort and a daily priority for every organization. Engaged employees are a competitive advantage, and a company’s best asset is its human capital.”
Dale Carnegie of India represents the corporate face of the training industry in country and is working on “Talent Development Solutions” in the areas of leadership, communications, presentations and public speaking, etc for the past 15 years.
| Research reveals… |
| * 70 per cent leaders believe employee engagement has a strong impact on financial performance * Three in 10 question the validity of employee engagement * 22 per cent report they believe their organizations are spending too much time and money in engaging employees * 26 per cent state efforts to engage employees are a distraction from getting real work done |
| What is it? |
| Employee engagement first appeared as a concept in management theory in the 1990s, becoming widespread in management practice in the 2000s.
The fundamental concept is to understand and describe, both qualitatively and quantitatively, the nature of the relationship between an organization and its employees. An ‘engaged employee’ is defined as one who is fully absorbed by and enthusiastic about their work and so takes positive action to further the organization’s reputation and interests. A recent statistic suggests that employees today are more likely, about 83 per cent, to be involved in an employee listening program than ever before. |