NHRD Network Journal

In this scholarly enquiry, we delve into the confluence of Karl Marx’s theory of alienation and contemporary approaches to fostering employee engagement. It contends that Marx’s profound insights into the estrangement experienced by workers furnish a robust framework for comprehending and remedying workplace disengagement. By scrutinising the facets of alienation—such as detachment from the fruits of labour, the labour process itself, one’s inherent humanity and colleagues—this study identifies strategic interventions to cultivate a more dedicated and engaged workforce. Through a critical evaluation of modern organisational strategies, this paper proposes that addressing the foundational roots of alienation via empowerment, acknowledgement, meaningful tasks and supportive atmospheres can notably enhance employee engagement and organisational effectiveness.

Employee engagement is an issue that has perplexed scholars and practitioners since time immemorial. Organisations keep trying to find the magic pill that would motivate all employees to be engaged at maximum levels. After four decades of being involved with human resources in various roles, I can confirm that the quest to understand and box employee engagement into a convenient category is likely to continue for the foreseeable future and beyond. In my opinion, this is because we are approaching the topic from the wrong angle, trying to find a one-size-fits-all solution to this complicated problem. In this article, I discuss what I have gleaned through my involvement in teaching, training, and consulting, and offer four lessons for organisations. But the most important message of this piece is that engagement is not a goal—only a means to get to the goal, which is optimal individual performance. Below, I discuss four engagement triggers that I have identified (a) reward/recognise individuals for their achievements, (b) identify and separate bad apples, (c) remember routine discourages engagement and (d) share information with employees so they can make better decisions.

The article flows from a fundamental premise, namely, employees seek work to address their needs—psychological, safety and security, love and belonging, self-esteem and, finally, self-actualisation. Depending on where the employee is situated on this hierarchy of needs, specific engagement initiatives may be required. The authors explore what leads to real employee engagement and question the prevalent actions that organisations and managers take to enhance it. They ask about the need for any employee engagement actions when work can be motivating and challenging on its own. Work and workplace dynamics play a significant role in ensuring an employee remains motivated, enthusiastic and challenged to deliver to and beyond the expectations of her role. Careful crafting of interventions that connect employees to what they care about most, including fundamental job redesign, could result in the employee owning and seeing meaning and purpose in fulfilling work responsibilities.

Engagement is essentially about the connection employees feel with their work, colleagues and leaders. The Microsoft Work Trend Index Annual Report 2021 reveals that 60% of team members feel less connected post-COVID-19, highlighting a significant issue. Factors like remote work have exacerbated this disconnect, negatively impacting collaboration. When employees lack connection, organisational performance suffers. The BetterUp report (2020) emphasises the importance of belonging at work, linking it to employee engagement and effectiveness. Addressing this disconnect is crucial. Many organisations use engagement surveys, but action is more important than assessment. Effective engagement requires continuous efforts to foster connection and belonging. Strategies include focusing on leadership behaviours, mutual respect, community engagement, wise use of technology, promoting emotional intelligence, fostering inclusion, investing in development, aligning horizontally, developing mid-level managers and giving a voice to the next generation. Understanding and prioritising employee connections is essential for building sustainable, thriving organisations.

History tells us that some problems are admired so deeply that we forget to solve them. But then, there are also times when we move to solve them too quickly, without having admired them enough.

So, what about employee engagement?

For several decades motivational theorists admired the problem with great fascination and offered the world a whole host of theories that we continue to fall back on. Then in the last few decades, consulting companies have offered the world their own models of motivation under the umbrella of engagement.

Given that the context has changed so enormously and so much water has flown under the bridge, I believe it is time to step back and admire the problem once again. That is the purpose of my article.

In the context of increasing mental health challenges in the workplace—marked by feelings of depression, anxiety and loneliness—this article explores the evolution of the employee value proposition (EVP) through the lens of fostering hope. The article highlights that positive employee sentiment, driven by a well-structured EVP, correlates with higher productivity, strategic re-imagination, enhanced customer commitment and increased shareholder confidence. Building on historical frameworks, the authors propose a new wave of EVP focused on hope, supported by five key principles: aspiration, efficacy/optimism, inventiveness, learning and role modelling. These principles are shown to be effective at both personal and organisational levels, offering a blueprint for HR professionals and leaders to cultivate hope within the workplace. The proposed framework suggests that instilling hope can significantly improve employee attitudes and organisational outcomes, making it a crucial element of modern EVP strategies.

Employee engagement is a leading indicator of business performance. Improving engagement must therefore be a leadership priority to unleash employee potential. Gallup’s latest measure of global engagement shows that less than a third (32%) of India’s workforce is engaged, and only 14% of employees are ‘thriving’, based on Gallup’s Life Evaluation Index. Challenges that impede the effectiveness of engagement initiatives include conflating ‘agree’ and ‘strongly agree’ responses to artificially boost positive engagement survey results, implementing tactical interventions based on data that are either erroneous or of poor quality, over-reliance on pulse surveys with little or no follow-up, and a perception that engagement programmes are ‘an HR thing’ rather than the responsibility of leaders. Employees need a workplace environment in which they feel valued and can contribute to the organisation’s mission or purpose, and a manager who coaches and inspires them.