Metrics for Employee Engagement

It intrigues me to look at people working in the employeeengagement roles only talk about Attrition reports and further dissect it intoreasons for attrition. For me, a thoughtof quitting an organization sparks in the minds of an employee long before hesubmits his paper. If someone says thatthey can stop attrition, it’s a myth. We only can control it by increasing thelongevity of the tenure of an employee with the organization.

How do we control it? Here are some metrics which helps us understand to what extent we cancontrol it

1. Are we recognizing our employees? What are thevarious channels to formally and informally recognize employees? There’s a problem of losing the charm forformal recognition by overdoing this. Weneed to be cautious to what extent we can recognize and are we recognizing forright reasons. It can’t be a give-away.

2. Do the HR personnel meet employees on a regularbasis formally? Do they have channels to meet them informally? Are we acting on the concerns, suggestions,grievances raised by employees? It makes no sense if we don’t act and just meetour employees for the sake of meeting.

3. Does the HR team knows policies and procedures thoroughlyand is there a calibration exercise carried for them to ensure that everyone isat par. Are they articulate incommunicating the policy matters?

4. Employees will be interested in learning newthings which will accelerate his growth. Do we do a thorough job by using atleast oneof the models suggested by behavioral scientists? One of the model which I think can be bestused is the four levels of Kirkpatrick's evaluation model which essentially measure:

a. reaction of student - what they thought and feltabout the training

b. learning - the resulting increase in knowledgeor capability

c. behavior - extent of behavior and capabilityimprovement and implementation/application

d. results - the effects on the business orenvironment resulting from the trainee's performance

5. We also need to evaluate the culture of theorganization and ascertain the factors that boast performance

a. Living up to performance goals that are anchoredexternally create performance anxiety because they originate from

i. a strong desire to please

ii. Avoidance of confrontation

iii. Low confidence in prediction

iv. An over confidence in own abilities

b. Quest for Peak performance is anchored fromwithin driven by a need to excel and experience fulfillment from attainment ofexcellence or greatness and is accomplished through

i. Process Mastery

ii. Sound Preparation

iii. Courageous Commitment

Point 5 should be the driving culture in anorganization and caution should be taken at hiring stage and nurture the sameinside.