Employee engagement is the approach of a business to keep its employees focused and motivated as well as help retain them. Motivated employees deliver better performance. Hence, employee engagement is a strategic process which can help improve long-term performance of the business.

As per a study carried out by Gallup, it was found that there were three levels of engagement among American employees:

• Engaged: 30% employees who were actively involved in the company’s activities and looking to move things forward.
• Disengaged: 52% employees who lacked enthusiasm and energy to participate in company activities.
• Actively disengaged: 18% employees who had stopped producing good quality work.

With a staggering 52% disengaged and 18% actively disengaged employees, the severity of the situation can be gauged. Though the figures may not necessarily be extrapolated to global statistics, employee engagement as a whole is a worldwide business issue. Companies must actively work towards creating a robust employee engagement plan to keep their employees motivated and performing well.

It has been observed through industry analysis that companies with great employee engagement plans see the following benefits:

• Loyal employees: Employees appreciate such companies and tend to stay around for longer periods. Thus, the attrition rates decrease.
• Enhanced productivity: Motivated employees also work harder and smarter. They tend to deliver much better results.
• Inspire innovation: When the employees are engaged, they are listened to and given importance. This inculcates the innovation culture. Employees tend to think out of the box.

How to improve employee engagement?

There are certain techniques that are used by most of the leading companies. These are:

• Define goals: The goals of the organization must be clearly defined and communicated to all employees. The goals of the employees must be aligned to the organizational goals.
• Communicate expectations: The performance parameters of the employees must be predetermined and clearly communicated to the employees. Employees must know what is expected of them.
• Provide tools: Employees must have access to everything they need to perform at their peak. They may require specific training, software or even equipment. The organization and the HR managers must make sure that the relevant needs are fulfilled.
• Listen to the employees: Having an open or flat office structure helps in promoting seamless conversation. Employees may have important concerns or they may have brilliant ideas. Listening to employees creates an innovation culture.
• Acknowledge and praise employees: This is an extremely important part of the employee engagement process. Employees must be acknowledged for a job well done. If this is done publicly in front of other employees, it not only provides a morale boost to the employee being praised, it also motivates others to perform similarly.

Great employees are an asset to the company and all HR managers must strive hard to retain their talent pool. By using the above mentioned employee engagement tactics, managers can improve employee retention and loyalty.

Generation Y or those in their teens or early twenties have started forming part of the workforce already. By 2025, it is estimated that Gen Y would be a majority of the workforce. Gen Y has different workplace requirements and aspirations as compared to their predecessors.

These youngsters are more social and have more needs to connect socially. They live and breathe the internet. The Internet as a way to connect socially has widespread acceptance among the youth globally. This is different from how their previous generations connected, personally. The youth sees the internet as not just a way to connect but also a way to network.

According to a CISCO report, Gen Y values their freedom, flexibility in work culture and choice of technology above most other things. 70% of Gen Y is connected with either their co-workers or superiors on their Facebook. Similarly, about 68% of Gen Y follows a co-worker or superior on Twitter. About 46% say that laptops are the most essential item of their day-to-day lives.

These numbers, which are specifically for the United States, mirror a global trend for internet and technology preference among Gen Y. This has or must have a great impact on organizations around the world and how they tackle their workforce. It is observed that about 54% organizations did not allow their workers to use social networking while at work and only 19% allowed its access, that too strictly for business purposes.

But, if the Gen Y employees are to be engaged and retained over a long term, companies and HR departments would have to make changes. Gen Y thinks differently and HR teams around the world need to embrace this fact.

Some of the ways in which HR departments have started making changes are:

• Having more assessment centers to assess the personal qualities and skills of employees
• Hiring professionals based on their competencies, instead of just their degrees
• Increasing use of technology in the workplace and instituting upgraded technology usage
• Profiling personalities and assessing whether they are the best fit for the job role or company culture. Often, someone who seems like a good fit for the job role may not be a great fit for the company culture.
• Simulations and real-life scenarios are a way to assess how an employee might react in a given situation and know whether the employee has the right temperament to solve the problem. This can help HR managers and leaders to assess whether the employee is suitable to handle those scenarios or whether he/she needs help.
• Enrolling in human resource management courses online can benefit HR professionals by helping them move up in their career.

Going forward, HR departments would need to come out with programs that are more suitable for Gen Y. For example, hiring through joint university programs, providing greater opportunities for career development and more opportunities for social networking and usage of technology.