Models of Employee Engagement

Keeping your employees engaged should be something that you as an employer are really keen to influence. It is proven that employees that are engaged at work feel committed to their role and the company they work for and as a result are more productive in the workplace. These theory models illustrate how engagement in the workplace can influence how employees perceive work and influence their behaviours as a result of this.

Service Profit Chain

This first model developed in the 1990s by Harvard researchers, shows how every level of your business is influenced by engaged employees. For engagement strategies to work they must come from the senior leadership first. This example shows that high quality leadership influences employee satisfaction which in turn leads to increased productivity for your business bringing higher sales, revenue growth and profitability. 

A Modern Model of Engagement

Thomas International have adopted a model of engagement which is made up of what is important to people in the workplace. According to this model these are; the relationships they have, the role they do and the reward they get. This model suggests that there are 7 drivers for engagement, and in a workplace the employer and employee must aim for a balance between these drivers. Voice, Togetherness, Challenge, Freedom, Clarity, Recognition and Growth. These act as guidelines for both employer and employee to show what contributes to employee engagement and is a good structure to show measurables of engagement in the workplace. Different companies tend to adopt drivers for their business similar to these, sometimes they may differ depending on the business objectives or types of businesses. To effectively measure and sustain employee engagement having set drivers should be something that you look to implement, so they are clear within your engagement strategy.

The Virtuous Circle Model 

The Virtuous Circle Model looks at workplace drivers of engagement and is focused on the relationship between engagement and wellbeing. Leadership and strategic narrative, engaging managers, employee voice and organisational integrity are all linked to engagement at work. This looks at the relationship between wellbeing and engagement and what happens when employees aren’t engaged. Feelings of stress and lack of purpose are shown in the downward spiral of disengagement and this model suggests that employees will be happy at work if a balance between the employees wellbeing and engagement is found. Good leadership and management have been shown to be vital for creating wellbeing at work and similarly to this working environments, support, relationships and voice at work. In this model both employees and leaders are jointly responsible to maintain these drivers. By creating a clear structure around job roles and supporting your employees in their roles, they will feel more secure in the work place. These are just some examples of the actions you can take from this model. 

Model for Sustainable Wellbeing and Engagement

The previous model looked at well-being in relation to engagement and similarly, this model shows how engagement and well-being in balance is great for employee productivity and satisfaction at work. This model demonstrates how performance can be sustained through high engagement and well-being but not if one is of higher importance than the other. The interaction between employee engagement and wellbeing is demonstrated in the four quadrants of the model. According to this model achieving a state of high wellbeing and high engagement is the most productive, sustainable state for workers. For example, highly engaged employees with low emphasis on wellbeing are way more likely to be more productive at work but burn out quickly. Employees with a high well-being focus are less likely to be motivated at work and therefore less likely to want to push for more work or really care where the business is headed.

Whatever approach you take to engage your employees there must be equal buy in from both senior leadership and employees down the chain. Without buy in from the senior leadership it will be hard to implement a strategy that will work. In order to increase both productivity and employee satisfaction at work it is necessary to find the right balance.