PMC Employee Engagement Investigation
HRM FPX 5122 Assessment 1 Employee engagement is a significant driver of business performance. Gallup found that it costs American companies more than $500 billion in terms of disengaged workers, yet higher engagement boosts profitability and productivity (Beheshti, 2019). This indicates the influence of engaged employees on enhanced firm performance. As the previous General Electric CEO Jack Welch explained, all companies—big and small—must motivate their workers and instill faith in the mission of the company if they want to survive in the long run (Vance, 2006). Periodic investigations, therefore, must be made to gauge the levels of worker motivation. This report provides an examination of worker motivation at Power Manufacturing Company (PMC).
PMC, established in 1960, specializes in the production of lawnmowers, trimmers, and other power equipment. PMC has expanded to four Ohio, Minnesota, Kentucky, and Utah locations with two more distribution centers in Indiana and Kansas. In the past several years, a significant spike in employee turnover at PMC’s Lima and Bowling Green facilities has occurred, up from 3-4% to 15% and 18%, respectively. Though compensation surveys show competitive pay at the Lima plant, management is perplexed by the rate of turnover, and hence the request for an employee engagement study.
Employee Engagement
Employee engagement is critical to the success of any organization, and it has drawn the attention of researchers over the years. However, there is no uniform definition of employee engagement. Most of these definitions are connected to job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and extra-role behavior (Truss, Alfes, Delbridge, Shantz, & Soane, 2013). For the purposes of this report, Kenexa’s definition is adopted, which states that employee engagement is the level of motivation employees have toward contributing to organizational success, even going beyond job descriptions (Vance, 2006). The following sections discuss factors influencing employee engagement and how PMC can measure them.
Factors that Drive Employee Engagement
Compensation and Benefits
Compensation includes monetary elements like pay and benefits, and non-monetary elements like daycare centers and employee assistance programs. In a 2018 TinyPulse survey, 43% of workers would leave their present job for a 10% increase elsewhere (TinyPulse, 2018). Low compensation leads to disengagement, which in turn impacts productivity and employee retention.
• Methods: Stay/exit interviews and questionnaires like the Pay Satisfaction Questionnaire are common methods of assessing pay satisfaction (Heinz, 2019).
• Recommendation: Stay interviews ought to be utilized by PMC so that the management can talk directly with the workers and view some of the issues that lead to dissatisfaction with pay.
Work Environment and Conditions
Workplace environment has a significant effect on employee engagement. Safety, development opportunities, and meaningful work are all crucial parameters (Sharma, Chaudhary, & Singh, 2019). In the case of manufacturing companies like PMC, safeguarding employees with gear and ensuring their well-being are most crucial means of improving engagement.
• Methods: Employee satisfaction can be measured by surveying, interviewing, and monitoring social media (Heinz, 2019).
• Recommendation: PMC should monitor social media platforms accessed by employees because happy employees will post positive things, whereas unhappy employees will air their grievances online.
Supervisory Leadership
HRM FPX 5122 Assessment 1 Supervisory support is one of the main drivers of employee engagement. Employees become more dedicated when they sense appreciation by their company and supervisors (Sharma et al., 2019). Poor supervision normally results in low performance, whereas good supervisory leadership leads to more engagement.
• Methods: Needs satisfaction method and questionnaires are the most common to measure supervisory leadership (Heinz, 2019).
• Recommendation: PMC may also utilize the Gallup Organization’s 12-item scale to study leadership and management performance. Exit interviews of leaving staff can also be employed.
Plant Management
Closely linked to supervisory leadership, plant management contributes significantly to the impact on worker engagement. Poor management practices lead to higher turnover, with employees exiting firms with low cultures. Appreciation and feedback are significant in maintaining engagement (Beheshti, 2019).
• Methods: Needs satisfaction questionnaires, interviews, and observation are good techniques for assessing management performance (Heinz, 2019).
• Recommendation: Gallup’s 12-question assessment, alongside exit interviews, will allow PMC to identify management problems and improve engagement.
Peer Relationships
Work relationships are another significant factor in driving engagement. Those who develop good working relationships with their peers experience less stress and more engagement (Beheshti, 2019).
• Strategies: Surveys and monitoring can be used to measure peer relationships (Heinz, 2016).
• Recommendation: Observation is recommended for the identification of employees who can be disengaged due to poor peer relationships. Further surveys can also be used to find out more.
Job Training
Successful training for work is needed for new employees as well as current ones. New employees need orientation to get familiar with the organization, while regular development programs increase employee morale and efficiency. However, a majority of employees feel that their organizations lack proper training and development (TinyPulse, 2018).
• Methods: The most popular way of measuring the satisfaction of training is through surveys.
• Recommendation: PMC should conduct workplace surveys to assess training requirements and satisfaction as these provide quick and actionable information (Barton, 2016).
Meaningful Work
Another force that influences employee engagement is meaningful work. Employees get more engaged when they are satisfied with their job and find their contribution as meaningful to the company’s goals (Sharma et al., 2019).
• Methods: Satisfaction-engagement method, particularly the Gallup survey, is a common measure to assess job satisfaction and meaningful work (Fletcher & Robinson, 2014).
• Suggestion: PMC can use the satisfaction-engagement method to measure variables such as supervisory leadership, pay, and meaningful work.
References
Al Mamun, C. A., & Hassan, M. N. (2017). Factors influencing employee turnover and effective retention practices in business organization: A conceptual perspective. Problems and Perspectives in Management, 15(1), 63-71.
Beheshti, N. (2019, January 16). 10 timely statistics about the connection between employee engagement and wellness. Forbes.
Fletcher, L., & Robinson, D. (2013). Measuring and understanding engagement. In Employee engagement in theory and practice (pp. 287-304). Routledge.
Fuller, R. (2014, November 17). A primer on measuring employee engagement. Harvard Business Review.
Heinz, K. (2019, October 1). How to successfully measure employee engagement. Bulletin. https://builtin.com
HRM FPX 5122 Assessment 1 PMC Employee Engagement Investigation
Sharma, N., Chaudhary, N., & Singh, K. V. (2019). Management techniques for employee engagement in contemporary organizations. IGI Global.
TinyPulse. (2018). The 2019 employee engagement report.
Truss, C., Alfes, K., Delbridge, R., Shantz, A., & Soane, E. (2013). Employee engagement in theory and practice. Routledge.
Vance, J. R. (2006). Employee engagement and commitment. SHRM. https://www.shrm.org
