By IANS,
Washington : Model employees committed to their organisation are willing to go the extra mile to see it thrive but can give up if they sense that they’re being asked to do more and more, and with fewer resources, while comparatively little is being asked of their less-engaged colleagues,” a new study says.
Wayne Hochwarter, a professor of business administration at the Florida State University College of Business, surveyed 1,000 people, in both blue-and white-collar occupations, to gain a clearer picture of the concept of employee engagement, its benefits for the employer, and its possible dangers when not managed well.
“Engaged employees work harder, are more creative and more committed, and they represent an important predictor of company productivity,” he said, according to a Florida statement.
“Unquestionably, organisations with engaged workers have weathered recessionary pressures more successfully,” Hochwarter added.
Hochwarter found that engaged employees reported: A 50 percent higher rate of job satisfaction; a 45 percent higher rate of job performance; a 40 percent higher rate of life satisfaction; a 33 percent lower rate of turnover intention; and a 30 percent higher rate of commitment to their employer.
“Once-engaged employees who are now disengaged can cause more harm to a company than those who were never engaged,” Hochwarter warns.
The tricky part comes in keeping those employees engaged. Hochwarter’s findings clearly illustrate that engaged workers, without needed company support and other resources, can begin to exhibit a number of undesirable attitudes and behaviours.
Without those additional resources, engaged employees began to display the following negative attributes:
A decline in helping behavior (50 percent lower);
increased anger at supervisors (35 percent higher); a view that expectations are beyond one’s capabilities (33 percent higher); additional stress (30 percent higher); and lower overall productivity (25 percent lower).
Hochwarter cited the example of one study participant who falls into that category. The 32-year-old financial consultant wrote: “I really did my best, worked long hours, contributed something every day…but the more I did, the more resources they took from me and gave to other employees.”