Mastering Employee engagement in a small business

 
Overview

Researchers have claimed that most organizations fail to engage their employees and gain the benefits of having an engaged workforce (Macey and Schneider, 2008; Shuck et al., 2016) Since small businesses are substantially depending on individual contributions from their employees more than larger companies, is more important to maintain and manage the employee engagement in small businesses. (Ojokuku, 2012).

According to Vance (2006) there are ten ways of measuring employee engagement which can be use in any business.

1. Pride in employer.
2. Satisfaction with employer.
3. Job satisfaction.
4. Opportunity to perform well at challenging work.
5. Recognition and positive feedback for one’s contributions.
6. Personal support from one’s supervisor.
7. Effort above and beyond the minimum
8. Understanding the link between one’s job and the organization’s mission.
9. Prospects for future growth with one’s employer.
10. Intention to stay with one’s employer.

Small businesses face many internal and external challenges. Globalization, Competitor challenges, Financial issues, technological advancements and natural disaster which limits long-term sustainability of the business are main external challenges that any small business face. Also internal challenges such as failed management and insufficient employee skills s (Davidsson & Honig, 2003)

Most of the time, low employee engagement in small business occurs due to the uncertainty of the businesses sometimes facing by these small businesses. This directly impact to the productivity of the business (Catteeuw, 2007).  

The Link Between Employer Practices and Employee Engagement

                                                                            Source : Vance (2006)

The relationship between employer and employee starts with job and task design, recruitment, selection, training, compensation, performance management and career development. In all these levels, the employee will interact with the organizational culture and engagement toward their work will increase. This performance and engagement will result in success of the small business (Vance,2006).

References

Catteeuw, F., Flynn, E., & Vonderhorst, J. (2007, Summer). Employee engagement: Boosting productivity in turbulent times. Organization Development Journal, 25(2), 151-157.

Davidsson, P., & Honig, B. (2003). The role of social and human capital among nascent entrepreneurs. Journal of Business Venturing, Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0883-9026(02)00097-6, Accessed on 07^th Sep 2022.

Dharmasiri, A.S. (2010), “Epitome of Engaging Employees”, Postgraduate Institute of Management: 22nd Anniversary Convention 2010, pp. 61-73.

Macey, W. and Schneider, B. (2008), “The meaning of employee engagement”, Industrial and Organizational Psychology, Vol. 1 No. 1, pp. 3-38.

Ojokuku, R. M. (2012, December). Human resources management demands and challenges in small and medium scale enterprises. International Journal of Economic Development Research and Investment, Available at : http://www.icidr.org/ijedri_vol3_no3_dec2012/Human%20Resources%20Management%20Demands%20and%20Challenges%20in%20Small%20and%20Medium%20Scale%20Enterprises.pdf

Accessed on 07^th Sep 2022.

Tywanda, T. (2017), Performance Management and Employee Engagement in Small Businesses: A Correlation Analysis. pp  67-120

Vance, R. J. (2006). Effective Practice Guidelines: Employee Engagement and Commitment

Alexandria, VA, SHRM Foundation. Available at : https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/trends-and-forecasting/special-reports-and-expert-views/documents/employee-engagement-commitment.pdf

Accessed on 07^th Sep 2022.