Abu Dhabi: Employee engagement is key to the success of an organisation, a conference in the capital heard on Tuesday.
Employee engagement is the emotional commitment the employee has to the organisation and its goals. The more engagement an employee has with his or her company, the more effort they put in.
However, nearly 65 per cent of the global workforce is disengaged with their organisations, a top official said, quoting a survey.
“When employees are highly engaged, they give excellent contribution to the organisation. The higher the engagement of employees, the greater the impact on the bottom line.” Dr Ali Al Khoury, Director-General of Emirates Identity Authority (Emirates ID), said at the opening session at the Government HR Summit. He was talking about the leadership challenges in the 21st century.
When employees are fully involved, they are enthusiastic about work. He said this approach made a difference in his organisation. “In 2009, the employee satisfaction at Emirates ID was 50 per cent, but it improved to 76 per cent in 2013,” Al Khoury said.
While private industry is driven solely by commercial needs, governments need to handle this issue from a national skill development perspective. This should lead to a contribution to the Human Capital Index and higher GDP (Gross Domestic Product), the official said.
He highlighted the fact that performance of a government organisation directly affects the whole society.
Mohammad Qasim Al Ali, Chief Executive Officer of National Bonds, said lack of saving habits among employees also contributes to their turnover.
When an employee has not saved enough money, he or she tends to accept a job with a slightly higher pay [even if he or she is happy with other factors in the organisation], he said.
If the organisation helps inculcate the saving habit among employees, the retention rate of employees will improve, Al Ali said.
National Bonds has introduced an offering called “Employees Savings Programme” in which employer and employee contribute to the saving schemes on behalf of the employee. The employer, in consultation with the employee, can set a lock-in period for the savings scheme [mostly three years], and the employee can withdraw the savings after completion of the period. If the employee leaves the company within that period, he or she will not get the saved money back, but it will go to the company. This can act as a retention tool for companies, Al Ali said.
