2.6.1 The Corporate Leadership Council Model (CLC)
The CLC model of employee engagement emphasises business outcomes (Board, 2004).
The Corporate Leadership Council Model of Engagement is depicted in Figure 2.1.
Figure 2.1: The Corporate Leadership Council’s Model of Engagement (Board, 2004)
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The Council Board (2004) denotes to engagement as the degree to which employees are committed to their organisations, how hard they will work and as an outcome of that commitment how long they will be willing to stay within the organisation. The CLC model looks at the rational commitment and emotional commitment from employees. The rational commitment is associated with the degree to which employees think their managers have their best interests at heart. Emotional commitment refers to how much employees value their work and how enjoyable their work is to them. The outcomes which result in improved performance and retention, are the discretionary effort which is employees going beyond the call of duty, and intent to stay, which is the employee’s reluctance to leave the organisation (Board, 2004).
2.6.2 The ISR model
The ISR model aims to increase engagement levels by assisting organizations to understand what drives engagement, through the use of their model.
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Figure 2.2: The Three components of ISR engagement approach (Perrin, 2007)
The ISR engagement model has 3 components to it and is presented in Figure 2.2. The cognitive or “Think” component refers to how employees perceive and rationalize the organisation’s vision and values. The emotional or “Feel” component refers to how employees identify with the organization, looks at whether or not employees feel a sense of belonging and pride for their organization. The behavioural or “Act” component captures the employee engagement outcomes that employers are looking for such as productivity, the willingness to go the extra mile for the organization whenever necessary. According to Perrin (2007) the 3 components can be used to measure engagement and a measure of all these 3 is critical in developing a set of option of improving engagement levels.
2.6.3 Drivers of employee engagement
Studies report that drivers of employee engagement influence the degree to which employees are engaged. Most of the studies cite internal communication, leadership, training and development as well as workplace well-being as major contributors to raising employee engagement levels. Other studies also cite rewards compensation, job satisfaction,
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organizational culture and teamwork as drivers of employee engagement to a certain extent.
One study that was reviewed, classified the levels of engagement according to the individual’s contribution towards the organization’s success. Employee engagement levels were classified as; engaged, almost engaged, honeymooners, crash burners and disengaged.
This study focuses on HR policies and practices, commitment to employee well-being, communication, leadership style, involvement in decision-making, training and development, performance appraisal, pay and benefits and general work environment as drivers of employee engagement.
2.6.4 Employee engagement and organizational productivity/outcomes
All the studies from the literature indicate a positive relationship between the two constructs.
One specific study that was reviewed referred to employee engagement as the primary source of competitive advantage, which can also be understood as organizational productivity. All studies also share the same sentiments among each other in saying that low engagement levels contribute to low productivity levels. One study in agreement to this finding particularly referred to employee engagement as a catalyst to productivity and profitability. The economic impact of low employee engagement is described in another study as one that can be staggering. Out of all the eight studies reviewed under this subsection, one specific study illustrated an overwhelming connection between employee engagement and organizational outcomes, such as productivity. The literature reviewed clearly points at employee engagement as being a lever gearing organizations towards success through productivity delivered by engaged employees.
Studies cite the importance of enhancing employee engagement in organizations as an investment that can elicit good returns. The reviewed literature identified strategies that can be implemented to boost employee engagement, such employee training and development, improved leadership such as “blue ocean”, amiable organizational policies, improving OCB such as altruism, sportsmanship and improving work design. An improved communication amongst employees with their managers would increase employee engagement, as indicate by the studies. Communication can take the form of one on one, listening and via emails or short messaging. One study highlighted the cultivation of a productive workplace culture by managers as a strategy that can also be used to enhance employee engagement because employees thrive to perform such environments.
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2.6.5 Barriers to employee engagement and job commitment
All the reviewed studies refer to the absence of the determinants of employee engagement as a hindrance to engagement, or largely as factors that result in poor engagement levels in the organization. Generally, studies indicated poor communication, a hostile work environment and poor leadership as major barriers to employee engagement. The absence of these factors was reported as major barriers because of the significant role they play in building a culture of transparency and trust between management and employees. Some studies pointed out the importance of organizations showing congruence between employees and their jobs. These studies revealed that if an employee is not aligned to his job, he will experience stress, burnout and dissatisfaction, and will find it difficult to engage and connect to his work. Studies also emphasised the absence of employee well-being as detrimental to employee engagement. It has been empirically shown that when employees feel that they are not cared for and are not given autonomy to re- design their jobs, they lose interest and enthusiasm in their jobs.