How Employers Undermine Their Own Employee Engagement Programme
Many growing number of businesses are focusing on employee engagement. Usually employee engagement is an after-thought for managers and business owners.
However, survey shows that 80% of all employees feel disengaged in some or the other way. However, these employee engagement programs lead to a situation where a person has authority over others.
Usually, managers treat the employee engagement programme like a special and time-bound activity. Sometimes managers ask a particular employee to participate in activities again and again. Managers discuss about employee engagement programs without first discussing with the ir employees.
Managers treat employees and handle them the way they want to, while employees who want to participate are often neglected for not performing up to expectations.
Managers ask an employee to speak at meetings or at sessions without any reason. Managers engage employees for selective work only. Managers invite only a few of the employees to participate in conferences or parties with other senior employees. Employees are engaged in individual topics rather than how than organisational ones.
Employees are not taught about their actions or outcomes that would affect their perspective of becoming engaged in programs. Managers allow employees to raise their opinions but behave in a biased manner. Managers promote or employ specific individuals in traditional managerial positions without knowing their skill set, experience and interest in a particular field only because of their educational backgrounds. Managers share their experience, instead of listening to the employee’s experiences.
Managers do not explain the purpose of an employee’s contribution to the workplace by stating that they are the voice of employees in certain conferences or work-place meetings. Employers / Managers control the results of Employee Engagement Programs. Usually a manager fails to have knowledge about his employees including their names or their position in case of certain presentations or meetings. Managers expect a group of employees to represent the organisation in certain presentations.
Employees are tokenized by the management without any activity, which undermines the employee engagement programs. Sometimes employees are treated as if engagement programs are a favour done to them. In meetings, employees are not given a fair representation. Under engagement programs employees are not taught about the economic necessity of the program.
Employers invite employees to express their ideas, experiences and opinions in front of them but actaully pay no heed to them.
Out of a particular department only few people are chosen as they are considered to be unique by managers in the midst of employee engagement. Managers ask employees to take time out of their schedules for employee engagement programs, but are not given recognition or importance for the time spent in the program. In certain engagement programs, employers do not allow employees to voice their opinions or ideas.
With the increase in employee engagement programs there is a rise in a number of problems including the above mentioned. These problems will tend to arise unless employers engage in discussing purpose and possibilities to create changes at work place, without which, it is not possible to make employee engagement program more effective and reflect positive impacts of the employees towards their managers.
