HR Best Practices: Employee Engagement
When we make our checklist of the best organizations we aspire to work for, we often look at a big brand name, a challenging role or a fat salary as some of the parameters to judge the employer. With these fast changing times, employee engagement has become a powerful tool for employer branding. Organizations are focused on creating an engaged workforce not only to encourage higher employee productivity and retention but also attract better talent.
So let us look at some of the best engagement practices followed today at some of the Top organizations and how they are impacting business.

For a Cause
Organizations believe that if employees are given the opportunity to give back to the society through volunteering, they tend to appreciate their jobs much more.
The practice -
Volunteerism has been part of the GE fabric since 1928. GE Volunteers is a global network that includes employees, retirees, affinity groups, friends and family sponsored by GE businesses and corporate resources. With more than 220 volunteer councils supporting projects ranging from tutoring to cleanups and ‘paint and fix’, this initiative has helped volunteer efforts to focus on health, education, environment and community building. The objective of this GE initiative is to provide ample opportunities to employees to engage in volunteerism as individuals or as groups.

Inspiring trust and loyalty
It has become predominant for employers to engage factory workers and protect their interests to establish trust and engage them in tightly coordinated tasks.
The practice -
At the Tata Motors Nano Plant, to keep a workforce of 1000 operators motivated and engaged it has a program called Quality
Control Circles. In this program , a small group of employees in the same work area or doing some similar type of work voluntarily meet regularly for about an hour every week to identify , analyze, and resolve work related problems. The key to the success of this activity is teamwork , and good team work is fostered by mutual understanding and smooth communication, which helps to re-energize the workplace.
Expecting team members at the shop floor to perform mechanically according to predetermined methods is tantamount to treating them like machines and therefore Tata Motors’s QCC helps boost employee morale apart from giving them a sense of purpose in life and making them feel worthwhile.

Leveraging Social Media – A corporate phenomenon!
Managers vouch by internal social media sites as a great engagement tool as they improve important organizational processes and keep employees engaged with their co-workers.
The practice –
Sapient’s HR practice ‘Vox’ was launched about two years ago. It has proven to be a great sharing and collaborative platform. In these years , virtually all of Sapient’s employees have voluntarily registered on this site and though they do not mandate the use of this. It helps in improving efficiency as people need to feel connected with their company and internal social networking sites help companies flatten the hierarchy by providing a direct channel of communication between leaders and their teams , leading to increased communications and transparency.
Other organizations like Tata Motors, Deloitte, HUL, Infosys, Nokia , Capgemini to name a few have also leveraged social mediums like Facebook, LinkdIn and internal blogging sites to engage with the talent in their organization.

Amused and engaged
When a professional treats his workplace as his second home, some lighter, fun filled moments become as indispensible as the need to get trained and disciplined.
The practice –
Secure and Fun Environment (SAFE) at Infosys BPO emphasizes on a collegial work environment for the workforce insisting on safety , security , and respect.
Celebration of cultural events and festivals, along with involvement of families , special summer camps for children builds a sense of belongingness among the infoscions. The flagship annual event called ‘Sambhrama’ provides opportunities to employees to hone their talent. Cricket tournaments , sponsorship of employee participation in tournaments; apart from other activities like karaoke, fashion shows etc to boost employee morale.
Weekly fun activities and fun Fridays are also celebrated on the floor. Mazzedar Mondays is organized at Tata Chemicals to ensure there are no Monday morning blues while Google uses other innovative means like power nap rooms, bringing pets to work to boost their employees.

The Wealth of Heath
Encouraging a healthy lifestyle among the employees has become a great way to engage them.
The Practice-
Max Bupa heath Insurance encourages its internal and external stakeholders , be it employees , customers , agents or partners to discover their healthier side through an initiative called ‘Max Bupa Walk for Heath’. To mobilize the employees , internal campaigns around walk have been designed . Employees are encouraged to walk over to their colleague’s desk for brief discussion instead of using phone or email.
In Tata Motors ,’LiveStrong’ initiative is started where employees are served fruits and salads as healthy evening snacks . This inculcates healthy eating habits , and a healthy ecosystem of employees improves business productivity.