Employee Engagement in Omantel, Essay Sample

Introduction

In the recent year's employee engagement has become a hot topic. This report aims at evaluating the various definitions of the term employee engagement according to different authors. It will also analyze why the management of an organization should implement employee engagement in the management circles. The various benefits of employee's engagement practices will be evaluated in this report. The report will evaluate the various employee engagement strategies that are used by Omantel organization. The report will further provide various recommendations that will help the organization achieve changes to levels of employee engagement.

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Omantel is the leading integrated communication services provider. Oman Telecommunication Company is the main provider of internet services in Oman. The Oman government owns 51% shares of the company. Omantel Company is the main international hub whereby it has ten submarine cables landing in Oman currently. In 2015 Oman received an award for its human resources standard of quality and employee engagement in North Africa and the Middle East (Maguire, Ojiako and Said, 2010).

Literature Review

Employee engagement is mainly based on integrity, trust communication and commitment between the employees and the organization. Employee engagement is of great benefit to an organization since it contributes to the success of the business, productivity, individual and organizational performance. Employee engagement is about the management of the organization making the employees feel loyal and pride while working in a given organization and to be a great advocate for the organization to the clients (Macey, and Schneider, 2008).

Employee engagement refers to an approach implemented in the workplace or by an organization which result in the right conditions for all the members of the organization so as to enable them to give their best everyday, be motivated towards achieving organizational success, to be committed to the values and goals of the organization and also give the employees an enhances sense of their well-being (Crawford, LePine and Rich, 2010).

According to Kahn (1990), employee engagement is the harnessing of the members and employees of an organization to various roles. Kahn further states that in engagement people tend to express and employ themselves cognitively, emotionally and physically during the performance of their roles. Engagement is to be physically and psychologically present when occupying and performing an organizational role. The emotional aspect of engagement involves how the employees tend to feel about each of the three factors and whether their attitude towards the organization and leaders is negative or positive. The cognitive aspect of employee engagement refers to the beliefs of the employees concerning the organization, its working conditions, and leaders. On the other hand, the physical aspect of employee engagement refers to the physical energies that an individual uses to accomplish the roles assigned to them (Kompaso, and Sridevi, 2010).

According to Truss (2006) employee engagement is a passion for work and psychological state which consists of the three dimensions of engagement that is the emotional, physical and cognitive dimension.

According to the theory of employee engagement leaders of an organization should ensure that all the employees are engaged fully and switched on to their jobs. The way entrepreneurs care for their businesses is the same way that the employees should be committed. According to this theory being engaged means that an individual is fully interested and involved in the work so that it holds their attention and also act as an inspiration for one to do better (Welch, 2011) .

Models of Employee Engagement

There are different employee engagement models. One of the models of employee engagement is the IES model of engagement. This model tries to demonstrate the relationship that exists between being involved, engaged and valued. A feeling of being valued is achieved through fair treatment, equal opportunities, training, and development. A feeling of being involved is through family friendliness, communication, and co-operation (Saks, 2006).

The Schmidt model of employee engagement suggests that the bases of engagement lie in the policies to recruit and retain the right workforce regarding knowledge, experience, and specific competency.

Another employee engagement model is the Penna's model. This model provides engagement factors that illustrate the impact of each level on the engagement and talent retention in the organization. According to this model achievement of the meaning of work results in employee engagement. The model has a given hierarchy which composes of basic working conditions, good leadership, career growth and advancement, respect and trust.

Benefits of Employee Engagement

Employee engagement is of benefit to an organization since it results in better productivity. When the employees are engaged at work, they tend to feel a connection with the company. They tend to work harder since they believe that the work they are doing is important. Employee's engagement can help an organization to improve their marketing (Shuck, and Wollard, 2010). When employees are engaged, they enjoy to be part of a solution and participate in volunteer activities to help the organization pursue a noble cause. An organization that has good employee engagement strategies experience a low level of employee turnover. When the employees are engaged and feel appreciated in their place of work they are less likely to look for other employment opportunities in other organizations. Good employee engagement strategies result in retention of the employees. Employees who are engaged tend to feel more satisfied with their careers as compared to the employees who are not engaged (Gruman, and Saks, 2011). For example, In 2015 Omantel received an award. The main focus of the award that Omantel received was to honor Omantel for engaging their employees in employee engagement surveys, fostering corporate culture, flexibility, onboarding, team building, recognition, and transparency. The award was a reflection of the company's commitment towards implementing initiatives that create a conducive working environment and also promote employee loyalty and engagement.

Discussion

The various employee's engagement strategies that Omantel have implemented include training and development, job loyalty programmes and career -path advising. The Company management also ensures that the employees are involved in social and sports activities to meet the needs of the employees and also to enhance a healthy relationship amongst the employees. Omantel has adopted a strategy towards the augmentation of employee engagement that mainly focuses on improving communication and interaction among the staff.

Omantel has implemented various initiatives that help boost interaction, communication and also promote teamwork among the staff. One of the initiatives includes Omantel Talents which aim at identifying and nurturing talent among the employees and their families. Another initiative that the management of the company has enforced is the Omantel Olympics. This initiative aimed at developing sports activities among Omantel employees. Omantel also introduced a programme that focused on long-serving employees and staff who have skills that are exceptional based in different part of the Sultanate. Through this program, the staff is encouraged to identify the various ways in which they can develop their physical and mental skills.

The Omantel employee engagement team have also come up with an initiative to have an informal, casual of breaking the daily routine on Thursday which they have named it as Crazy Thursday. The activities involved in the initiative include dressing in one's culture, hot seat, showing team spirit, RedBull car selfie, and freedom of working anywhere.

Employee engagement strategies have helped the staff of Omantel Company to be able to work as a team. For example while developing the Omantel 3.0 the management created a team of 25 people who were from levels and units across the company to ensure that there was a mixed flavor of ideas. This resulted in the development of four new pillars that outlined Omantel's strategy.

The employee's engagement strategies have resulted in the increase of revenue in the company. The management of the company reported a 9% revenue growth in the first half of 2016.The strategies have also caused the number of staff complaints to reduce significantly. As a result of the employee engagement strategies, Omantel Company has been able to increase their training opportunities whereby they have more than 6,000 training opportunities and approximately 95%of their staff and employees are trained. The growth of the training opportunities has mainly been enhanced by listening to the employees and finding out their needs.

The employee engagement strategies have significantly change the image of Omantel Company. This has resulted in them having a wide range of employees to choose since it has become the employer of choice for most of the people living in Omani. It has also resulted in the Human Resource image of the organization evolving since the employees and staff view the management as being trustworthy and helpful and not only to be driven.

Conclusions

Employee engagement involves the measures the management of a company or organization undertakes to achieve the strategic goals of the company through the creation of favorable conditions for human resources to thrive and each employee, staff member and managers to be fully committed to their jobs to deliver their best. Employee engagement tends to have a positive impact towards a company or organization which includes increased revenue, increased productivity, low employee turnover and improving the marketing of the company's products or services. Various techniques have been implemented by Omantel Company to enhance their level of employee engagement which includes sporting activities, crazy Thursday, improving communication channels and training and development channels. The management of the company is working towards ensuring that their staff stays at Omantel because they love their jobs and understand how they can develop.

Recommendations

To further enhance the level of employee engagement the management of Omantel company should introduce initiatives that motivate the employees to continue doing better which include giving of rewards to the employees who perform well in their duties through a salary increase or by offering promotion opportunities. The management of the Omantel Company should ensure that the employees have safety equipment's to engage their health and also provide their employees with health insurance covers.

References

Baumruk, R., 2006. Why managers are crucial to increasing engagement: Identifying steps managers can take to engage their workforce. Strategic HR Review, 5(2), pp.24-27.

Crawford, E.R., LePine, J.A. and Rich, B.L., 2010. Linking job demands and resources to employee engagement and burnout: a theoretical extension and meta-analytic test. Journal of Applied Psychology, 95(5), p.834.

Gruman, J.A. and Saks, A.M., 2011. Performance management and employee engagement. Human Resource Management...