Sweta Mishra

Blog Author

For years, employee engagement as a concept has had its fair share of experimentation and evolution and now it has taken a significant position in the HR domain over a period of time. Factors such as increased global competition, linkage between attitude, behaviour, business performance (supported by a huge amount of research) and shift from a manufacturing-led economy to a service-led one have cumulatively led to this transition. Considering the demands of the current work force, the disruptive trends that are shaping and reshaping the professional landscape, it is imperative that organisational heads and HR professionals stop and review their current stand on employee engagement to ensure effectiveness and business success. In short there are three non- negotiable aspects which have to be considered for a robust employee engagement strategy: style, technology and experience. Learn Top MBA Courses from the World’s top Universities. Earn Masters, Executive PGP, or Advanced Certificate Programs to fast-track your career. Realign the leadership style It is important to realign leadership principles and style to cater to the emerging needs of today’s workforce. Being a people leader today is not just a matter of intelligence and intellect but also involves emotional quotient. Today’s workspace has multiple generations working together, which brings a variety of working styles and motivators to the workplace.  Does your Workplace Value your Opinion? A manager’s role has seen a significant transition from just being an administrator assessing and correcting their team’s performance to someone who walks the road with the team supporting and engaging with them on a daily basis. It is important that every manager ensures a certain amount of hygiene around workplace happiness. This reflects strongly in leadership training, performance management processes as well as organisational communication. Digital employee engagement Today, we have a completely new breed of tools and applications for pulse checks, continuous feedback and frequent check-ins. The simple objective targeted through these tools is constant connect—enabling employees to engage , celebrate success, share feedback that shapes decisions and most significantly, generating a feeling of being heard. What is exciting to note is the way in which employee engagement, as a domain, brings together technology as well as some core human elements like conversations and connect. What is the Biggest Form of Job Satisfaction? In an era of technological revolutions, engagement principles are consistently focused on establishing a humane, connected and flexible environment to accommodate the needs of a multigenerational workforce. Interestingly enough, technology has been blamed in the past for taking away from human connection. The contemporary employee engagement scenario is, therefore, a unique space that leverages virtual connect to cater to the technology appetite of employees, yet providing a platform that enables continuous interaction. Increased focus on employee’s experience The third shift is simply how engagement is looked at. While, for years, it was restricted to fun events and activities at work, in the last few years it has evolved into something much broader in scope. It is now an aspect that cuts across various HR and business domains and impacts every aspect of life at work, starting from onboarding to performance management to exits. Contemporary engagement strategies include experience-based rewards, authentic career conversations, exploratory exit connects, and end-to-end plans that touch every crucial point of the employee lifecycle. It seems as if engagement is a constant objective of the implementation of all people-related processes. And if there is one element that is emphasised throughout, it is the human element. Are You Dreaming the Right Dream? Build Your Career for Tomorrow Review the essence and objective of the preceding paragraphs and you would see that it points towards only one thing—managing the affective state that people experience at work. To connect, listen, implement feedback, and enhance employee experience in a continuous journey to promote wellbeing—this outlines the engagement vision for any HR leader. One of the biggest outcomes of this paradigm shift in the perspective on employee engagement is, how organisations view their own performance and success. It is no longer restricted to the balance sheet; it is much more holistic than that and covers contribution to society, brand value, and other long-term non-financial outcomes. It seems as if HR as a function has brought its attention back to focus on a foundational principle—the way a workforce feels about its workplace will definitely affect the organisation’s balance sheet. And look at the impact of this shift. Engagement is no longer just a workplace approach; it is an ever-evolving, living element, the reach of which is not restricted to infrastructure, environment, and activities, but one that extends to the psyche of employees. It is easy to design an engagement strategy, but much harder implement it in a sustainable and impactful way. An easy prediction can be made through— organisations that can incorporate this evolving engagement psyche into their daily way of functioning will certainly be future ready. Comment below to let us know if your company has managed to master employee engagement and how; or tell us your ideas on the subject! If you want to learn more about marketing and entrepreneurship, Liverpool Business School & upGrad offers Master of Business Administration (MBA) Liverpool Business School which helps you to transform your career. The program provides 1-on-1 mentorship from industry leaders, 1-week immersion program at University campus, dual credentials (MBA from LBS & PGPM from IMT), network with peers at offline basecamps and more.

Skill development is no longer a matter of choice. It is imperative to adapt, survive and succeed. We work in an era where dealing with ambiguity and disruptive trends are pivotal to success. In parallel to maintaining an academic awareness of your field, you have to review the career eco-system. Adapting skills and attitude is now inevitable to succeed in the years to come. We work in an era where dealing with ambiguity and disruptive trends are pivotal to success. In parallel to maintaining an academic awareness of your field, you have to constantly review the career ecosystem. Adapting skills and attitudes is now inevitable to success, and will prove all the more critical in the years to come. Let’s start with a basic question – what is skill development? In a fundamental way, skill development for a learner could mean four things: The skills or knowledge you acquire as a part of your academic qualification. Any other skill you invest in, to stay future-ready. Any skill you pursue as a passion. Natural behavioral strengths. While discussing skill development, it would make sense to start with academic qualifications. Then, we can examine some more aspects which impart skills in the contemporary business environment. Academic qualification – an initial impetus A degree from a reputed institution is definitely an advantage and acts as an initial impetus. Right from interviews with reputed companies on campus, to the value it carries whenever you introduce yourself, it presents various opportunities to project you as a potential candidate. But at the same time, as a student, it is extremely crucial to be “context-wise” these days. ‘Context-wise’ means being aware of the challenges our profession will pose in the future and having the foresight to be ready for it. Skills – a futuristic approach Let’s take the example of an MBA student aspiring to specialize in marketing. To be “context-wise,” he needs to have answers to the following questions: 1. How is marketing as a skill going to pan out in the next decade? 2. What sub-skills are relevant besides the degree? 3. How are organizations going to look at a marketing role and how different is that from the reality of what the degree is offering? 4. What demands will organizations have from a marketing person, in the future? The answers to these questions are stepping stones to gathering context on one’s core skill. This helps in getting started on being environment-ready. Skill Deprivation: Education Alone Won’t Guarantee A Job The inevitable impact of technology No matter what skills you have, you can’t ignore the potential impact of technology on your career. Technology is impacting every profession, including support functions such as HR, finance, administration, etc, which are all hugely affected. Not to mention the impact on client-facing roles and the overwhelming transformation within tech firms. If a couple of certification courses will help you be more relevant in the industry, then those are the best skill investments today. Someone investing early in ‘social media marketing skills’ to stay future-ready is a good example of that. Investing in behavioral readiness/development As one starts climbing the career ladder, complexity increases. You have to manage the dynamics, build relationships, manage teams. All these things are going to be taxing for someone who is not behaviorally ready. If you think that you can pick up skills as you gain experience and go with the flow for large parts of your career, it would be an extremely risky way of looking at your career development. You can also work towards achieving behavioral excellence in your field, just as you can invest in technical expertise. You just have to be very clear about the behavioral demands of the role that you soon intend to be in and work progressively towards mastering those. Let’s call out a few predominant trends and data points relevant to skill development in the current scenario: A growing economy with an array of opportunities in the professional world has increased the overall demand for skilled manpower. The India Skills Report states that India needs 700 million skilled workers by 2022 to meet the demands of a growing economy. Multiple new trends are disrupting the face of most industries as we know them, thereby increasing the need for an ever agile workforce. The choices for learners today are absolutely clear: take a pragmatic look at your future area of work, along with your strengths and weaknesses, and ask yourself, what “context-related edge” can you give yourself? The answers should be parallel and updated knowledge of upcoming technologies. It will help you to stay prepared for a certain behavioral or attitudinal adaptation. It will also help you navigate professional complexities in the future. The most pressing need for any student aspiring to be a professional, or learner who is already a working professional, is to be constantly skill-ready in a technology-enabled and disruptive world. Don’t forget to share your thoughts on this subject below! What to do next? All the free upGrad courses under the Lifelong Learning initiative have been crafted in collaboration with leading industry experts. As always, like all upGrad offerings, these courses will be taught by best-in-class instructors. So, how about upskilling with upGrad’s Lifelong Learning initiative? Say YES and register now!