Employee Engagement

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CIPD Managing & Leading People

Employee Engagement

Contents Page


Principles of Employee Engagement3

Employer & Employee benefits of employee engagement
which might accrue to the employees and to the employer5

Opposing arguments which might be put forward against
the implementation of employee engagement7

Specific employee engagement practices and techniques which, in my opinion, would be most beneficial to achieving success within Tayside Contracts9





Employment is one of the main factors in a working person’s life. People work so they can live comfortably, benefit from a better way of life and to provide for themselves and their family. However, within their employment people also look to enhance their career and want to provide their contribution to society to feel valued. People can often feel their job is a part of their identification. Working lives and personal lives have an impact on each other. When a person is unhappy or stressed in their personal life this will have a negative impact on their working life and vice versa. There is strong correlation between job satisfaction and life satisfaction (CIPD 2011). Successful employee engagement can ensure a productive, harmonious work-life continuum.

Principles of Employee Engagement

“employee engagement is when the business values the employee and the employee values the business” (Representative, KHI, as cited in MacLeod & Clarke, 2009)

The term Employee engagement is a relatively new term and can be described as ambiguous and a bit fluffy. Some are of the opinion the principle has been around for years. (CIPD, 2011) There is debate about the actual meaning of it. Some argue Employee Engagement is old management motivational style approaches repackaged with a fancy new name, a new management fad (Businessballs 2011). The MacLeod Report finds that, while there is evidence of this i.e. job satisfaction, empowerment, commitment etc, there are also crucial differences, such as 2 way engagement, and the employees’ choice about the level of their engagement to the employer and also the fact it can be measured to show how employees behave.


There seems to be no one agreed definition of Employee Engagement. In the MacLeod report they discovered over 50 different definitions.

The Hay Group Model summarises Employee engagement into 6 categories (Armstrong, 2006). (Appendix 1)

According to the CIPD, engagement ‘can be seen as a combination of commitment to the organisation and its values and a willingness to help out colleagues (organisational citizenship). It goes beyond job satisfaction and is not simply motivation. Engagement is something the employee has to offer: it cannot be ‘required’ as part of the employment contract’ (CIPD website 2011).

The principles simply however, are that Employee engagement takes employee motivation and job satisfaction to the next level. It can be described as commitment and loyalty to the employer in return for good values and security. Engagement ensures that employers gain the benefit of employees who are satisfied and productive at work, resulting in increased productivity and a competitive advantage against other organisations and competitors. The employer can achieve this by ensuring good effective two way communication within the workplace, effective...
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