Companies are conscious that they rely heavily on their employees for their success or failure. That might be why ‘employee engagement’ has become an HR watchword.
In today’s culture, a successful company sees its employees as real people with real lives - and realises that it needs to take care of them. Engaged employees feel valued and appreciated by their organisation, and respond by investing more of themselves into their work. This is excellent for the company!
But how do you develop an employee engagement strategy for your company? There are a few ‘tried and tested’ employee engagement models out there. These are frameworks that you can take and implement straight away. They aim to ensure that your employees feel satisfied, cared for, valued, respected and trusted in their workplace, setting the tone for your company culture and leadership style.
Here is an overview of three of the most popular ones.
Zinger Model of Employee Engagement
David Zinger, a psychologist and educator who consults with companies on leadership and work engagement, developed the Zinger Model. The model focuses on harnessing employees’ spiritual, emotional and mental energy levels to enhance their professional relationships and productivity.
The model’s central strategy and organisation focus on 14 elements. Ten of these fit into a pyramid shape, with the lower blocks forming the foundation for building the upper blocks.
The other four form the pillars of the model framed within the acronym, CARE:
Connection
Authentic relationships
Recognition of employees’ efforts
Engage (as an ongoing process)
Zinger’s Employee Engagement Pyramid
The Zinger pyramid contains the building blocks of the model and the order in which they are placed.
Bottom Row: here are the four essential foundations of Strengths, Meaning, Wellbeing and Energy
Second Row: built onto those four foundations are Relationships, Recognition and ‘Master Moments’
Third Row: holds the benefits of Performance and Progress
Top of the Pyramid: here we see the company’s positive Results
Read more about the Zinger Model of Employee Engagement here.
Deloitte Employee Engagement Model
The Deloitte model follows research and discussions with their clients, and is based around the ‘simply irresistible organisation’. It includes 5 major elements and 20 underlying strategies that work in tandem to make a company ‘irresistible’.
Deloitte’s model comprises the following:
Meaningful work
Autonomy
Small, empowered teams
Select to fit
Time for slack
Hands-on management
Clear transparent goals
Coaching
Invest in management development
Modern performance management
Positive work environment
Flexible work environment
Humanistic workplace
Culture of recognition
Inclusive and diverse work environment
Growth opportunities
On-the-job training and support
Facilitated talent mobility
Self-directed dynamic learning
High-impact learning culture
Trust in leadership
Mission and purpose
Continuous investment in people
Transparency and honesty
Inspiration
Read more about Deloitte’s Employee Engagement Model here.
AON Hewitt's Model of Employee Engagement
The slogan for the AON Hewitt employee engagement model is Say, Stay and Strive. Essentially, engaged employees say positive things about their company, feel loyal, and want to stay there and strive to perform well.
This model focuses on the business outcomes achieved through good employee engagement. It recognises that engaged employees have a direct impact on customer satisfaction and company profits, demonstrated across four key areas:
Customer: customer satisfaction and retention, company NPS, etc
Financial: revenue growth, margins, shareholder return, etc
Operational: productivity and safety
Talent: employee retention, lower absenteeism, wellness, etc.
To achieve these outcomes, the model revolves around six core elements, which are as follows:
The Basics – these include things like benefits, job security, safety, work environment and work-life balance
Leadership – not just Senior Leadership, but at all levels of the organisation
Company Practices – incorporating communication, diversity and inclusion, customer focus, infrastructure and talent and staffing
Performance – which also involves career opportunities, learning and development, performance and people management and rewards and recognition
The Work – pulling in things like collaboration, empowerment, autonomy and specific tasks
The Brand – including its reputation, EVP and corporate responsibility
You can find out more about the AON Hewitt Employee Engagement Model here.FREENOW’s Mobility Budget is a travel solution for businesses that promote work-life balance. It allows your employees to choose from many mobility options at any time. Find out more about the Mobility Budget to help increase employee engagement.