PEOPLE.IDEAS.PERFORMANCE

101 3) *RDOV DQG REMHFWLYHV – help employees understand the firm´s goals and the steps they need to take to reach them, know whether they have the resources and support to do their job effectively and how their job contributes to achieving these goals; 4) :RUN OLYH EDODQFH – employees become aware of the manageable levels of stress at work, a healthy balance between work and personal life, firm provides flexible work arrangements; 5) &RPPXQLFDWLRQ – managers should act in accordance with their words, treat employees fairly and with respect, clearly communicate goals and assignments, help remove obstacles to success and coach employees to improve performance. On the other hand, Gebauer (Gebauer, Lowman, 2008) outlined a quite different set of global drivers of employee engagement: Senior management´s sincere interest in employee well-being; The opportunity an employee has to improve skills and capabilities; The organization´s reputation for social responsibility; The opportunity an employee has to provide input into decision making in his department; The organization´s ability to quickly resolve customer concerns; An individual employee´s own readiness to se high personal standards; Excellent career advancement opportunities; An individual employee´s interest in challenging work assignments; An individual´s relationship with her supervisor; The organization´s encouragement of innovative thinking. Although the above mentioned Gebauer´s set of drivers may seem entirely contradictory to that of Tower Watson, a detailed analysis may reveal that in fact Gebauer in her work further elaborated on the previous set, which was examined in detail. Anyway, both these sets of drivers significantly influence both business performance and firm competitiveness. Another approach to key drivers of employee engagement presented Morrell in his book „ 90 Steps to Employee Engagement and Staff Motivation “ (Morell, 2011 ) where the author specifies the following list of engagement drivers: 1) 7DNH DQ LQWHUHVW LQ SHRSOH - people make things happen, therefore, human resources are the most important asset of every firm. The organizations with high level of employee engagement respect their employees and take them seriously in all aspects. Being genuinely interested in workers stimulates their interest in the business which leads to high performance, productivity and success. 2) %H YLVLEOH WR HPSOR\HHV – managers should not sit in their offices but instead move around the business and talk to employees about anything to develop relations with them and make them more involved and engaged. 3) &UHDWH DWPRVSKHUH RI IXQ LQ DWPRVSKHUH RI FRPSHWLWLRQ – managers should bring their working environment to life, encourage fun. Bringing about an atmosphere of competition and undertaking some fun activities that can help bring people together in social environment and foster positive engagement (e.g. competitions with prizes, annual fund day for staff and their families, fantasy football league etc.) 4) 'LUHFW UHODWLRQVKLS ZLWK ERVV – as a firm progress promising drive this is the key item of employee engagement. As opposed to both rather theoretical above mentioned lists of drivers, this last mentioned set by Morrell presents drives in the form of easy-to-use practical recommendations that can be used either for improving or establishing the proper environment activating employee engagement. As a matter of fact, all of these selected sets of drivers draw on the same fundamental principles of employee engagement.