Bosses, not money, make staff stick to company

MUMBAI: Even as companies try to get it right on all counts, an employee engagement study by Dale Carnegie reveals a somewhat grim picture in Indian companies.

According to the report shared exclusively with TOI, a large section (44%) of the workforce is only partially engaged, while a good 10% is entirely disengaged, leaving a huge scope for improvement on this front. A full 13% of Indian respondents rated their immediate supervisor poorly and a further 45% were neutral towards this key influencer of engagement.

The report, which cuts across industries covering 1,400 respondents, said the attitude and actions of the immediate manager can enhance employee engagement through a personal relationship or can create an atmosphere where an employee becomes disengaged.

"What managers do, how they behave, what they say and, more importantly, how they say it affects employees' attitudes about their jobs and the organization as a whole. Employees who are unhappy and dissatisfied with their immediate supervisors are less likely to identify with the organization's vision and more likely to be absent or to resign," says Pallavi Jha, CMD, Walchand PeopleFirst, which brought Dale Carnegie Training school to India as a franchisee.

The report shows only 31% of employees in India were very satisfied with their senior management while more than half (51%) were ambivalent and 16% were outright dissatisfied. While the satisfaction levels were higher than APAC (17%) and global (25%), it still highlighted the low level of confidence that employees have in their senior management in India and this emerged as one of the biggest gaps that companies need to address.

On the other hand, the report found that income did not exhibit a strong relation to engagement levels. A strong 71% of those earning more than Rs 10 million (Rs 1 crore) and above annually were seen to be highly engaged at work. Those in the lower salary brackets of Rs 1,51,000-10,00,000 per annum showed lower engagement than the national average in India, with 15% of those earning between Rs 1,50,000-3,00,000 per annum and 13% of those in the Rs 5,00,000-10,00,000 per annum group being highly disengaged.

"Contrary to general belief, it isn't just money, status or power that keeps an employee committed. An organization needs to articulate and demonstrate its vision and ensure that all its key stakeholders are aligned towards this vision. From an employee view point, this would translate into each employee relating to the organizational purpose and understanding the role they play in achieving this purpose," says Anuranjita Kumar, country HR officer, Citi India.

At Citi, each manager is expected to possess certain competencies called the Citi leadership standards, which include bringing diverse perspectives together to constructively address issues, confront prejudice or biasness, and act with a common mindset, sharing resources across teams.

Ajay Bhatt, regional HR director, Abbott India, says employee engagement through personal relationships can be improved when an incoming employee is given a clear 'line of sight' for her/his career by the immediate supervisor. "In India, if we have an employee who needs a bit of a brush-up, we have a robust 90-day improvement programme that identifies, engages and re-energizes our talent. It's encouraging to see that nearly 60% of our employees who need to be brought up to speed jump back on the performance track. We believe that everyone, no matter which bracket of performance they belong to, be given a fair opportunity to improve," says Bhatt.

The report, however, says that Indian employees exhibited higher engagement levels (46% fully engaged) than their counterparts from the APAC (35%) or the global average (34%). Given this fact, Bhatt does not believe there is a low level of confidence among employees with respect to their senior management in India.

Executives (CEOs, COOs and executive directors) lead with a high 65% being highly engaged, according to the survey. This level decreased generally as one goes down the organization hierarchy, perhaps pointing towards the fact that engagement is higher among those with authority and in decision-making roles.