the benefits associated with employee engagement
In every organization, the benefits associated with employee engagement are eminent. The company’s goals and objectives are only fulfilled when employees are involved in creating ideas and making decisions on how different tasks are to be done. Due to their involvement, job satisfaction is achieved as a concept of employee engagement. Besides, an organization is only as successful as its employees are competent. Competency required a top recruiting plan, as well as actions to retain employees (Shoaib, 2018). Avoiding employee turnover is one of the strategies that organizations keep in mind. To fully instantiate this analogy, employees need to feel as though they belong. Job processes should not be viewed as mere work protocols or punishments but as part of the employee’s life.
In the past couple of years, employers have recognized the benefits in line with employee engagement, then developed various ways of incorporating them in business processes. A more detailed analysis indicates how employee engagement helps an organization avoid several pitfalls. After all, this is the only of ascertaining that the organization is on the right track for achieving personal goals. For organizations, endorsing an amicable action plan for employee engagement is considered crucial (Jeung, 2020). The underpinning, in this case, thinks a well-defined process tallied along with the concepts of engagement.
In most cases, the concepts act as the guiding principle for retaining employees and solving different issues that arise within the company. It is for this reason that Starbucks is considered a company of concern in this analysis. The full coverage of the company is characterized by a large consumer and employee base. The employer and the employee need to be in line with the business model being used in a particular place for consensus.
Starbucks’ employee engagement
Starbucks has a deep regard for brand and quality. All these aspects work together to form a construct where employees thrive in their work, and customers develop a sense of loyalty. Running business processes without considering employees is the first step of management disconnectedness. For Starbucks, doing this is very dangerous for an already built brand. The challenge herein is to maintain the quality of service delivery by employee engagement (Shoaib, 2018). A deeper understanding of how Starbucks runs its business processes shows its significant dependence on brand ambassadors who promote and support the growth of the company brand. It also relates to how employees develop action plans to connect well with customers. Though confusing, this interdependence is necessary for ensuring that Starbucks ingenuity is not streamlined to one product, but rather to how services are offered.
Due to the nature of the Starbucks business model, most of their employees are also customers of different prospects. As a result, it dictates how caution should be made right from the employee recruiting process to retaining procedures. For instance, in the case of an interview conducted in the company, both parties have an equal ground in making decisions (Jeung, 2020). Besides, Starbucks is built based on employee reliance. It means that different processes of the company are dependent on how well the employee performs. Decision making is based on action plans and ideas generated by employees in running the company in their specific locations.
Overview of the employee engagement plan
The choice for an employee engagement plan to be addressed at Starbucks is based on the business model utilized in the company (Truss et al., 2017). In this context, training and development is seemingly a good choice in terms of the employee engagement plan. For excellent service delivery, a company must invest in getting competent employees. Also, it is not enough to get qualified employees. The company has to develop strategies that help the employees build and develop their skills on the grounds of how the company operates. Being one of the main functions of HR, training, and development help shape how skillful employees are in handling business processes (“Training and Development: Training Methods, Benefits of Training”, 2018). In essence, training is defined as a process instantiated by a given company to give technical knowledge to employees on matters relating to their jobs. For instance, training teaches employees on various skills and values needed by the company. Development, on the other hand, refers to the growth process of people into different managerial positions. It incorporates human relations and adaptability to conditions affecting the success or failure of the organization.
As mentioned herein, employees need to feel as though they belong in the organization. Training and developing employees foster awareness of the business. It involves an in-depth knowledge of how various processes are carried out in the organization. When employees gather this knowledge, they are confident enough to run the company (Shoaib, 2018). Doing this increases their morale, especially when dealing with customers. Either way, on the basis that employees are continually learning new skills, they can generate ideas on how best to perform to improve the current prospects.
Training and development is consequently, a significant entity of employee engagement. Through this, employees start to feel valued since they undergo free training, which is useful in developing their career competency (“Training and Development: Training Methods, Benefits of Training”, 2018). After all, when employees feel valued and involved, they will have few chances to leave the organization. For Starbucks, preventing employee turnover is one of the primarily prioritized aspects of the organization. Accomplishing personal growth within the organization changes the employees’ mentality and opinions on the management and its ideas (Truss et al., 2017). Rapport develops between the employers and the employees, as well as the employees and the customers. Training and development help employees feel like employers are interested in their personal growth, rather than just making profits.
In this context, managers at Starbucks involve employees in decision-making processes during debriefing meetings. Through these meetings, the opinions of employees are considered. The company also uses these debriefings to analyze the problem facing employees (Truss et al., 2017). As a result, it becomes easier to develop an efficient training and development plan. All these action plans are about the goals and objectives already set by the company (“Training and Development: Training Methods, Benefits of Training”, 2018). Besides, employee commitment to the company increases through this employee engagement plan. After all, progress in a company is highly valued to the extent that actions and strategies are devised in consideration of company progress.
Different training and development initiatives can be utilized in including employee engagement. The procedure follows a redefined, step-by-step action plan. First, employees need to be aware of things happening in the organization. It includes preparing the employee for the training by issuing out handouts. The content should consist of all the strengths and weaknesses of the organization (Jeung, 2020). Analysis should be conducted to find out the competence level of every employee in terms of skills. To fully make employees understand, they should be made aware of the current progress position of the company. After this, the employee engagement action planning mechanisms should be instantiated through employee training meetings. The purpose of this is to address the different weaknesses and propel the strengths that employees display. Action plans should be regarded in the context of groupings and the company’s work cycle (Jeung, 2020). Presentations are done at the training meetings, and the debriefing helps in gauging the company’s progress. In most cases, employees are made accountable for their actions, but not victimized. The aim of this is to train them into avoiding recurring the same mistake.
Employee engagement initiatives incorporated through training and development may include analyzing the different sections where the company requires development after which. Ideas are generated on how best to utilize employee power to improve company processes. Also, the company invokes these ideas while trying to mitigate employee turnover (Geisel, 2017). Training should be done in stages. Dividing the entire training and development procedure into phases is beneficial to the company. Doing this makes it possible for the organization to know specific career paths which employees are competent at. It makes it easy for specialization and division of labor, especially during the restructuring of business functions. Training encompasses creating and issuing out development courses related to the business model of the company. Starbucks, one of the crucial skills required in customer service. Clients within the company act as ambassadors to building the brand of the company. The company might offer quality products, but the mode of delivery is reduced. Ideally, consumers would not want to associate with such a brand (Geisel, 2017). Skill development does not affiliate or discriminate, but is structured in line with the interests and passion of the employees. After all, the aim is to retain employees into providing quality services to the customers (Jeung, 2020). Considering the large client base for Starbucks, onboarding training procedure ensures that employees are assimilated into the company thoroughly, it involves making them aware of the different values required in the company as well as the working criteria. Onboarding trains new employees by providing sufficient information and explanations on all the organizational culture adopted by the company over the years.
In most cases, it includes how to access the systems, programs, and information using the company portal (Geisel, 2017). Just like any other company, the performance of employees cannot be the same. In most cases, employees who perform well should be recognized and rewarded in whichever way. The aim here is to create promotional opportunities that are linked to the skills required in the company. Starbucks, for instance, provides ongoing training services to employees based on emerging trends. As time goes by, different procedures become outdated. Employees’ skills may become obsolete if not considered. The company needs to include cross-training that allows employees to discover new talents.
The demand for employee engagement can be made possible through training and development. Like any business process, this action plan is a significant risk to the company’s success. While the process may result in improved performance, other adverse outcomes may arise. Some include lowering the morale of employees, especially when the performance of the company is not goods.
Employee engagement strategy
In order to gain complete benefits from the employee engagement action plan, it is necessary to include an employee engagement strategy theory. In this context, the method of employee engagement will be utilized. William Khan initiated it in 1990 (Ndindeng, 2020). Based on his analogy, the theory indicates that leaders in a company must engage employees in different processes. The method includes creating a work environment that improves the skills and competence of the employees.
In most cases, the staff should be fully included and committed to doing their work. It means that at no point should the employee feel alienated or deprived of their rights. According to the theory, it concludes that the process is a two-way street. Employees and management depend on each other. Also, customers and employees are interdependent on accomplishing tasks (Ndindeng, 2020). Through this theory, employers empower employees through training and development tasks. Extensively, competence in any organization forms a basis for the success of the company.
Employee engagement theory is based on various elements that constitute employee competence. Job satisfaction is one of the factors highly considered. It includes making employees happy and satisfied while performing specific activities in the company. In this case, the employer must provide efficient reward systems such as incentives or gratuity. These are crucial in manifesting the staff’s skills and competency level. It also includes employee commitment to the job. According to Khan, the management needs to focus on compulsion (Ndindeng, 2020). They do this by creating favorable conditions where engagement can thrive. Besides, the participation of employees requires a more emotional approach that promotes positive attitudes. Employees are only committed if they have a deep regard for the business processes. Finally, employees need to be empowered—the theory advocates for training, which allows employees to copes in a highly competitive world.
Implementing the strategy
in order to implement the strategy, it is essential to consider that this phenomenon is not possible without considering employees. As such, they are creating teams that work on a single goal of a company is crucial in specialization and division of labor. Holding debriefing meetings where employees get to raise their concerns and give opinions is important (Bradford, 2020). When employees feel like the management has their interest at heart, they are compelled to perform and actively engage in the training plan. Besides, having an employee voice in every group is a crucial strategy. Through this, leaders are selected in the group. Their role is to control the different functions and ensure that each employee is competent. In the end, the management can conduct an analysis on which employee does what action best. An understanding of individual employee working and learning styles makes it easy to develop a training plan. For convenience, the company can invoke training actions such as online or traditional workplace training (Bradford, 2020). Doing this ensures that every employee is involved in the activities of the company.
Evaluating effectiveness
It is essential for any company to know the different action plans and how effective they were in organization development. Training and development were initiated as an action plan for employee engagement (Verma, 2020). As mentioned herein, different strategies were followed, which was in line with the employee engagement theory. It is essential in gauging the responses of employees on questionnaires (Verma, 2020). In other cases, an online survey can be conducted where employees get to comment based on the issues they face at work. After the training plan, gauging the performance of the company is done. It is in comparison to its performance before the training is highly considered. Besides, exercise is structured in a way that it alters the performance of the company.
Finally, employee engagement can be initiated through training and development. After all, the skills of the employees determine the success of the organization.