How can technology improve employee engagement?

Employees need more than temporary gratification, such as a "fuzzy feeling," from a good paycheque, to dedicate themselves to their work and achieve more for their company. A Gallup survey found that 80% of employees felt disengaged at their workplace. So, what makes an employee feel disengaged, how can we improve and measure this? Read on to find out more.

‍What is engagement?

Employee engagement refers to positive behavior such as dedication to work that leads to positive work-related results. Research shows there is a negative correlation between toxic workplace environments and engagement, with employee well-being and organizational support mediating this relationship (Rasool et al., 2021). Toxic environments can encompass workplace ostracism, co-worker harassment, bullying, aggressive leadership,  threatening behavior, and narcissistic behaviors from both employees and managers. If engagement levels are diminished by unfavorable work environments and lack of organizational support, it is essential to explore behavioral approaches to engagement. This understanding can facilitate the development of strategies to mitigate negative effects and foster a more positive and supportive workplace culture.

‍Theories of human behavior: hedonistic behavior and eudaimonic approach

What motivates individuals to feel engaged at work? Consider activities that uplift your mood, such as playing sports or enjoying a meal. These activities likely bring pleasure, contributing to a positive experience. According to the hedonic approach, experiencing pleasure and avoiding pain leads to satisfaction. Feeling good often prompts engagement in meaningful activitⁱes. In the workplace, if employees create a positive experience they are more likely to be engaged in comparison to a toxic environment. The eudaimonic approach emphasizes self-improvement activities such as learning a new skill to gain knowledge or volunteering. It prioritizes finding meaningful purpose, and personal growth.

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AI tools to improve employee engagement:

• Personalize employee experiences: New AI applications may be able to tailor experiences such as analyzing employee learning styles and customizing career growth programs. This can enhance employee engagement and productivity by making employees feel more connected and valued within the organization.

‍•Design surveys: Create surveys based on what your HR team needs. HR surveys can vary from creating custom questions, team-specific surveys, or leadership surveys. With the information from the survey, HR can track engagement levels and provide feedback to employees. Following up on the surveys can help improve engagement drivers and build company culture.

•Real-time monitoring and feedback: The use of chatbots or applications for HR teams to promptly provide feedback during issues or shifts may prevent potential disengagement and burnout.

•Analyze data-driven employee insights: Find out what drives top performers through survey analytics so your company can promote and retain the best team members.

How can technology improve employee productivity?

There’s no denying technological advancement has made work and life easier. However, some days employees are more productive than others. Some even modify their work. But why is this? A cross sectional study found as stress increased, productivity decreased (Bui et al., 2021). One way is by understanding psychological theorists' motivation.

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Hawthorne Effect

‍People tend to modify their behavior when they are aware they are being observed and found people feel more valued and may increase effort (McCarney, et al., 2007). So how can this theory be implemented for employees and employers? Employers can regularly check in with employees to make them feel more valued, increase motivation and productivity.

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AI tools to improve employee productivity:

‍•AI applications efficiently monitor employees' behavior, performance, and engagement: By analyzing various data streams, including emails, chats, work patterns, task durations, and peak productivity hours.This allows AI to swiftly detect indicators of decreased productivity and misconduct. Consequently, HR can promptly intervene to address emerging issues before they escalate into significant problems.

‍• The ability to manage large workforces: Instead of manually monitoring employee activities, AI can detect irregular activities or breaches to company policy, and provide a notification or alert.

‍•AI tools can help write quality goals: AI tools play a pivotal role in crafting well-defined goals that align seamlessly with company objectives. Through AI automation software, these tools have the capability to formulate goals that are precisely tailored to meet organizational targets. By harnessing employee performance data, AI tools offer invaluable assistance in refining goals, thereby contributing significantly to enhancing achievement levels.

• Remind employees to take breaks: AI tools can notify employees to take short 5-10 minute breaks to help minimize stress and maximize performance.

How can technology improve employee satisfaction?

In general people are social beings, and need their basic needs such as connection and feeling belonging. Research has shown when employees feel satisfied, people have heightened loyalty effectiveness, efficiency, and productivity(Raziq & Maulabakhsh, 2015). One way to understand this is by looking at Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory in the workplace.

‍Maslow’s hierarchy of need

‍According to Maslow (1943), human needs were arranged in a hierarchy: 1)Physiological at the bottom; 2) Safety and security; 3) Love and belonging; 4) Self-esteem; 5) Self actualization at the top. To put this in perspective in the workplace, see below:

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1. Employees need their physiological needs met such as healthcare benefits or financial compensation which can help meet physiological needs.

2.Employees want to feel safe in their environment; such as without threats.

3.Employees need to feel valued and appreciated by teammates.

4.Employees need to feel belonged and a sense of consecutiveness.

5.Employees need to self-actualize where they need to grow and become all that they need to.

Employers need to aid in job satisfaction to meet employees before progressing to high order needs.

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AI tools to improve employee satisfaction :

‍•Communication and collaboration: Communicate with employees in multiple ways such as company-wide announcements, direct messaging, or group chats between teams.

•Build Inclusive culture: Create employee groups based on shared common interests, hobbies, and teams to bring people closer together.

• Scheduling: Gain visibility when employees are more flexible with shifts and ensure optimal coverage when needed.

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Conclusion

Technological advancements in HR recruitment tools and artificial intelligence are revolutionizing business operations. New technologies are being used to automate scheduling and repetitive tasks, thereby enhancing engagement, and productivity, and cultivating fulfilling work environments. From HR management to team collaborations, the workforce is evolving at an ever-rapid pace.

‍References

[1] Bureau of labor and statistics (March 6, 2024). Job Openings and Labor TurnoverSummary.https://www.bls.gov/news.release/jolts.nr0.htm

[2]Gallup (2024).What Is Employee Engagement and How Do You Improve It?

https://www.gallup.com/workplace/285674/improve-employee-engagement-workplace.aspx

[3] Rasool, S. F., Wang, M., Tang, M., Saeed, A., & Iqbal, J. (2021). How Toxic Workplace Environment Effects theEmployee Engagement: The Mediating Role of Organizational Support and Employee Wellbeing. International journalof environmental research and public health, 18(5), 2294. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18052294

[4] Bui, T., Zackula, R., Dugan, K., & Ablah, E. (2021). Workplace Stress and Productivity: A Cross-Sectional Study.Kansas journal of medicine, 14, 42–45. https://doi.org/10.17161/kjm.vol1413424

[5] McCarney, R., Warner, J., Iliffe, S., van Haselen, R., Griffin, M., & Fisher, P. (2007). The Hawthorne Effect: arandomised, controlled trial. BMC medical research methodology, 7, 30. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2288-7-30

[6] Raziq, A., & Maulabakhsh, R. ( 2015). Impact of Working Environment on Job Satisfaction. Procedia Economicsand FinanceVolume 23, 2015, Pages 717-725https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212567115005249?ref=pdf_download&fr=RR-2&rr=7d1a6b5c88e01103#aep-article-footnote-id1

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