According to the Global Workforce Study carried out by the consulting firm Willis Tower Watson, only 19% of Spanish workers feel fully committed to their organization. In this particular study, they analyzed the levels of employee engagement and how these levels impact on performance and their loyalty.
Although they are often treated as synonyms, commitment is not the same as satisfaction. A satisfied employee does not have to be committed to their work. However, a committed collaborator will always show satisfaction in what he or she does.
To have committed employees, organizations need to have a global overview of the essential factors which are crucial to help promote the sense of belonging and commitment. These can include providing professional development, aligning the goals of the company with those of its collaborators and taking care of the staff’s well-being.
In other words, you have to take action to generate commitment. Actions are required by management, and it will be the HR department who will implement those actions that serve to manage employee engagement.
HR departments act as bridges and mediators between organizations and employees, being the point of connection that unites everything, therefore, becoming a valuable and strategic ally.
What is understood by management of commitment?
Managing the commitment levels of employees refers to the implementation of organizational measures in order to create the adequate environment that promotes the involvement and professional alignment with company values.
In other words, commitment pretends that employees work for reasons beyond the contractual facts that are part of an employment relationship.
A committed employee will work because his or her success is the success of the organization.
To achieve this goal, it is essential that the Human Resources department centers its efforts in creating workspaces where employees can develop both professionally and personally.
How to increase your employee commitment?
Building commitment requires a 360º vision of what this concept means.
First, we need to note that the commitment is based on confidence and, therefore, organizations can not be a taxable person in the relationship employee-employer.
Creating internal communication campaigns which transmit the company’s values is not enough to commit employees.
Organizations must be consistent between what they say and what they do, as communication discrepancies can break people’s trust and, consequently, their commitment.
It is not enough to say that there is an action plan, you have to put it in place and let employees notice it.
In this sense, HR departments can:
- Create appropriate compensation policies in accordance with the values of the organization.
- Work on the job descriptions, adapting them to new realities.
- Spread organizational culture, ideals and ethics through acts.
- Ensure an excellent work environment.
- Ensure professional development of employees through career opportunities.
- Manage recognition plans that value talent contributed by employees to the organization.
HR tools for commitment management
Human Resources professionals have at their disposal a variety of tools that allow them to generate the right circumstances for creating commitment in the workforce. These are just a few we recommend:
Recruitment processes
They serve as a filter when identifying people with potential soft skills for engagement.
The ideal is to select those profiles that already feel identified with the organizational culture, that have a motivation to work within the company, flexibility, results oriented and desire to learn and improve continuously.
Leadership training
Ensuring effective leadership, especially from middle managers, is essential to achieve committed teams.
The HR department should develop strategies to promote and develop those skills managers and middle managers that generate confidence in its employees.
Active listening, continuous communication, empathy, resilience… are just some of the skills that can be developed with the help of coaching, one of the main functions of modern HR professionals.
Communicating expectations
It is the responsibility of Human Resources professionals to align the expectations of the employees with the reality of the organization so that they are consistent and in synchrony.
They are in charge of spreading the vision, mission and values of the organization among the workforce through different methodologies that positively impact the employee experience.
Defining roles and make clear what is expected of each person avoids frustrations and misunderstandings that can undermine the commitment of workers.
Bet on the capabilities of employees
Create tools aimed at maximizing the capacities and abilities of work teams, promoting empowerment and self-management.
To achieve this, the resources available to the organization must be adapted to the functions to be performed, and the individual and collective contributions must always be recognized.
Horizontal mobility
The fact that workers can move between departments gives them a global vision of the organization that helps them better understand its internal functioning.
Knowing how the other areas work provides employees with information on how their own functions fit within the organization and the significance of their contribution, thus fostering their commitment, as well as making them versatile.
Trust, the key element
Providing employees with conciliation measures, a quality work environment that facilitates both physical and psychological safety, stability, constant feedback on their work and their evolution …
All of them are the pillars on which trust is based, the key factor in building employee commitment.
Benefits of a committed team
Proper management of employee engagement brings interesting benefits, such as:
Increased productivity
When employees are engaged, they seek to do their best.
According to the study mentioned above, 88% of committed workers want to improve the level of quality and service of the organization and 81% want to improve the level of customer satisfaction.
This makes us work more and better, increasing productivity and profitability of the company.
Talent loyalty
One of the biggest advantages of having committed employees is that they are loyal to the organization and the best brand ambassadors.
The loyalty of talent helps keep employees in the company, not for the need for a salary, but because they want to be part of it.
Organizational culture cohesion
Organizational culture is a determining factor in the success of a company, since it directly influences the way of working and the performance of its employees.
Those employees committed to the corporate culture to which they belong assimilate its values and its mission, working for to stay on the top.
Decrease turnover
If we are committed to the organization, we are less likely to want to go elsewhere.
The recruitment and training processes represent a high cost for companies, both in terms of time and money.
Maintaining the commitment of workers helps reduce the turnover rate to optimal levels, without impacting negatively on the income statement.
Improves the work environment
A committed employee is a satisfied and happy employee who likes his job.
Going to work happily improves the work environment, reduces stress, promotes interpersonal relationships between colleagues and encourages teamwork.
Help organizations keep growing
When we are committed to the company, we want it to stand out from the competition and be successful.
That makes teams work with innovative and creative ideas that drive the organization to evolve and continue to grow within the business market.
Team Insights: the best ally for HR professionals in managing the commitment of the employees
Good commitment strategies implies knowing the status of the work teams, what they think of their functions and the organization, and what suggestions they can provide that help their commitment to be reinforced.
And of course, we need to measure the level of commitment to know if our strategies are having results.
With Team Insights all of this is possible. Thanks to its pulse surveys and the option of being able to engage totally anonymous conversations, you will be able to obtain all the data you need to make the best decisions when drawing up action plans that strengthen the commitment of collaborators with the company.
Simple, fast and useful. No need for prior specific training and 100% customizable to the reality of each organization.
Know the commitment of your team from today. Ask for a demo!
