5ENG Employee Engagement

Introduction to 5ENG Employee Engagement

The unit employee engagement is offered at level 5 of the CIPD course. CIPD Level 5 is an intermediate level and units offered at this level require strategic human resource insights, analytical skills and critical thinking. The primary purpose of the 5ENG (employee engagement) is to broaden the students understanding of the terms of employee engagement and how it can be linked or differentiated from other related human resource concepts. Employee engagement has been described as being available when a task is being performed and intentionally contributing intellectual effort, experiencing positive emotions and meaningful connection to others. Students who enrol for the unit are expected to understand their roles as professionals in building an engaged workforce. Additionally, learners will be introduced to the concept of high-performance work.

The unit offers lessons aimed at equipping the learners with the necessary knowledge, skills and competences in the analysis of employee engagement and organizational performance. Students also learn that the strategies are intended to promote shared goals in a given organization, improve values, and develop a positive organizational culture that is beneficial to both the employer and the employee. Therefore, the unit, employee engagement is primarily useful for learners as it helps them understand their duties and responsibilities in supporting interactions and connections with people in a workplace to promote organizational success. At the end of the unit, learners are equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills essential for promoting an engaged culture which is useful for developing organizational success.

Unit objectives

The primary objectives of the unit include:

1. To understand the concept and components of employee engagement and its contribution to achieving organizational goals and objectives.
2. To educate learners to the importance of employee engagement and its contribution to positive corporate outcomes
3. To educate students on how to implement human resource strategies and practices to improve levels of employee engagement in particular organisations.

Suitability- who should take this course

This unit is suitable for all people seeking to develop a career in human resource and development. Human resource practitioners who are seeking to develop their skill and knowledge in the field of employee engagement can also enrol for the module. In organisations without Human resource managers, the people appointed to implement HR strategies and policies are eligible to attend the unit lessons to improve their knowledge of employee engagement for the greater organizational good. Nevertheless, anybody who is interested in understanding the role of human resource in the organisational and environmental context can pursue the unit.

Unit Content

The unit content is based on the unit objectives and the expected learning outcomes. The first lesson covers the first unit objective by giving a clear definition of employee engagement. The three primary dimensions of employee engagement, that is emotional, cognitive and physical engagement are also discussed and exemplified in the first lesson. The components of employee engagement, the three mindsets of organizational commitment and the need for alignment are also some of the topics covered in the introductory lessons. The second unit objective results in the development of other lessons that are essential for students pursuing employee engagement. These lessons include the assessment of the importance of employee engagement in HR policies, practices and strategies. In this lesson, learners will understand the benefits of engaging employees and related high-performance results.

The unit further elaborates on the systematic approach to the development, growth and maintenance of employee engagement through organizational and HR policies. Unit content covered in the lesson includes employee segmentation techniques, the measure of employee attitude, and the business case for employee engagement, design and implementation of relevant people management and development policies and recruitment and selection process. Special references such as Gallup Q12 and practical examples will be used during the study. The four primary drivers of an engaged workforce will also be discussed in the unit. Additionally, employee voice as an essential element of employee engagement will be discussed in detail (formal, informal, complementary to employee voice).

Deducting from the third and final objective, the unit covers quite many lessons. The first lesson of the third objective will be understanding the diagnostic tools and use of metrics such as attendance, turn over and absenteeism. These tools are essential in the evaluation of individual employee performance and their engagement to work. Another lesson will cover the construction of the employee value proposition and barriers to employee engagement. Learners will identify various issues that may block employee engagement and also come up with working strategies to deal with the barriers. The application of employee engagement may be faced with resistance to change in some organisations. The unit ensures to cover methods of overcoming change resistance that is effective and particular to different settings. The last lesson will cover the creation of structures that facilitate the creation of employee engagement culture in an organisation.

Learning outcome

At the end of the module, students are expected to:

1. Demonstrate a clear understanding of the concept and components of employee engagement and its contribution to positive business outcomes.
2. Demonstrate an understanding of the importance of employee engagement and its contribution to positive corporate outcomes.
3. Demonstrate their ability to implement HR strategies and practices to increase the level of employee engagement in particular organizational contexts.

Summary and Assessment

Employee engagement is an essential unit in human resource management because it does not only focus on physical involvement in work but also the psychological and emotional involvement. The module equips the student with knowledge and skills of identifying psychological, emotional and physical traits of high performers. It also equips learners with knowledge on how to use employee engagement to improve organizational performance. The guided learning hours for the unit is a total of 60 hours.  The hours are dived into half (30 hours each), for guided learning and self-directed learning. Self-directed learning involves personal study time and reading in preparations for assessments. The unit assessment requires the students to complete a 3900 words written assignment. In some cases, learners will be required to give a presentation on certain lessons covered by the unit. It is important to note that all the assessment questions for this unit are based on the unit objectives but may require critical thinking and analytical skills. There are numerous learning resources for the unit. The resources include but are not limited to CIPD course materials, books, online resources, journal articles and websites.