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Google - 13 incredible perks for employees at GOOGLE 

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Google - 13 incredible perks for employees at GOOGLE 

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13 incredible perks of working at Google, according to employees

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Google is consistently one of the best companies to work for in the US. Thanks to some of the coolest and most generous perks we've seen, it's easy to see why.

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Off-the-job training methods - What is Human Resource? (Defined) Human Resource Management Topics - Labour Laws - High Courts & Supreme Court Citation

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Off-the-job training is conducted in a location specifically designated for training.

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On-the-job training, also known as OJT, is a hands-on method of teaching the skills, knowledge, and competencies needed for employees to perform a specific job within the workplace. Employees learn in the environment where they will need to practice the knowledge and skills obtained during training.

On-the-job training uses the existing workplace tools, machines, documents, equipment, and knowledge to teach an employee how to effectively do his job.

Training takes place within the employee's normal job environment and may occur as she performs actual work. Or it may happen elsewhere within the workplace using dedicated training rooms, workstations, or equipment.

The simple objective of OJT is to use the existing environment, tools, and skill training available in the workplace to train employees to do their jobs-on the job.

A coworker frequently conducts on-the-job training if he can competently perform the job being taught. But interpersonal skills, company policies and requirements, leadership training, and more are also topics that human resources staff, managers, or coworkers can teach on the job or in the workplace.

An external provider occasionally performs OJT in the case of specialized equipment or systems. For example, a vendor might train employees in a marketing system that they're adopting as part of their work procedures.

A vendor might also educate the members of an HR team on the capabilities of a human resources information system). The HR team then trains the rest of the employees to use the new system. This approach allows the trainers to reinforce their training as the employees apply the skills learned in training.

Another frequent use of a vendor for OJT consists of onsite training for one or more employees, who are then expected to train all the other employees who perform a similar job. This is a common OJT model in activities that involve Hi-Lo driving, such as operating a forklift; computer software adoption; and the appropriate operation of any new equipment.

Definite advantages exist for the organization when you have developed the training capabilities of your managers. Teach managers to train, and you will increase the effectiveness of your internal training.

Additionally, training, coaching, and mentoring become an expected and well-utilized aspect of managers' jobs. Employees react favorably when managers provide training too. Not only do employees believe they will have the opportunity to use the training provided by managers, but they react more positively to the expectations of a manager versus a trainer.

When managers provide training, they are able to articulate what they believe is important and to reinforce these ideas with employees. Employees are impressed that the training topic is so important that a manager takes the time to do the training.

At General Motors in the late 1980s, senior-level managers trained every employee in a corporatewide change in operational and cultural strategy. The fact that senior managers provided the training made a huge impression on the employees attending the classes. They figured that the expenditure of this much time and talent on training employees meant that the strategy change was seriously supported.

The senior leader used examples that illuminated both the strategy employed at the time and the expected new direction in a way that an external trainer could never have done. He was also successful at communicating the reasons for the change in a way that promoted excitement and participation.

His knowledge and understanding of company culture allowed him to connect the training to the actual operation that employees lived in every day. This was powerful reinforcement of the work culture GM wanted to create.

Using managers to train employees is an effective on-the-job training strategy.

Your organization will benefit from developing the training capabilities of your employees. Train employees to train, and you will raise the quality of your internal training.

This gives employees an advantage over a trainer who has to learn about the company's culture, strengths, and weaknesses, and at the same time, get to know the people.

In one medium-sized manufacturing company, the security specialist and the team leader of the safety and environmental committee provide training to all staff in security, emergency evacuation procedures, and safety. They also train new employees during new employee orientation.

In another company, long-term sales representatives train all new sales employees in customer relationship management or CRM computer programs, cold calling and prospecting, and how to take and process orders.

In the same company, a shipping employee trains, tests, and licenses all Hi-Lo drivers. Originally trained by outside firms, internal employees now train other employees. Their safety standards and accident rate have improved as a result, and all drivers are now certified to drive Hi-Los.

On-the-job training is normally the most effective approach to training employees. Many of these training options emphasize the role of coworkers and managers in training fellow employees.

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Is On-the-Job Training Really Effective for Employee Development?

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On-the-job training, also known as OJT, is a hands-on method of teaching the skills, knowledge, and competencies needed for employees to perform a specific job within the workplace. Employees learn in the environment where they will need to practice the knowledge and skills obtained during training.

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Want to build a better workforce? We've got expert human resources advice to help you learn more about on-the-job training, training transfer, internal training, and more.

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Internal training offers employers and employees advantages that are not found when you send an employee to an external training program or seminar. Training transfer occurs more naturally and employees cement learning through training other employees.

On-the-job training that enhances an employee's skills and ensures her readiness for the next promotion, is generally far superior to a public seminar.

Our core article about training lists the various ways that organizations can provide training to employees. While some of the methods involve external attendance at training programs and seminars, I am a firm believer in the power of the training and development activities that employees do internally.

Internal training and development leap the huge barriers that encumber external training. Internal training reflects a solid knowledge of the organization's culture.

The internal training uses real-life examples, problems, and challenges that participants encounter every day at work. Successful internal training identifies the exact skills and knowledge that participants need to succeed in their jobs. It also prepares employees for success in their next job.

Internal training is presented in the language and terminology that participants understand and can relate to. Internal training develops the skills of employees and cements their own knowledge of the topic.

You are likely familiar with the old adage that the best way to make sure that an employee thoroughly understands a topic is to have the employee train others.

Use the Performance Development Planning Process to lay out a plan for the internal development of an employee. This is specific job-related training that results in a successful, developing employee.

Internal, on-the-job training includes such activities as:

Invite the employee to contribute to the department or company-wide decisions and planning.

Provide the employee access to higher level, more strategic, meetings.

Provide more information by including the employee on specific mailing lists, in company briefings, and in your confidence.

Enable the employee to establish goals, priorities, and measurements.

Assign the responsibility of teaching machine operation, quality standards, production standards, and safety practices to employees who train new employees or employees who are new to the work area.

Assign supervisory or team leader responsibilities, or function as an assistant lead while learning.

Assign the employee to head up projects or teams, or function as an assistant lead while learning.

Enable the employee to spend more time with his or her boss in a coaching / mentoring relationship. Set goals for employee development as a team.

Provide the opportunity for the employee to cross-train in other roles and responsibilities.

Mentoring, coaching, and field trips, both inside and outside the company, help employees develop their skills and knowledge. Employees who "teach others" most effectively incorporate the knowledge and skills themselves.

Assign the employee a formal mentor from within his or her work group. The more experienced employee has the responsibility to help the employee learn the skills necessary to succeed in their job.

Sponsor a "take a coworker to work" day, as one of my clients did. Employees applied to participate and spent the day learning about another job function within the company. As an example, a developer spent the day learning about public relations. Human Resources sponsored a debriefing lunch to gather the employees' takeaways, explore their learning, and improve the experience for the future.

Encourage employees to seek out informal mentors on their own in areas of needed development and interest.
Internal Training Sessions
Internal training sessions and methods are effective. Especially if they offer employees new skills and ideas, internal training, reading, and meeting can replace much external training in organizations. Internal training is also cost effective and the training facilitator or resource remains available daily to participants following the training session.

Offer an internal training session. The facilitator can be an employee or a trainer or consultant with whom the organization has developed a relationship over time. This ensures that the trainer is cognizant of the organization's culture and needs.

Require employees to train other employees when they attend an external training seminar or conference; they can share the information learned at a seminar or training session. Offer the time at a department meeting, a brown bag lunch, or a scheduled training session to discuss the information or present the information learned externally to others.

Purchase relevant business books for employees. To compound the impact of reading, sponsor an employee book club during which employees discuss a current book and apply its concepts to your company.

Offer commonly-needed training and information on an Intranet, an internal company website. This works effectively for new employee orientation and gives new employees a source to check following the orientation, too.

Provide training by either knowledgeable employees or an outside expert in a brown bag lunch format. Employees eat lunch and gain knowledge about a valuable topic. Survey employees to determine interest or ask Human Resources staff to consolidate training needs from employee performance development plans (PDPs).

Sponsor an internal conference at which employees can learn new ideas and skills. You can mimic an external conference with lunch and all of the trappings of an external conference at a local conference center. Offer conference sessions taught by internal staff on topics of interest to their internal audience. Picture a real day-long conference and you'll see the opportunity to cross-train across departments, utilize the skills of internal employees, and tap the knowledge of informed resources such as your health insurance provider or your 401(k) source.

Internal training is a cost-effective, encouraged, effective method for training employees. Whether the training is provided on the job, from informal or formal coaches and mentors, or in internal seminars, brown bag lunches, or conferences, internal training has the potential to positively impact employee learning and development.

Give internal employee training a try. You will quickly recognize the power of internal training as a tool for employee development.

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Training Employees In-house Has Powerful Advantages

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Internal training offers employers and employees advantages that are not found when you send an employee to an external training program or seminar. Training transfer occurs more naturally and employees cement learning through training other employees. On-the-job training that enhances an employee's skills and ensures her readiness for the next promotion, is generally far superior to a public seminar.

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Coaching and Mentoring | Factsheets | CIPD

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Identify ways to apply coaching and mentoring principles as part of an overall learning and development strategy.

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Identifying learning and development (L&D) needs involves the assessment of employee capabilities alongside an understanding of current or anticipated gaps in knowledge or skills. This analysis can be conducted at the individual, team or organisational level. In any case, the outcomes can identify the appropriate learning provisions required to enable sustained business performance and should be closely aligned to the overall organisation strategy.

This factsheet examines the basics of identifying L&D needs, including guidance on how to conduct a capability analysis and suggested methods for collecting and making use of the data. It also provides insight for those operating in smaller organisations into addressing their particular challenges in identifying learning and development needs.

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This factsheet was last updated by David Hayden.

David Hayden: CIPD Trainer/Consultant

David is an L&D Consultant in the CIPD's L&D Content Team. He leads on the design and delivery of a number of L&D focused products as well as keeping his practice up to date by facilitating events for a range of clients. David began his L&D career after taking responsibility for three Youth Trainees back in 1988 as an Operations Manager, and has since gone on to work in, and headed up, a number of corporate L&D teams and HR functions in distribution, retail, financial and public sector organisations. He completed his Masters degree specialising in CPD and was Chair of our South Yorkshire Branch for two years from 2012 before joining as an employee in 2014. David also has a background in 'lean' and has worked as a Lean Engineer in a number of manufacturing and food organisations. Passionate about learning and exploiting all aspects of CPD, David's style is participative and inclusive.

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Identifying Learning & Development Needs | Factsheets | CIPD

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Identifying learning and development (L&D) needs involves the assessment of employee capabilities alongside an understanding of current or anticipated gaps in knowledge or skills. This analysis can be conducted at the individual, team or organisational level. In any case, the outcomes can identify the appropriate learning provisions required to enable sustained business performance and should be closely aligned to the overall organisation strategy.

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Training Needs Analysis (TNA): tips on conducting a training needs assessment for employee training, including methods and sample questionnaire

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The Importance of Training & Development in the Workplace

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A well-designed training program communicates to your employees what is expected of them and, more importantly, how to meet your expectations.

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Training isn't just important to any company, it is vital.

Although there are many categories of training such as management training and or sales training, employees with Project Management skills are an important asset to any organisation.

But what does training and development, mean to your organisation?
So what are the benefits?
Training presents a prime opportunity to expand the knowledge base of all employees, but many employers in the current climate find development opportunities expensive. Employees attending training sessions also miss out on work time which may delay the completion of projects. However despite these potential drawbacks, training and development provides both the individual and organisations as a whole with benefits that make the cost and time a worthwhile investment. The return on investment from training and development of employees is really a no brainer.

Improved employee performance - the employee who receives the necessary training is more able to perform in their job. The training will give the employee a greater understanding of their responsibilities within their role, and in turn build their confidence. This confidence will enhance their overall performance and this can only benefit the company. Employees who are competent and on top of changing industry standards help your company hold a position as a leader and strong competitor within the industry.

Improved employee satisfaction and morale - the investment in training that a company makes shows employees that they are valued. The training creates a supportive workplace. Employees may gain access to training they wouldn't have otherwise known about or sought out themselves. Employees who feel appreciated and challenged through training opportunities may feel more satisfaction toward their jobs.

Addressing weaknesses - Most employees will have some weaknesses in their workplace skills. A training program allows you to strengthen those skills that each employee needs to improve. A development program brings all employees to a higher level so they all have similar skills and knowledge. This helps reduce any weak links within the company who rely heavily on others to complete basic work tasks. Providing the necessary training creates an overall knowledgeable staff with employees who can take over for one another as needed, work on teams or work independently without constant help and supervision from others.

Consistency - A robust training and development program ensures that employees have a consistent experience and background knowledge. The consistency is particularly relevant for the company's basic policies and procedures. All employees need to be aware of the expectations and procedures within the company. Increased efficiencies in processes results in financial gain for the company.

Increased productivity and adherence to quality standards - Productivity usually increases when a company implements training courses. Increased efficiency in processes will ensure project success which in turn will improve the company turnover and potential market share.

Increased innovation in new strategies and products - Ongoing training and upskilling of the workforce can encourage creativity. New ideas can be formed as a direct result of training and development.

Reduced employee turnover - staff are more likely to feel valued if they are invested in and therefore, less likely to change employers. Training and development is seen as an additional company benefit. Recruitment costs therefore go down due to staff retention.

Enhances company reputation and profile - Having a strong and successful training strategy helps to develop your employer brand and make your company a prime consideration for graduates and mid-career changes. Training also makes a company more attractive to potential new recruits who seek to improve their skills and the opportunities associated with those new skills.
Training can be of any kind relevant to the work or responsibilities of the individual, and can be delivered by any appropriate method.

For example, it could include:

On-the-job learning

Mentoring schemes

In-house training

Individual study

Blended learning is becoming more and more popular and as a company we have seen a definite increase in this method of training over the last year. Blended Learning is the effective combination of online learning and classroom learning. Many of 20|20's clients prefer their staff to learn on-site rather than attend off-site training programmes - especially in industries like oil and gas where it is often very impractical to attend off-site courses. On-site learning programmes like the blended learning approach, allow 20|20 to train more people working across a larger international footprint than just the UK. This makes it much more cost-effective and allows for greater process consistency.

The importance of training your employees - both new and experienced - really cannot be overemphasized.

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The Importance of Training and Development in the Workplace

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Training isn't just important to any company, it is vital. Although there are many categories of training such as management training and or sales training, employees with Project Management skills are an important asset to any organisation. But what does training and development, mean to your organisation? So what are the benefits?

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Are your employees full-time or part-time? Or do you have some of each? And what is the line between full-time and part-time?

Every business can set amounts for differentiating between part-time and full-time employees for purposes of pay and benefits. But if you want to set these differences in your company, you need to know the various laws that determine part-time and full-time status, and how these laws might affect your business.

For example, you can set a specific number of hours a week as full-time for the purpose of giving health care benefits to employees. In many companies, full-time employees receive benefits while part-time employees do not.

Another distinction between part-time and full-time employees is that they may be paid differently, salaried vs. hourly. Some full-time employees may be salaried while part-timers are paid on an hourly basis.

Traditionally, 40 hours a week has been considered as "full-time" employment but there are many current instances in which the hours required to be considered full-time have been lowered. The Bureau of Labor Statistics defines full-time as 35 or more hours a week, but this is just for statistical purposes and is not a law.

The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) defines full-time employees as those working an average of 30 hours a week, for the purposes of defining employer required payments for larger employers. Many employers require fewer hours for full-time status, such as 35, 32, or even 30 hours.

"Whether an employee is considered full-time or part-time does not change the application of the FLSA."

That is, employers must follow the provisions of the FLSA for both full-time and part-time employees in matters such as minimum wages, overtime, and child labor.

As an employer, you have the right to designate what constitutes a full-time employee, as long as you consistently apply your own criteria to all employees.

The Affordable Care Act requires employers to do a calculation for full-time equivalents, for counting purposes. This process takes part-time employees and calculates the percentage each part-timer works as compared to a full-time employee. This calculation doesn't affect the employees; it's just for counting purposes. A business that has 50 or more "full-time equivalents" faces a penalty if the employees aren't given an employer-paid health plan. A business that has fewer than 50 full-time equivalents may receive tax credits for providing a plan.

A part-time employee is an employee who works less than full-time. While this sounds obvious, it's important to spell out this distinction in your employee policy manual.

You can designate specific types of employees or specific types of jobs as part-time. For example, you may want to make all laborers part-time and all clerical employees full-time. You can pay part-time employees at hourly rates, and different rates for different types of work.

But be careful not to discriminate by making some workers in similar jobs part-time (and denying them benefits), while others in the same job are full-time. Don't make all the women part-time and all the men full-time.

It is important to distinguish between full-time and part-time employees because part-time employees typically don't receive:

As you can see, full-time employees are more expensive to hire than part-time employees.

When you create your employee handbook or policies and procedures manual (with the help of your attorney, of course), specifically define which jobs are part-time and what benefits are available to full-time employees and which to part-timers.

No matter what the status of an employee, you as the employer are required to withhold payroll taxes (income taxes and FICA taxes) from all employees, pay for unemployment taxes and worker's compensation benefits.

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What's the Difference Between Full-time and Part-time Employees?

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Are your employees full-time or part-time? Or do you have some of each? And what is the line between full-time and part-time? Every business can set amounts for differentiating between part-time and full-time employees for purposes of pay and benefits.

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We've just flicked the switch on moving all our digital resources to instant digital download - via our new subject stores.

For every subject you can now access each digital resource as soon as it is ordered. This will always be the latest edition of each resource too (and we'll update you automatically if there is an upgraded version to use).

Simply add the required resources to your cart, checkout using the usual options and your resources will be available to access immediately via your mytutor2u account.

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We've just flicked the switch on moving all our digital resources to instant digital download - via our new subject stores. For every subject you can now access each digital resource as soon as it is ordered. This will always be the latest edition of each resource too (and we'll update you automatically if there is an upgraded version to use).

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Employee Satisfaction - Human Resourcing

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Employee Satisfaction - Human Resourcing

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Employee Engagement and Satisfaction

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Employees who have good quality jobs and are managed well, will not only be happier, healthier and more fulfilled, but are also more likely to drive productivity, better products or services, and innovation. This mutual gains view of motivation and people management lies at the heart of employee engagement, a concept that's become increasingly mainstream in management thinking over the last decade. As part of our work in this area, we sponsor Engage for Success , the voluntary UK movement promoting employee engagement.

This factsheet examines the nature of employee engagement, its benefits, assessing and measuring engagement, and ways to foster an engaged workforce.

There's no common understanding of employee engagement. For example, the 2009 MacLeod Review found over 50 definitions! One of the earliest is Kahn's which focuses on how people 'express themselves physically, cognitively, and emotionally' as they interact with their jobs. This describes an internal state of being but one which relates closely to behaviour, such as discretionary effort or 'going the extra mile'.

One thing that's clear in academic literature is that employee engagement is seen as a psychological state experienced by employees. It should be seen as different from job quality, employee behaviour or management action.

However, some definitions are closer to job satisfaction. These relate to a number of aspects of organisational life and are typically used by consultancies. For example, Gallup's Q12 questionnaire covers job clarity, job resources, work that plays to one's strengths, recognition, social support and cohesion, personal development, employee voice, meaningfulness of work, and colleagues' motivation. These measures may cause confusion as it becomes difficult to distinguish engagement from the other concepts.

A narrower, more specific view that we recommend is that of the Utrecht University group of occupational psychologists which defines 'work engagement' as a state of mind in which, rather than being burnt out, employees show:

Vigour (energy, resilience and effort).

Dedication (for example, enthusiasm, inspiration and pride).

Absorption (concentration and being engrossed in one's work).

While this approach is narrow, it aligns with the best research on engagement, so is likely to lead to effective decision making.

Read more in our latest research Employee engagement: an evidence review which draws on the best available evidence to answer practical questions to help people professionals understand employee engagement. It examines in more detail what employee engagement is, how to measure it, its outcomes and drivers.

Is employee engagement a useful concept?

A sustained focus on employee engagement over the last decade or so has been key in getting progressive people management practices firmly onto employers' agendas. It's become part of management practice to an extent that other concepts, such as high-performance working, have not.

However, it's also faced considerable criticism, not least because of the lack of agreement on what it is. Some HR practitioners seem content with this situation. In being a 'broad church', engagement is an umbrella term to describe a multifaceted focus of people management. Employers can shape their view of engagement to suit their context or strategy.

But the lack of consensus on what engagement is has led to many different ways to gauge it and inconsistent advice on how to achieve it. Vague or overly broad definitions hamper effective action, as it's unclear what the problem or opportunity is, or what should be done.

We recommend that employers take one of two approaches:

Treat employee engagement as a psychological state and an umbrella term to describe a broad area of people strategy, and refer to narrower concepts - such as work engagement or organisational commitment - to be more specific when needed. This allows a broad strategic focus, alongside precision on priority concerns.

Focus on specific and well-established definitions, such as the Utrecht work on engagement (see above).

A broad employee engagement strategy might focus on:

Motivation: how workers guide their efforts to achieve goals, including intrinsic motivation (enjoying work for its own sake) and extrinsic motivation (working to get a reward).

Organisational identification: the alignment between how an employee sees themself and how they see their organisation.

Organisational commitment: feeling attached to the organisation and dedicated to their work.

Feeling engaged is evidently good for workers. Most definitions of engagement describe employees who are healthier, happier, more fulfilled or more motivated. For organisations, has repeatedly shown that measures of engagement go together with higher performance. More broadly, other studies show that positive relationships between aspects of employee engagement and other business metrics, including customer satisfaction, productivity, innovation, staff retention, efficiency and health and safety performance.

This research has its problems though. The great majority of studies show correlation but not causation. However, some research does show a causal relationship, with work engagement predicting both task performance and contextual performance, or contributing to the organisation beyond one's core job. Unfortunately, these relationships are weak: the performance differences are too small to be able to observe in day-to-day activity and would need to be measured to be detected.

To some extent there's a two-way relationship, with work engagement and performance influencing each other. So more engaged workers will go on to perform better, but an improvement in performance will also lead to more engaged workers.

Our Good Work Index survey (previously UK Working Lives) measures various aspects of employee engagement. It shows that about two-thirds of workers are satisfied with their jobs overall. Our 2018 analysis showed that UK job satisfaction fluctuated over the previous decade, dropping in particular in 2010 and 2011 to a low of just over half, but the general picture is more positive than negative.

At the day-to-day level, just over half of UK workers usually feel enthusiastic about their jobs, one in three feel 'full of energy', and over half are willing to work harder than they have to. However, a fifth of workers feel they are 'under excessive pressure', a fifth feel 'exhausted', and a fifth say they are likely to quit their job in the next year. The Skills and Employment Survey shows that work has continually become more intense, higher pressure, over recent decades. This may be due to various factors including rising customer demands, technological change and economic recession.

Our Good Work Index survey data shows no difference in enthusiasm between men and women, but we do see greater enthusiasm among senior managers and the highest paid, workers with postgraduate levels of qualifications and voluntary sector workers. Discretionary effort is greatest among managerial and professional employees, lower in administrative roles and lowest in manual and casual work. It is also greater in the voluntary sector than in the private and public sectors.

Gathering employees' views

What drives, or hinders, commitment or motivation can be different in one organisation from another. So it's important that employers give employees effective channels for voice and listen carefully to their concerns and aspirations.

Many medium-sized and large employers conduct regular employee attitude surveys, often alongside qualitative methods such as focus groups. A mixed approach is best as different methods have different strengths. Employee surveys give a representative view of experiences across the organisation. On the other hand, qualitative methods provide a richer understanding of employee experiences in their own words and can give deeper insight into why people are happy or unhappy.

Measuring employee engagement

Once an organisation reaches a certain size, people analytics become an important way to understand the strengths and weaknesses of an organisation. Measuring aspects of employee engagement is an important part of this. The adage that 'what gets measured gets attention' holds true, and measurement can identify how different parts of the organisation compare, how motivation is changing over time and what the main factors are that motivate or demotivate people.

However, the measures used can be problematic. Composite measures that draw together survey questions to give a broad overall engagement score can oversimplify matters dramatically. The multi-faceted nature of employee engagement means that it's easy for measures to bundle together quite distinct factors and, as such, be very hard to action.

While people analytics can be invaluable, they need to be reliable and give data that is clear and specific enough to be actionable. It's advisable to use engagement metrics that are well established and specific, such as the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (see above). The recent three-item version appears to be a reliable and valid indicator. It includes the items:

'At my work, I feel bursting with energy' (vigour).

'I am enthusiastic about my job' (dedication).

'I am immersed in my job' (absorption).

If viewing engagement as an umbrella term for various other concepts, we suggest measuring those themselves - notably organisational commitment, identification and motivation. There are commonly used and well-evidenced measures for all of these - there's more information in our evidence review .

Drivers of and barriers to employee engagement

suggests that various dimensions of working life lead to employee engagement, including personality (for example, self-confidence and resilience), job design (for example, job demands and resources), leadership and management, organisational climate or culture (for example, psychological safety and the emphasis on service quality) and management practices (from mindfulness interventions to training courses). One of the most established influences on motivation is autonomy or self-determination - that is, being empowered to shape one's job makes it more meaningful and enjoyable.

Our Good Work Index survey found that the quality of relationships and managerial support is consistently related to various aspects of engagement, including job satisfaction, enthusiasm, effort and intention to quit. However, different aspects of engagement are most closely related to different factors of job quality. For example, job complexity (how stimulating, interesting and novel one's work is) is most closely related to enthusiasm and effort. And terms of employment (for example, job security and development opportunities) are most closely related to overall job satisfaction and intention to quit.

The 2009 MacLeod Review summarised four key 'enablers' of employee engagement:

that gives a 'strong strategic narrative about the organisation'.

who motivate, empower and support their employees.

throughout the organisation, to involve employees in decision making.

Organisational integrity that stated are reflected in the actual organisational culture ; what we say is what we do.

It's important to remember that people management and HR systems can get in the way of employee engagement as much as drive it. Employers should be careful not to assume that workers are inherently demotivated and the solution is for management to lead and direct them in an inspiring way. People are naturally motivated to do a good job and become demotivated when they feel overworked, unsupported or frustrated.

Employee engagement strategies

Successful employee engagement strategies will make use of a range of good people management and learning and development practices. They should be holistic, for example by focusing on employee motivation and well-being, and helping employees understand their contribution to the organisation's purpose, objectives and culture.

Strategies should also be multi-pronged, aligning communications, HR policies and systems, learning and development and cross-organisational events. As such, they require the active buy-in and support of senior leaders and line managers throughout the organisation. Our report Developing managers for engagement and wellbeing gives guidance on how to develop managers who support employee engagement, health and wellbeing.

Some employees will naturally be more engaged than others and person-job fit will also heavily influence engagement. This means that recruitment practices and performance management are also important tools for building an engaged motivated workforce.

Books and reports

BRIDGER, E. (2018) Employee engagement: a practical introduction. 2nd ed. HR Fundamentals. London: CIPD and Kogan Page.

HOLBECHE, L. and MATTHEWS, G. (2012) Engaged: unleashing your organization's potential through employee engagement. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass.

PASS, S. et al. (2018) 'All for one and one for all': Line manager's might be the catalyst but 'everyone's responsible' for employee engagement. CIPD Applied Research Conference Paper.

Visit the CIPD and Kogan Page Bookshop to see all our priced publications currently in print.

Journal articles

BROWN, S. (2021) Employee engagement: how do we make it more than a moshpit of metrics ?  CIPD Voice. Issue 28. 12 April.

GYTON, G. (2017) How to move beyond the rhetoric on employee engagement . People Management (online). 31 January.

MEYER, J.P. (2017) Has engagement had its day: what's next and does it matter? Organizational Dynamics. Vol 46, No 2, pp87-95.

SHARP, R. (2019) Is engagement fact or fiction? Human Resources (HR). June. pp20-25.

CIPD members can use our online journals to find articles from over 300 journal titles relevant to HR.

Members and People Management subscribers can see articles on the website.

This factsheet was last updated by Jake Young: Research Associate, CIPD
Jake's research interests cover a number of workplace topics, notably inclusion and diversity. Jake is heavily involved with CIPD's evidence reviews, looking at a variety of topics including employee engagement, employee resilience and virtual teams.

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CIPD | Employee Engagement & Motivation | Factsheets

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Understand the fundamentals of employee engagement, the trends shaping it, and how to build an engaged and motivated workforce.

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How Can HR Help to Reduce Absenteeism & Attrition?

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Research by the Society for Human Resource Management indicates that the direct costs associated with replacing an employee can be as high as 50 to 60 percent of an employee's annual salary. The human resources department acts as the heart of any company and is in the best position to establish strategies to reduce ...

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absenteeism (expressed in words and numbers

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absenteeism (expressed in words and numbers

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prolonged absence of an owner from his or her property; chronic absence (as from work or school); also : the rate of such absence; a tendency to be away from work or school without a good reason : the practice or habit of being absent from work or school...

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Employee Turnover & Retention | Factsheets | CIPD

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Learn how to measure and improve staff turnover and employee retention, and understand why employees leave organisations.

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Management actions to address human resource issues at an operational level

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Management actions to address human resource issues at an operational level

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Workforce planning Core V periphery workers

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Workforce planning Core V periphery workers

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Current debates about changing patterns of work tend to be structured around Atkinson's model of the flexible firm, which is similar to Loveridge's model of firm-specific labour markets. Two spring 1987 national surveys, of workers and of employers, are analysed to show that the balance between core and periphery in the workforce is indeed changing, but that this labour force restructuring is due primarily to traditional and opportunistic approaches to the use of peripheral workers among employers. Employers with a conscious core- periphery manpower strategy constitute a small minority and they do not employ disproportionate numbers of peripheral workers. They are distinguished by a more thoroughgoing reorganisation of work, with greater use of subcontractors, the self-employed and agency workers. The long-term implications are considered.

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Loveridge, R. (1987) `Stigma - the Manufacture of Disadvantage', and `Social Accommodations and Technological Transformations - the Case of Gender', in Lee, G. and Loveridge, R. (eds.) The Manufacture of Disadvantage: Stigma and Social Closure, Milton Keynes: Open University Press , 2-17 and 176-197.
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Core and Periphery in Employers' Workforce Strategies: Evidence from the 1987 E.L.U.S. Survey

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Current debates about changing patterns of work tend to be structured around Atkinson's model of the flexible firm, which is similar to Loveridge's model of firm-specific labour markets.

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Workforce Planning - Core V peripheral workers

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Workforce Planning - Core V peripheral workers

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CIPD Fact Sheets

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Introduction

Workforce planning is a core business process to align changing organisation needs with people strategy. It can be the most effective activity an organisation can engage in. It doesn't need to be complicated and can be adjusted to suit the size and maturity of an organisation. It can provide market and industry intelligence to help organisations focus on a range of challenges and issues and pave the way for operational initiatives to directly support longer term business goals.

This factsheet examines the concept of workforce planning and looks at recent developments. It examines the distinction between strategic and operational workforce planning, 'hard' and 'soft' workforce planning, which work in conjunction to generate, analyse and action information. The factsheet explores the different stages of the workforce planning process and highlights a number of key issues and action points around its implementation.

CIPD viewpoint

Workforce planning presents an important opportunity for the senior leadership team, HR directors and board members to drive the strategic end of the process and set the agenda for workforce change.

While HR practitioners appear to recognise the importance of workforce planning in principle, for many there is a 'knowing-doing' gap and many practitioners are actively seeking better solutions to the challenges of workforce planning. Issues of world economics, technology, demography and changing social attitudes constantly influence how organisations are resourced. We believe workforce planning can help to enable sustainable organisation performance by providing the basis for better decision-making about the future people needs of the business.

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Practical workforce planning guidance for CIPD members to help HR and managers deliver a clear people strategy against changing organisational needs

Read the guide

Ally Weeks: HR Consultant

Ally is an HR practitioner with 20 years UK and international experience within small, medium and large blue chip businesses. A subject expert in talent management, succession planning, workforce planning and recruitment, Ally is currently an HR consultant and trainer for the CIPD and lead tutor for the Level 7 RTM (Resourcing and Talent Management) programme. She advises clients on integrating learning activity with wider commercial issues and the strategic direction of their organisation. Ally is highly adept at determining the most appropriate delivery methods, including online learning, and is experienced in 'hands on' training delivery. She also advises on monitoring the impact of learning interventions.

More recently she has focussed on writing content for CIPD's online digital Certificate qualifications and Future of HR in partnership with Avado. She speaks at CIPD branch events and conferences on attracting talent, resourcing strategies and trends, strategic workforce planning and new learning technologies.

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Workforce planning is a core business process to align changing organisation needs with people strategy. It can be the most effective activity an organisation can engage in. It doesn't need to be complicated and can be adjusted to suit the size and maturity of an organisation.

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Human Resourcing - flexibility in the workforce

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Human Resourcing - flexibility in the workforce

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Workplace flexibility is a strategy for responding to changing circumstances and expectations. Employees who approach their job with a flexible mindset are typically more highly valued by employers.​ Similarly, employers who cultivate a flexible work environment are attractive to employees.

Learn more about workplace flexibility, its benefits, and the skills that workers and employers use to stay flexible.

What Is Workplace Flexibility?

Workplace flexibility emphasizes the willingness and ability to adapt to change, particularly regarding how and when work gets done.

In a flexible workplace, the needs of both employee and employer are met. Workplace flexibility is often used as a tool for retaining and engaging employees. It can also help an organization reach its goals thanks to improved productivity.

Alternate names: Flexible work arrangement, work-life balance

There are different types of workplace flexibility, including the following:

Informal flexibility is occasional, is agreed on between an employee and a manager, and has little impact on others in the workplace.

Formal flexibility is typically an ongoing arrangement that is different from a team's standard hours and work location. It could include working remotely or a change in schedule.

How Does Workplace Flexibility Work?

There are various ways that workplace flexibility can be implemented by workers and employers.

Flexible Employees

Workers with an orientation toward flexibility don't say, "It's not my job" or "Do I have to?" when they are asked to take on a new assignment. Instead, flexible employees modify their approach to tasks based on the preferences of stakeholders and the unique demands of each situation.

Flexibility on the part of a worker could be to adjust the hours they work-coming in early, staying late, or working on an off day-to accommodate the needs of the company.

Note

Here are some examples of the ways workers can demonstrate flexibility.

Learning complex new software that will increase efficiency

Listening carefully to constructive criticism as part of a performance review

Offering to cover the responsibilities of a colleague while they are ill or on vacation

Offering to work extra hours during a year-end crunch

Pushing aside the work planned for the day to respond to an emerging problem

Working overtime to help a colleague meet a deadline

Employees with a flexible attitude keep the company's objectives in mind and work to achieve them, tailoring their efforts to the mission at hand.

Flexible Employers

Flexibility skills are also relevant to the approach that management takes to handling employees. Flexible managers treat employees as individuals and make an effort to accommodate personal styles and needs.

Note

For example, one employee may require more structure in their job duties and another may function better working independently. Managers will often need to adjust schedules and delegate routine tasks as they focus on reaching the company's priorities.

Some examples of workplace flexibility on the part of a manager include:

Analyzing the style and preferences of individual subordinates

Praising the work of a productive employee more frequently because she craves feedback

Providing release time for parents to attend school programs

Rewarding subordinates who make impactful suggestions

Flexible Schedules

Workplace flexibility can also refer specifically to regular work arrangements that promote work-life balance, as opposed to one-off accommodations for special circumstances. These work arrangements typically include flexible schedules outside of the traditional 9-to-5.

Flextime: Employers with a flextime policy allow their workers to stagger arrival and departure times as necessary.

Telecommuting: Not every employee needs (or wants) to work in an office; telecommuting lets them work from elsewhere, such as a home office or coworking space. They may telecommute during special conditions, such as inclement weather, or on a daily basis.

Condensed schedules: Rather than a five-day workweek, a condensed schedule fits the same amount of work over a shorter amount of time, such as three or four days, giving the employee an additional day or two off during the week.

Reduced schedules: Working fewer hours than the standard workweek constitutes a reduced or part-time schedule.

Benefits of Workplace Flexibility

A flexible work environment has many benefits. It helps workers achieve greater work-life balance, leading to increased employee satisfaction and improved morale. That in turn means employee turnover is reduced, as is the cost to recruit and train new hires.

Loyalty, engagement, and retention are improved, which helps a company's productivity and its bottom line.

Employers that permit telecommuting, or working from home, can reduce overhead with less need for office space; working from home can also have a beneficial environmental impact by eliminating lengthy commutes.

Flexible employees, for their part, are willing to do whatever is necessary to get the task accomplished, whether that means taking on more responsibilities, doing different tasks, or doing more at work. Thus, they have more to offer their employer than employees who can only do one or two tasks. Having employees who are willing to step outside their job description means employers don't need to find others to take on more work.

Key Takeaways

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Workplace flexibility is a strategy for responding to changing circumstances and expectations. Employees who approach their job with a flexible mindset are typically more highly valued by employers.​ Similarly, employers who cultivate a flexible work environment are attractive to employees. Learn more about workplace flexibility, its benefits, and the skills that workers and employers use to stay flexible.

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The human resource planning process must consider employee availability and demand.

employÃ© de voierie image by Philippe LERIDON from Fotolia.com

Human resource planning is the process whereby organizations determine the staffing support they will need to meet business needs and customer demands. There are a variety of considerations that impact this planning, including impending retirements and transitions, the availability of employees with certain skills sets and changes in the environment that may require training for existing employees.

Need

Human resource planning is important and ongoing because of both internal and external environmental changes. Internally, businesses are impacted by turnover and retirements. Externally, they are impacted by changes in technology, changes in the economy, and changes in the industry and consumer demand that may require skills that do not currently exist within the company. All of these impacts have an effect on the type and numbers of employees that are needed for the business to remain successful.

Phases of Planning

There are four broad phases involved in planning for human resource needs. First, gathering and analyzing information about expected demand based on the business's future plans and the supply and availability of staff, internally and externally, to meet these demands. Second, companies must identify their specific human resource objectives, which can involve decisions related to whether candidates will be promoted from within or hired externally, whether work will be outsourced or done by employees on staff, and whether the company prefers to staff for excess capacity or take a streamlined approach to staffing. The third phase of planning involves designing and implementing programs that are aligned with the company's objectives. These programs will include benefit programs to satisfy employee needs and impact the ability to retain staff, as well as training programs to ensure that staff are prepared to meet current and future demands. Finally, the fourth phase of planning will involve monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of the human resource plan and making changes as appropriate.

Forecasting Demand

An important, yet challenging, element of human resource planning is forecasting demand for certain types of skills and positions. For instance, in the early 21st century, Internet and social media skills were in increasing demand. In the health care industry, nursing has long been an area of high demand. Each industry is different and each is impacted by different factors. Staying on top of industry, regulatory, governmental and economic changes can help businesses improve their success at forecasting demand for employees and building the human resource plan.

Succession Planning

Succession planning is the process whereby company leaders and HR professionals identify key positions within the company and develop plans to fill those positions either with internal or external staff. Succession planning is closely tied to leadership development, which is the process of providing training and on-the-job experiences to prepare internal staff to step into positions that may become vacant. Succession planning is a key element of human resource planning.

Future

The late 20th and early 21st century saw a number of shifts that suggest changes in the nature of work in the future. These include the growing use of contingent workers (people who are hired, as needed, to perform specific tasks, but are not employed by the company), the use of virtual workers (those who may or may not work for the company but who are not physically located on the company's premises), and the growing impact of technology on the need for certain types of employees, which causes increased need in some areas and declined need in others.

About the Author

Leigh Richards has been a writer since 1980. Her work has been published in "Entrepreneur," "Complete Woman" and "Toastmaster," among many other trade and professional publications. She has a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from the University of Wisconsin and a Master of Arts in organizational management from the University of Phoenix.

Photo Credits

employÃ© de voierie image by Philippe LERIDON from Fotolia.com

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Human resource planning is the process whereby organizations determine the staffing support they will need to meet business needs and customer demands. There are a variety of considerations that impact this planning, including impending retirements and transitions, the availability of employees with certain skills ...