The impact of sustainable employability on employee engagement

Inspired employees, something every employer would like to see in the organization. We also see around us that this is especially true for employees who are a good fit, now and in the future. This match also tells a lot about the sustainable employability of an employee. But what do sustainable employability and engagement have to do with each other? And what is the influence of sustainable employability on the engagement of employees?

What is engagement?

Engagement forms a crucial link in the sustainable employability process. If there is sustainable work in which the person can (continue to) develop, this creates mental energy (enthusiasm) and promotes health and work performance, just like a positive work attitude and ditto organizational behavior. If the quality of work is poor and there is stressful rather than sustainable work, this costs a lot of mental energy. In that case, there is a risk of burnout with all its negative consequences for sustainable employability.

Energy sources

But what knobs at work can we turn to promote engagement? This is where the Job-Demands-Resources model comes in. It shows that a series of energy sources at work are related to engagement. Energy sources (job resources) make it possible to: (1) perform work tasks successfully; (2) cope with job demands and; (3) ensure employee growth and development. For example, social support from co-workers not only makes it easier to do the job, but also to cope with emotional strain at work, and targeted feedback ensures that you learn new things.

There are four types of energy sources. First there are work energy sources, these relate to the content of the work. Does the employee have sufficient control or autonomy to perform the work as he or she sees fit? Does the same work have to be performed routinely every time, or do different tasks alternate and require the use of different skills each time? Does the work fit with what the employee can do (competencies) and wants (motivation)? Does the employee have sufficient resources to do his or her job well? In short, work energy sources indicate how "rich" the work is.

Then there are the Social Energy Vouchers, which are about relationships with others at work. Does the employee receive support from his colleagues and supervisor or does he stand alone? Is there a pleasant atmosphere in the team and effective cooperation? To what extent are the expectations of others (colleagues and customers) met and do employees receive appreciation for their work? Social energy sources indicate that employees are well embedded in the social network at work.

Organizational energy sources involve the broader context in which the work is performed. Does management know what is happening on the shop floor (bottom-up communication) and are employees aware of organizational policies (top-down communication)? The latter is an important condition for staff alignment: are employees aware of the organization's goals and do they feel they can make a positive contribution to them? Is there trust in management and do employees feel they are treated fairly? Organizational energy sources indicate that employees feel part of an organization for which it is nice to work.

Finally, growth energy sources are about opportunities to learn new things at work and to develop personally. This can be done through good, systematic feedback on how to do better, but also by taking training and education courses or by taking the next step in one's career.

One could say that the more energy sources the work contains, the more sustainable it is. This means that the energy sources are in fact the knobs that can be turned to increase the quality of work and thus the level of engagement - and thus sustainable employability!

Getting started with sustainable employability

Do you also want to keep your employees sustainably employable? paraDIGMA groep has everything you need to support your organization in the area of sustainable employability. Please contact us for more information.