Write and discuss on the concept of employee engagement

      INTRODUCTION

Employees are the greatest assets, to every organization. Therefore it is important that organizations implement practices and policies that encourage employee engagement. Without employee engagement, organizations are unable to attain business strategy objectives that will improve organizational performance. employee engagement is an integral source of financial and organizational performance.

DIFINITION OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

According to macey and Schneider (2008) they refers to employee engagement as the positive feeling held by employees about their job and also the motivation and effort they put in to work. Employee engagement also leads to behaviour that leads to organizational success. It is also a desirable condition, that has an organizational purpose, and connotes involvement, commitment, passion, enthusiasm, focused effort, and energy.

COMPONENTS OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

 There are three components of employee engagement they are :- dedication, vigor, and absorption.

DEDICATION

When employees demonstrate dedication, they are enthusiastic and feel pride for their work. Dedicated employees feel that the work they are in charge of is significant and contributes to the overall objective of the organization.

VIGOR

When demonstrating vigor, employees are invested in their work, and persist despite challenges they might face. They show a high level of energy and go the extra mile when necessary.

ABSORPTION

Absorption occurs when employees are very engrossed in their work. The concept of "flow" which describes a positive state where people are immersed in their work is closely related to absorption.

The fact is that, employee come to work are ready to be engaged, but organization needs to create the conditions that will release that energy.

This framework places an emphasis on the management of human resources in ways that respect the energy people bring to the work place. It also put responsibility on management to create conditions at work that will facilitate employee engagement.

According to Craig and Silverstone (2010) they contend that collective engagement is the key to high performance. That is, employee engagement is a way by which managers treat their subordinate in a way to motivate them so that they bring out their best, work hard,  feel engaged and bring what is useful.

Employee engagement is related yet is distinct from employee attitudes like job satisfaction and individual/organizational commitment. All these factors are important in creating a positive organizational climate and can be catalysts for organizational performance in a variety of ways. (Macey & Schneider, 2008). Moreover,

EMPLOYEE TEND TO EXPERIENCE ENGAGEMENT IN A VARIETY OF WAYS

TRAITS ENGAGEMENT:- is the extent to which employees have a general positive attitude towards work. These employees tend to be happy and productive across a wide range of settings and jobs.

STATE ENGAGEMENT:- It is the extent to which employees feel engaged on a day-to-day basis so is a behavior rather than a trait.

BEHAVIORAL ENGAGEMENT:- It is shown through behaviors that go “above-and-beyond” typical job or task performance , such as personal initiative, organizational citizenship behaviors etc.

      BENEFITS OF EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT

The benefits of employee engagement can't be overstated – employee engagement strategies have been proven to reduce staff turnover, improve productivity and efficiency, retain customers at a higher rate, and make more profits. Most importantly, engaged employees are happier, both at work and in their lives.

  CONCLUSION

For employee to feel engaged it is through fair treatment received from work place  that makes them feel engaged as to put in their best, Also for employee to  engaged is through effective communication from the management and other source of motivation that makes them feel engaged. To be competitive, it is important that organizations and employees understand the nature of employee engagement and implement strategies that enhance engagement

REFERENCE

(i) Human resource management:

     Fourth edition

    ALAN PRICE

(ii) Engage for success. Org

      https://engageforsuccess.org

History and Development of Guidance and Counselling: The Missing Dimension of Nigeria School Counselling Services

INTRODUCTION:
The Federal Republic of Nigeria is a post-colonial territory of Britain; it became independent in
1960. Since the 1960’s, the Nigerian educational system seems to have been under great pressure to
change. The reasons might be classified as educational, economic, technological, social and
ideological changes. The irrelevance of the curriculum in the educational system to the nation’s
needs and aspiration after independence made it necessary for the government to search for a new
philosophy and policy of education. A new National Policy on Education was first published in
1977, revised in 1981 and later revised again in 2004. Every government that came on board seems
to have always recognized education as a basic human right of every citizen and a powerful tool for
human resource and national development. Nigeria as a nation has adopted education as an
instrument for social and economic transformation. It was spelt out in the National Policy on
Education (NPE, 1977) that: ‘every Nigeria child shall have a right to equal educational
opportunities irrespective of any real, or imagined disability each according to his or her ability’. In
view of this, policy documents have constantly reiterated the importance of education in eliminating
poverty, diseases and ignorance.
The national educational goals which were derived from the philosophy include: ‘the inculcation of
the right type of value attitudes for the survival in the Nigerian society, the training of the mind in
the understanding of the world around and the acquisition of appropriate skills and development of
mental, physical and social abilities among others’. The nation needs other educational arms such as
the guidance and counselling programme to fulfill these goals.
The development of guidance and counseling started in Nigeria for various reasons which include:
expansion in the enrollment of pupils in the primary and secondary schools after the independence
in 1960, the growing need of youth in Nigeria, repeated changes in the education system and unrest
in tertiary institutions and the changes in home and family life. (NPE,1977). According to Adediran
(1995), it is generally accepted that in Nigeria the organized and formal guidance and counseling
service started in 1959 at St. Theresa’s College, Oke Ado Ibadan, by a group of dedicated religious
reverend sisters who had the perception of the need for proper guidance in job selection for their
secondary school leavers. They invited some twenty outsiders to advise them about placing sixty of
their final year female students in appropriate careers. This is about eight decades after the birth of
an established and functional guidance and counselling services in America. The advisers even
though were not vocational guidance specialists, later formed the core of what later became the
Nigerian career council.
The Federal Ministry of Education in its efforts to encourage guidance education established
a guidance counselling unit in 1961 to be supervised by an education officer in the ministry. This
was temporarily suspended in 1966 as a result of the civil war but re-visited in at the onset of the 6-
3-3-4 system of education.
By the end of the 70s, the government had already recognized the importance of guidance and
counselling in the educational, economical and social life of the nation. In the 3rd national
development plan (1975-1980) emphasis was geared towards achieving the manpower needs of the
nation. The government then realized that for education to be complete, the beneficiary must have a
good sense of fulfillment. This led to the inauguration of the Counselling Association of Nigeria in
1976 as an affiliation of the American Personnel and Guidance Association (APGA). The Federal
Government then inserted the need for guidance and counselling services and courses in our schools
in its National Policy on Education by 1981. This then led the state governors to establish guidance
and counselling units in their ministries of education, in addition to counselling units in the
universities.
1.1 Philosophy of Guidance
Guidance is universal and the basic principles of the philosophy of guidance are common to all
countries with a slight modification to suit the locally accepted beliefs and the specific guidance
services offered. The eight principles of the philosophy of guidance are:
 The dignity of the individual in supreme.
 Each individual is unique. He or she is different from every other individual.
 The primary concern of guidance is the individual in his own social setting. The main aim
being to help him to become a wholesome person and to gain fullest satisfaction in his life.
 The attitudes and personal perceptions of the individual are the bases on which he acts.
 The individual generally acts to enhance his perceived self.
 The individual has the innate ability to learn and can be helped to make choices that will lead
to self-direction, and make him consistent with the social environment.
 The individual needs a continuous guidance process from early childhood through adulthood.
 Each individual may, at times, need the information and personalized assistance best given by
competent professional personnel.
1.2 The goals to achieve in guidance
At the present, guidance ought to have taken an unprecedented lead over all other helping
professions, for it empowers an individual to charter his life successfully, in spite of all odds. But in
Nigeria, the government has not given it the rightful attention. The specific goals of guidance
services include the following:
 exploring-self: The basic aim is to help an individual increase his understanding and
acceptance of self; his physical development, his intelligence, aptitudes, interest, personality
traits, attitudes and values, his achievements in scholastic and other spheres, his aspirations
and life-style preferences and above all his here-and-now needs which keep him highly
motivated to behave positively or otherwise.
 determining values: The second aim is to help an individual recognize the importance of
values, explore different sets of values, determine personal values and examine them in
relation to the norms of society and their importance in planning for success in life.
 setting goals: This aim is to help an individual set goals for him self and relate these to the
values determined by him so that he recognizes the importance of long-range planning.
 explore the world of work: The aim here is to help the individual explore the world of work in
relation to his self-exploration, his system and goals that he has set for himself to achieve
success in life.
 improving efficiency: The individual is helped to learn about factors which contribute to
increase effectiveness and efficiency and to improve his study habits.
 building relationship: The aim is to help the individual to be aware of his relationship with
others and to note that it is a reflection of his own feelings about himself.
 accepting responsibility for the future: The individual is helped to develop skills in social and
personal forecasting, acquire attitudes and skills necessary for mastering the future.
To sum up, guidance empowers him to be an integrated individual, actualizing his potential to the
fullest.

CONCEPT OF COUNSELLING
Counselling either as a concept, practice or a profession has a problem of not having a clearly
understood meaning not only to the average Nigerian but also to those other professions including
the closest colleagues of the counsellor- teachers and educational administrators. In a developing
African country like Nigeria, guidance and counselling services are said to be recent, at least on a
relative standard with nations like America and Canada. This probably account for why professional
counselling is still seen as irrelevant in a society where the young is born and grows up relying on
elders or ‘seniors’ for all advice he needs for education, socialization and adjustment in his
development.
Counselling is the service offered to the individual who is under going a problem and needs
professional help to overcome it. The problem keeps him disturbed, high strung and under tension
and unless solved his development is hampered or stunted. Counselling therefore is a more
specialized service requiring training in personality development and handling exceptional groups
of individuals.
According to Willey and Andrew (2011), Counselling involves two individuals one seeking help
and other a professionally trained person who helps to solve problems, orient and direct him
towards a goal which leads to his maximum development and growth. Counselling services are
therefore required for individuals having developmental problems because of the handicap they
suffer in any area of emotional either because of hereditary factors or environment conditions
.Counselling is an integral part of an over-all programme of guidance.