Strategies for developing the levels of Employee Engagement in

Public Sector Banks and Private Sector Banks

A Project / Dissertation as a Course requirement for

Master of Business Administration

Aswin Rajagopal
Regd. No. 15455

Department of Management and Commerce

Prasanthi Nilayam Campus

December 2016
A Humble offering at Thy Lotus
Feet
 DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT AND
COMMERCE
SRI SATHYA SAI INSTITUTE OF HIGHER LEARNING
(Deemed to be University)

PRASANTHI NILAYAM CAMPUS, PRASANTHI NILAYAM 515 134

Anantapur District, Andhra Pradesh, India

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that this Project / Dissertation titled Strategies for

developing the levels of Employee Engagement in the Public
Sector Banks and Private Sector Banks submitted by Aswin
Rajagopal, 15455, Department of Management and Commerce,
Prasanthi Nilayam Campus is a bonafide record of the original
work done under my/our supervision as a Course requirement for
the Degree of Master of Business Administration.

.
Professor Radhakrishnan Nair
Project / Dissertation Supervisor

Countersigned by

Place: .
Dr. B. Sai Giridhar
Date: Head of the Department

v
 DECLARATION

The Project / Dissertation titled Strategies for developing the

levels of Employee Engagement in the Public Sector Banks and
Private Sector Banks was carried out by me under the supervision
of Professor Radhakrishnan Nair, Department of Management and
Commerce, Prasanthi Nilayam Campus as a Course requirement
for the Degree of Master of Business Administration and has not
formed the basis for the award of any degree, diploma or any other
such title by this or any other University.

.
Place: Aswin Rajagopal
15455
Date: II MBA
Prasanthi Nilayam Campus

vii
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

At the outset, I offer this project work at the lotus feet of BHAGAWAN SRI SATHYA SAI
BABA, my lord and my master, for His incessant inspiration and guidance, without which this
project would not be completed.

I thank the DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT AND COMMERCE of Sri Sathya Sai

Institute of Higher Learning, for giving me this opportunity to undertake such a project and for
helping me to learn by experience, apart from gaining theoretical knowledge.

I offer my deep sense of gratitude to PROFESSOR RADHAKRISHNAN NAIR, my Project

Supervisor for his constant guidance, inspiration and timely help, without which I would not
have got the necessary inputs for this project.

I thank SRI. MANDEEP SANDHU, visiting faculty to Department of Management and

Commerce, Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, for his valuable guidance in the areas
of literature review, designing of data collection instruments and data analysis because of
which, I believe that, this project has achieved its purpose.

I express my heartfelt gratitude TO SRI. RENJU RAGHUVEERAN, DR. SANJAY

MAHALINGAM and SRI. PIYUSH SRIVASTAVA for providing the computer system
facilities at Institute Computer Centre, without which this project would not have taken its
current shape.

I thank the HOSTEL COMPUTER CENTRE at Sri Sathya Sai Hostel for Senior Students,
Prasanthi Nilayam, for their constant help and support at the all the time.

I thank our Research Scholars, BROTHER G. ADITHYA and BROTHER K. J. SREENIVAS

for their enormous support and guidance in various phases of my project.

I thank all the MANAGERS of various banks that I visited as a requirement for my project,
for providing me with the necessary inputs and granting me with the necessary permissions to
administer the questionnaires to their employees. I also thank all the EMPLOYEES of these
banks, for taking their time out of their schedule to fill the questionnaires and for providing
responses in time.

I thank my PARENTS and RELATIVES for their constant encouragement and for providing
me with contacts of Bank Managers, for the data collection.

Last but never the least, I thank all my SAI BROTHERS and CLASSMATES for their
encouragement and motivation to undertake this project and complete it successfully.

ix
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 3
1.1. The Problem ............................................................................................................. 3
1.1.1. The Statement of Problem ............................................................................... 3
1.1.2. Need and Significance of the Study .................................................................. 4
1.2. Scope of the Study .................................................................................................... 4
1.3. Purpose of the study ................................................................................................ 4
1.3.1. Research Objectives.......................................................................................... 5
2. REVIEW OF RESEARCH AND LITERATURE ......................................................................... 9
2.1. Method of Literature Review ................................................................................... 9
2.2. Literature Review ................................................................................................... 10
2.2.1. Employee Engagement Evolution and Definitions: ..................................... 10
2.2.2. Employee Engagement Levels and Dimensions .......................................... 11
2.2.3. Employee Engagement Importance and Significance ................................. 12
2.2.4. Employee Engagement Drivers.................................................................... 14
2.2.5. Employee Engagement Models and Tools................................................... 19
2.2.6. Employee Engagement in India ...................................................................... 22
3. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND ......................................................................................... 25
3.1. The Construct of Employee engagement ............................................................... 25
3.2. Why banking Industry? ........................................................................................... 26
3.3. Why not any other industry?.................................................................................. 26
4. METHODOLOGY OF STUDY ............................................................................................. 29
4.1. Nature of the Study ................................................................................................ 29
4.2. Objectives of the Study........................................................................................... 29
4.3. Sampling Procedure................................................................................................ 29
4.4. Data Collection ....................................................................................................... 30
4.4.1. The Type of Data Collection............................................................................ 30
4.4.2. Methodology of designing the data collection tools ...................................... 30
4.4.3. The Data Collection Mode .............................................................................. 32
4.4.4. The Data acceptance - rejection criteria ........................................................ 32
4.5. Treatment of Data .................................................................................................. 33
4.5.1. Theme formulation & Collation ...................................................................... 33
4.5.2. Identification of Criteria for Questionnaire Survey ........................................ 34

xi
 4.5.3. Tabulation & Evaluation of Responses ........................................................... 35
4.5.4. Formulation of Combined Model and Selection of Questions ....................... 36
4.6. Limitations of the study .......................................................................................... 37
5. DATA ANALYSIS AND INTREPRETATION ......................................................................... 41
5.1. Tools used for Data Analysis ................................................................................... 41
5.2. Methodology of Data Analysis................................................................................ 41
5.3. Findings from Data Analysis ............................................................................... 48
5.3.1. Findings from Data Analysis - Public sector banks: ................................. 48
5.3.2. Findings Private sector banks: ................................................................. 51
6. SUMMARY CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS ............................................................... 57
6.1. Exploration of Man Management and Sai Babas Mahavakya on Leadership ....... 57
6.2. Reference to Online employee engagement articles ............................................. 57
6.3. Recommendations Formulation of Strategies ..................................................... 58
6.3.1. Strategies for both Public Sector Banks and Private Sector Banks................. 58
6.3.2. Strategies for Public Sector Banks .................................................................. 62
6.3.3. Strategies for Private Sector Banks ................................................................ 63
6.4. Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 65
7. APPENDIXES .................................................................................................................... 69
7.1. THE LIST OF BANKS VISITED .................................................................................... 69
7.2. THE COVER LETTER ................................................................................................. 70
7.3. THE QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY ................................................................................ 71
7.4. THE INTERVIEW QUESTIONS................................................................................... 76
7.5. THE EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT SCORES ................................................................. 77
8. BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................ 81
9. REFERENCES.................................................................................................................... 85

xii
 LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: Interview Questions and their themes ................................................................. 33

Table 2: Employee Engagement Survey - Questions and Criteria Basis ......................... 34

Table 3: Bank Employee Response Framework ................................................................ 35

Table 4: Questions for Analysis & their criterion ............................................................. 36

Table 5: Matching the Criteria............................................................................................ 36

Table 6: The Data Analysis Framework ............................................................................. 37

Table 7: Renaming the response range............................................................................... 41

Table 8: Selected questionnaire questions and their respective criterion ....................... 43

Table 9: :The cross tabulation of observations .................................................................. 46

Table 10: The Colour coding index ..................................................................................... 47

Table 11: Banks visited for data collection......................................................................... 69

Table 12: Public Sector Bank Employee engagement scores............................................ 77

Table 13: Private Sector Bank Employee engagement scores .......................................... 77

xiii
 LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Employee Engagement - an overview (Sarangi & Srivastava, 2012) .............. 10

Figure 2: The Ten Cs of Employee Engagement (Crim & Seijts, 2006) .......................... 16

Figure 3: The BlessingWhite's X Model of Employee Engagement (Sarangi S. , 2012). 20

Figure 4: Penna's model of Engagement Hierarchy (Mehta & Mehta, 2013) ................. 20

Figure 5: The Role based model of Employee Engagement (Welbourne, 2007) ............. 21

Figure 6: Calculation of criterion wise engagement score ................................................ 42

Figure 7: Calculation of average employee engagement score ......................................... 42

Figure 8: The cover letter .................................................................................................... 70

xiv
 ABSTRACT

In India, banks are functioning in a business environment, where in the technology

along with customer orientation, plays a crucial role. These aspects have boiled down
to the necessity of sustaining the functions of the banks, for which employees are the
mission critical factor. If the employees are engaged, they contribute towards the
organization and they would develop a bond with the organization such that they would
find it difficult to detach themselves from their work. Therefore, it is necessary to plan
and formulate strategies for developing the levels of employee engagement in banks
(private sector and public sector).

In order to determine the levels of employee engagement and formulating strategies

for taking the current engagement levels to the next level, employee engagement
survey and structured interviews were chosen respectively. While the interview
questions were framed based on the DecisionWise employee engagement survey, the
interview questions were designed with the purpose of identifying the managers
understanding of employee engagement and checking whether they had undertaken
any initiatives to promote employee engagement. The banks were generous enough to
respond for the data collection proposals, by providing with 90 bank employee
responses and 11 structured interviews, which formed the very basis for this project
work.

After performing the data analysis with the appropriate qualitative tools, the areas
where both public sector banks and private sector banks are leading and lagging, were
identified and suitable strategies were proposed to take their employee engagement to
the next higher levels.

xv
 CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1. INTRODUCTION

1.1. The Problem

In the current scenario of the corporate world, competition is at its brim. A set of
skilled, motivated and determined employees, is the need of the hour. However,
acquiring a set of quality personnel is a tedious as well as time consuming process
which involves a great deal of expenditure. It is indeed a great loss to the
organization if it is unable to retain such priceless assets. Therefore, there is a need
to design suitable ways and means to retain their human resource. This is the reason
behind the significance of a concept like Employee Engagement.

Employee Engagement is mission critical for the success of any organization

especially in a financial institution like bank, for the reason that, its the employees
who helps the organization to achieve its goals & objectives. The banks must never
lose sight of their employees and it must make constant efforts to ensure that they
are in line with the organizational objectives. The banks need to identify how their
employees feel about their work life. Once the banks identify where they are
lagging behind in terms of employees satisfaction levels with the organization,
they can take the measures to increase their level of employee engagement.

It is clear that employees are the vital intermediary between the banks & their
customers. If the employees do no deliver what is expected of them, then the banks
stand to lose.

1.1.1. The Statement of Problem

As a country, though India is progressing in the path of economic development, in

the banking sector, which is verily the backbone of its economy, employee
engagement is an emerging concept. It was felt that, to contribute towards the
countrys developmental journey, the banks need to lend an arm by providing the
necessary funds. If the banks are unable to deliver services to their customers, how
can they thrive to support the economic development of the nation? Therefore,
there is a need to identify and strengthen employee engagement levels of the banks

3
for their own welfare. By doing so, they would feel motivated to work and grow in
the organization and thus contribute for the growth of the nation into a developed
country.

1.1.2. Need and Significance of the Study

Employee Engagement is relevant in every fields of business and it has immense

importance in the banking sector. The banking sector is at present undergoing such
a business environment wherein, technology and internet plays the major role along
with high level of customer orientation and global presence. This in turn leads to
growth and competition amongst the players. Therefore, there is an endless need
for newer strategies for the banks to emerging as potential market leaders. They
are considered to be the power houses of global business. If they fail, the world
stands to fail. Without the employees and their skills, the bank cannot survive and
engagement of employees is the long term solution for the sustenance of the banks.

1.2. Scope of the Study

The study was conducted in the branches of selected public sector and private
sector banks in the Thrissur and Ernakulum districts of Kerala state.

1.3. Purpose of the study

The purpose of this study is to understand what is the banking sectors perception
about the concept of employee engagement and to what extent did the bank
employees and managers resonate with it in their daily work life. This study is
undertaken to propose certain strategies to the bank managers, acting upon which,
their organization would experience long term benefits.

4
 1.3.1. Research Objectives

This study has two objectives:

i. To understand the current levels of employee engagement in the private

sector banks and public sector banks in the Thrissur and Ernakulum districts
of the state of Kerala.
ii. To develop strategies for increasing the levels of employee engagement in
these banks

5
 CHAPTER 2
REVIEW OF RESEARCH
AND LITERATURE
2. REVIEW OF RESEARCH AND LITERATURE

2.1. Method of Literature Review

The concepts that define the search for literary sources for this project were
Employee Engagement and Banks. These concepts were the key words, that
provided with the necessary literature from the online databases of Google
Scholar and Ebscohost. Google search engine also helped, in the initial stages of
searching for literature. Putting the key words within inverted commas, helped in
finding the relevant articles. In Google Scholar the option of Related Articles,
helped profusely in finding some of the best articles from national and international
research journals.

Totally, 47 articles were identified online, out of which 13 best articles and two
online articles were selected for the literature review. The articles that had been
selected for the literature review belongs to the time period between the year 2006
and the year 2015. The basis for selection of these articles for literature review are
as follows: how relevant is the construct of employee engagement in the banking
sector of India, where the definitions of employee engagement valid and the
methodology of the research conducted (that is, how data was collected, what were
the instruments employed for analysis and what was the time span of research).

Key concepts obtained were as follows: Employee Engagement definitions,

Significance and Importance of Employee Engagement, Dimensions and Levels of
Employee Engagement, Drivers of Employee Engagement, Models that measures
Employee Engagement and Aspects of Employee Engagement in India. All the
relevant information was collected from the online databases of Google Scholar
and Ebscohost and the search engine Google.com.

9
2.2. Literature Review

In accordance with the Method of Literature Review, this section is subdivided

into six sections.

2.2.1. Employee Engagement Evolution and Definitions:

The construct of employee engagement had been evolved out of three basic
concepts of job satisfaction, employee commitment and Organizational Citizenship
Behavior (Markos & Sridevi, 2010). Even though employee engagement is directly
related to these concepts, employee engagement by itself is a broader concept,
which engulfs various virtues of the parent concepts of job satisfaction, employee
commitment and Organizational Citizenship Behavior. Employee engagement is a
combination of various feelings and attitudes that an employee expresses and
possesses respectively, towards the organization (Sarangi & Srivastava, 2012).

It refers to the degree to which the employees respect their organization, derives
happiness from their work and also develops belief in their work (Sarangi &
Srivastava, 2012). Employee engagement is verily a measuring scale of employees
degree of connection towards the organization. The following figure gives an
overview of the construct of employee along with its indicators (Sarangi &
Srivastava, 2012).

Figure 1: Employee Engagement - an overview (Sarangi & Srivastava, 2012)

10
High level of involvement in the work, positive attitudes and beliefs are
determinant factors of an organizations success. This positive relationship
between desirable set of attitudes and beliefs and high level of involvement at
work place represents the concept of employee engagement (Lockwood, 2007).
Employee engagement is not a onetime affair, but its a part of organizations
daily routine (Bhatla, 2011). It refers to the desire of the employee to pursue
his or her career, to feel proud about being a member of the organization and
to work hard for achieving the organizational goals (Sarangi S. , 2012).
Employee engagement is a measurement of the degree of happiness that the
employees derive from their work (Mehta & Mehta, 2013). To put it in a
nutshell, EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT = (COMMITMENT+PASSION+DEDICATION)
TOWARDS WORK.

2.2.2. Employee Engagement Levels and Dimensions

Employee engagement has three dimensions as well as three levels. As per the
Schaufeli and Baker Scale, employee engagement has the following
dimensions: Vigor, Dedication and Absorption (Sarangi & Srivastava, 2012).
Vigor explains the consistency of energy and the ability, showcased by the
employees, to stretch oneself to achieve the organizational goals. Dedication
refers to a sense of submission and commitment that the employees have
towards their work. Absorption is the degree of single pointed attention and
concentration that the employees shows towards their work, so much so that
they find it difficult to detach from it.

Meeres (2005) had given us the levels of employee engagement: Engaged, Not
Engaged and Disengaged (Bhatla, 2011). Engaged employees are totally in
sync with their environment and possess the ability to work with their
colleagues in such a way that the performance of the organization is improved
(Gummadi & Devi, 2012-13). They are psychologically and cognitively
healthy and are competent enough to take up challenges which they achieve
with their skill sets, level of motivation and commitment ( Saks & Gruman,
2014). Non-engaged employees are those employees who will perform their

11
tasks as per the instructions and they will not use their intuition to think in the
lines of how to improve the performance levels of the organization ( Mishra,
Kapse, & Bavad, 2013). Disengaged employee are the ones, who find
themselves totally disconnected with the organization, who shows disinterest
in their work as well as defensive in their approach and mechanical in doing
their work (Markos & Sridevi, 2010). Based on expressing the level of
commitment and dedication towards work, organization and groups, employee
engagement is classified into Task engagement, Organizational engagement
and Group/Team engagement respectively ( Saks & Gruman, 2014).

According to Kahn (1990) as cited by ( Saks & Gruman, 2014), an individuals

level of engagement is determined by three psychological conditions:
psychological meaningfulness, psychological safety and psychological
availability. Psychological meaningfulness refers to an individuals perception
about what it means to work in an organization and how does he or she benefit
out of it ( Saks & Gruman, 2014). Psychological safety means the freedom that
an individual experience when he or she expresses his or her idea, opinion or
suggestion, without any fear, towards any issues that the organization is dealing
with ( Saks & Gruman, 2014). Psychological availability is an individuals
capability and competency to contribute towards the achievement of
organizational goals ( Saks & Gruman, 2014). Lastly, it is the onus of the
organization to find out ways and means to increase the current levels of
employee engagement and strive to achieve complete engagement of their
entire workforce.

2.2.3. Employee Engagement Importance and Significance

Organizational success is directly related to the level of employee engagement

and the extent to which employees of an organization is engaged, is defined by
the degree of their commitment towards the organization and how well they are
connected with the organization (Sarangi & Srivastava, 2012). With employee
engagement comes innovation, as the employees are provided with autonomy

12
to express their ideas which might help the organization to orient its business
activities in a unique and effective manner (Sarangi S. , 2012).

Engaged personnel results in deliverance of quality products, which will in turn

lead to establish a strong customer relationship (Sarangi S. , 2012). Scarcity of
highly skilled people, the factors of complex business models and intense
competition, have a serious implication in terms of retaining talents within the
organization (Bhatla, 2011). The organizations have realized the importance of
employee engagement and are working in this direction i.e. to promote the
culture of engaged employees. The level of engaged employee is directly
proportional to the organizations competitive edge (Bhatla, 2011).

Along with deliverance of quality results, engaged employees provides towards

the shareholders with better returns on their investments, which they achieve
together as comprehensive work teams (Bhatla, 2011). An organization must
possess a set of engaged employees, as it is the key determinant of the
organizations sustenance, yield as well as overall worth (Gowri & Mariammal,
2012). Engaged employees and organization shares a symbiotic relationship (
Mishra, Kapse, & Bavad, 2013). The degree of dependence on engaged
employees will increase with respect to the increasing dependence of
organizations upon technology as well as the increasing level of business
activities in the international domain (Bhatla, 2011). It was empirically found
that engaged employees perform 20% better and 87% less likely to leave the
organization, than others ( Mishra, Kapse, & Bavad, 2013). All the above, high
level employee engagement helps its employees to rise up to the level of
becoming the emissaries of the organization (Bhagawati & Aralelimath, 2012).

Engaged employees expresses 100% involvement and enthusiasm at work.

They are attracted to, inspired by and committed to their work. A survey
conducted at New Century Finance Corporation (a USA based mortgage
banking company), found that, not engaged and disengaged employees
generates 23% and 28% less revenue respectively, as against the revenue
generated by the engaged employees. The statistics provided by this survey
indicates that employee engagement delivers best results (Crim & Seijts, 2006).
Employee engagement is recommended as the key for an organizations

13
effectiveness, accomplishment as well as competitiveness ( Saks & Gruman,
2014). In spite of being slow in getting it implemented, it is still an effective
process ( Saks & Gruman, 2014).

2.2.4. Employee Engagement Drivers

Employee engagement can be achieved with the help of certain key drivers
which will increase its current levels. The most important drivers of employee
engagement in any business organization are the sense of being valued by the
organization and being given an opportunity to voice opinions on managerial
decision making (Sarangi & Srivastava, 2012). Apart from this there are
various factors and drivers which encourages employee engagement.

Hewitt Survey (2003), as cited by (Sarangi S. , 2012), identified the following

drivers of employee engagement after conducting a study across 2000
companies. They are: employee relations, total rewards, career opportunity,
quality of work life, human resource practices and the actual Work. The
Accenture Human Capital Development framework, as cited by (Sarangi S. ,
2012), has stated that recognizing and rewarding performance, establishing a
learning environment, creating knowledge sharing communities and managing
culture of change would facilitate and foster employee engagement. The
Conference Board, (a USA based research organization), as cited by (Sarangi
S. , 2012), brings out five key drivers: trust and integrity, nature and content of
the job, career growth, team members and development of employee skill set.
According to Wellins (2009), as cited by (Bhatla, 2011), three parties are
responsible for promotion of employee engagement in the organization: the
Leaders, the Employees and the Organizational Strategies & Systems.
The factors of organizational culture, work-life balance, deliverance of result,
demography, emotional stability and customer satisfaction have a bearing on
developing employee engagement levels ( Mishra, Kapse, & Bavad, 2013). To
promote a high level of employee engagement, it is necessary to make the
employees feel that they too are major stakeholders of the organization (Roy ,
2013).

14
Employee engagement depends on the emotional commitment that the
employee exhibit towards his or her work (Lockwood, 2007). Emotional
commitment refers to the degree to which an employee feels motivated to
contribute towards the organization as he or she is benefited from the
organization in the form of ample and timely rewards which is of financial,
professional or developmental in nature (Lockwood, 2007). Attractive pay
packages and promotions to lucrative job posts are not the only drivers of
employee engagement. Softer issues such as gender equality, job quality, work-
life balance, flexibility at work place etc. are also to be looked at (Lockwood,
2007).

An emotionally intelligent employee expresses high levels of engagement at

work ( Saks & Gruman, 2014). Researchers have found that factors such as
autonomy, timely feedback on performance of job and a supportive and caring
environment has a direct and positive relationship with the level of employee
engagement ( Saks & Gruman, 2014).The quality of leadership at the realm of
organization reflects the level of its employee engagement ( Saks & Gruman,
2014). For the employees to be engaged, the leaders themselves must be
engaged. The leaders must explain to their employees the importance of their
roles towards the organizational goal achievement. They must ensure that the
work environment is conducive for the employees to perform non-core jobs
(Welbourne, 2007).

A set of ten effective drivers were identified by Mr. Dan Crim and Professor
Gerard Seijts, a research scholar - professor duo from Ivey Business School.
The ten Cs of employee engagement refers to a set of factors which helps the
employer to harmonize the intellect, passion and action of the employees such
that the employees finds themselves fully engaged (Crim & Seijts, 2006).

15
 Connect

Confidence Career

Credibility Clarity
10 Cs of
Employee
Engagement
Collaborate Convey

Control Congratulate

Contribute

Figure 2: The Ten Cs of Employee Engagement (Crim & Seijts, 2006)

Connect:

It is very important for a manager to develop a good relationship with his or

her employees. A strong bond between the manager and the employees is the
key for achieving the organizational objectives. Giving an employee the
opportunity to be a part of decision making processes, taking up initiatives such
as profit sharing and work life balancing are some of the means to strengthen
this bond. Once the employees know that they are valued by the company, there
is a greater possibility of increasing in their level of engagement.

16
Career:

Employees must be given challenging yet attainable tasks which matches their
skill set and knowledge. It is necessary for the managers to instill in their
employees, the confidence to take up the challenges and to rise up to the
occasions. The managers must encourage the employees as and when they
achieve a significant milestone in their career. By providing the space for
creativity and innovation, employees will be encouraged to solve a problem, to
take a decision or to perform a task in a totally different manner. This might
give the organization an upper hand over its competitors by retaining a set of
engaged employees.

Clarity:

Employees must be provided with clarity in the areas of their job, the
organizations expectations from them and what the organization stands for. If
the managers at the realm of affairs are not clear, then the employees cannot be
expected to have a sense of commitment and passion towards their work as well
as to the organization.

Convey:

The managers must provide feedback to their employees, so that the employees
will recognize where they are making errors and where they are doing a good
job. Giving the feedback only at the end of the quarter or at the end of the
financial year during the performance appraisal sessions, may turn out to be a
demotivating factor. Therefore, it is necessary to provide feedback between
smaller and definite time periods.

Congratulate:

When things go wrong, the employees do not deliver in accordance with the
organizations expectation and they receive immediate feedback. However,

17
there is a notion that when they achieve par excellence, there is a time lag in
terms of appreciation. The managers must not hesitate to applaud and
congratulate their employees when they deliver quality results.

Contribute:

For an engaged set of employees, it is necessary for the managers to let them
understand the impact of their work on the organization and its performance.
Once the employees understand that their contribution does have an effect on
the overall performance of the organization, there is a positive change in their
attitude towards work.

Control:

Employees must be given opportunities to control their work and the way it is
done. Once they are given the autonomy to do so, they can carry out their work
in their own ways and achieve the desired results. If the organization is ready
to acknowledge this, they will be rewarded with a set of highly motivated,
committed and passionate employees, who will act as the catalyst in the process
of achieving organizational goal, by delivering excellent results.

Collaborate:

A successful team is an important determinant of employee engagement. It has

been observed that if the employee has been cared for and supported by his or
her team members, there is a greater chance for such employees remaining with
the organization and contributing towards the achievement of its goals.

Credibility:

The employees must have a sense of pride towards the fact that they are the
representatives of the organization and they stand for their organizational

18
values. For this to happen, the managers must ensure that the organization
functions on the basis of clearly set path.

Confidence:

There is a need for the management to set up their organization based on a set
of core values which can never be compromised upon, even at times of crisis.
This attitude of organization towards its value system can instill in their
employee with confidence upon the ethical and moral stand of the organization,
which helps in their retention.

2.2.5. Employee Engagement Models and Tools

This section briefly discusses about those tools and models that were identified
in the course of literature review, which are explained as follows:

The Gallup Questions (Sarangi S. , 2012): Gallup, the world famous

performance management research consulting organization has come up with
a comprehensive set of twelve questions, which helps in measuring the aspects
of employee engagement with respect to the organizations business results. It
is a highly effective and widely tested instrument.

BlessingWhites X model of Employee Engagement (Sarangi S. , 2012): This

model is developed by BlessingWhite, a leadership and employee engagement
consultancy firm which is a division of GP Strategies Corporation a USA based
professional and technology services company. This model measures the
employee engagement based on the responses that the employees provide and
provide the organization with solutions to engage their employees at all the four
levels: individual, managers, executives and organization.

19
 Figure 3: The BlessingWhite's X Model of Employee Engagement (Sarangi S. , 2012)

In the above figure the letter i stands for individuals, m stands for managers,
e stands for executives and o stands for organization.

Penna Research the Hierarchy of Engagement Model (Mehta & Mehta,

2013): This model is a blend of Abraham Maslows Need Hierarchy theory and
employee engagement levels. As the employees find themselves getting
engaged with the organization they find themselves as better equipped for
greater responsibilities.

Figure 4: Penna's model of Engagement Hierarchy (Mehta & Mehta, 2013)

20
Hewitt Associates Model of Employee engagement (Sarangi S. , 2012): This
model was developed by Aon Hewitt, which measure the degree of employee
engagement in an organization based on the factors of employee behavior,
business performance and customer satisfaction and thus indicate the major
drivers of employee engagement in that organization.

Role based performance model (Welbourne, 2007): Role based employee

engagement model is used for explaining the concept of employee engagement
keeping the achievement of organizational goals as the basis. This model helps
to determine the desirable set of employee behaviors which will help in
delivering best results that aligns with the overall organizational performance.
This model highlights five major roles that the employees have to play in their
organizational setup: Job (defined by the job description of the employee),
Entrepreneur or Innovator (expressing their ideas and voicing their opinions
with respect to organizational issues as well as involving in the activities related
to unique and effective ways of doing business), Team Member (performing
activities as a team player and expressing group dynamism), Career Focus
(continuously engaging in learning and skill building activities which will help
in exploring new contours of the profession) and Organizational Member
(performing the assigned jobs keeping in mind the overall wellbeing of the
organization).

Figure 5: The Role based model of Employee Engagement (Welbourne, 2007)

21
DecisionWise Employee engagement survey (DecisionWise Leadership
Intelligence, n.d.): This is an employee engagement survey developed by
DecisionWise Leadership Intelligence, which is a US based management
consulting firm. Apart from employee engagement surveys, DecisionWise
provides a plethora of services to its corporate clients such as Action planning,
Online surveys, 360-degree feedback, Leadership coaching and Talent
assessment and development. The questions posed by the DecisionWise
employee engagement asks the employees to give their opinions regarding four
significant areas of their work life: Job, Team, Boss & Organization. This
survey aims at determining solutions with the help of identifying the level of
employee engagement from the responses sought of the employees.

2.2.6. Employee Engagement in India

Employee engagement, in India is at its emerging stage (Sarangi S. , 2012). The

concept is new and there have been researches springing up in this area in order
to extract the benefits, which will bring about a revolutionary change in the
degree of performance and morale of the Indian business organizations.

As per the BlessingWhites model of employee engagement, 37% of the

employees in India are engaged, 12% is disengaged and remaining 51% is not
engaged (Roy , 2013). HDFC Bank and ICICI Bank in Lucknow (Uttar
Pradesh), have recognized the potentialities of employee engagement and they
provide their employees with employee engagement training in two modules:
Class room training and E-learning based training (Bhatla, 2011). State Bank
of India, one of the largest and biggest brand of India, has introduced, Citizen
Chat, an internet based facility that gives the autonomy to its employees to ask
questions or address issues on any topic they want, across hierarchy and across
branches (Bhatla, 2011). In India people are progressing in terms of
understanding the possibilities of employee engagement in the Banking Sector
(Bhagawati & Aralelimath, 2012).

22
CHAPTER 3
THEORETICAL
BACKGROUND
3. THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

Under this sections the major construct that forms the basis of this project, reasons
behind the choice of industry for project and the reasons behind not choosing any
other industry are discussed.

3.1. The Construct of Employee engagement

There are many factors that contribute towards the sustenance and success of a
company like products and services, strategies, technological know-how, cost
structure and so on. However, the one and the only thing which creates a
sustainable competitive advantage, that serves as the basis for the strength of the
organization in the long run, are the employees of the organization. The workforce
associated with an organization can make or break its business and it is of utmost
importance that, the employees of an organization are well trained, well equipped,
satisfied and ultimately, engaged.

Employee satisfaction means that the employees commitment to come to work

based on scheduled work timings and contribute towards the organization, for
which, he or she is duly compensated. So long as the employees monetary and
personal needs are taken care, they stay with the organization, if not, they leave in
search of a better prospective workplace. The concept of employee engagement is
different in terms of the orientation of employees. As a concept employee
engagement is a superset of many sub-concepts like connect, attitude, satisfaction,
involvement, passion towards work, level of dedication, commitment (all
pertaining to the employees of the organizations). An engaged employee is
concerned towards the outcome of his or her contribution to the business of the
organization. He or she aligns their personal goals with that of the organizations
and thus strives to achieve both. Such employees are priceless assets to the
organizations and in turn the organizations should take necessary measures to
foster engagement of employees at their workplace.

25
3.2. Why banking Industry?

Banking industry has been chosen for this project due to three reasons:

i. It is an industry where employees are mission critical for its survival

ii. The researchers interest in the field of banking
iii. Ease of data collection due to availability of contacts

The data collection was confined to the districts of Thrissur and Ernakulum
districts of the state of Kerala due to ease of data collection and availability of
contacts of Bank Managers.

3.3. Why not any other industry?

The project is done on the basis of familiarity of industry and the interest of the
researcher in the industry. The researcher has had a previous experience with the
banking industry which was related to an academic assignment and based on the
contacts gathered thereon, the researcher proceeded with the data collection and
data analysis. Moreover, the researcher had felt that employee engagement is
necessary for the banks, since there is a need to make it a part of their daily work
schedule which would result in the achievement of organizational goals.

26
 CHAPTER 4
METHODOLOGY AND
DESIGN OF STUDY
4. METHODOLOGY OF STUDY

Under this section, nature of the study, objectives of the study, sampling procedure,
data collection, treatment of the data and limitations of the study are discussed.

4.1. Nature of the Study

The study conducted is qualitative in nature. The Gallup questions model and sub-
group analysis were performed on the data collected with the help of questionnaire
survey and structured interviews.

4.2. Objectives of the Study

The following are the objectives of the study:

i. To understand the current levels of employee engagement in the public

sector banks and private sector banks in the Thrissur and Ernakulum
districts of the state of Kerala.
ii. To develop strategies for increasing the levels of employee engagement in
these banks.

4.3. Sampling Procedure

The sampling technique deployed for this study is convenience sampling. The
study consists of both questionnaire survey and structured interview. The
questionnaire survey was administered on the employees of branches of a public
sector banks and private sector banks, irrespective of their job description. The
structured interviews were conducted with the senior most executives of the bank
or with those managers who were deputed by the executive. A total of 11
structured interviews and 90 questionnaire responses were obtained from the
industry.

29
4.4. Data Collection

In this section, the type of data collected, the methodology of designing the data
collection tools, the mode of data collection and the criterion of acceptance or
rejection of the data collected are discussed.

4.4.1. The Type of Data Collection

The data for this study was collected from primary sources by using a combination
of structured interviews and questionnaire survey. As the study was on
understanding the employee engagement levels of banking sector and formulating
strategies for developing its current levels, it was necessary to take resort to
primary sources of data.

4.4.2. Methodology of designing the data collection tools

For collecting data, both questionnaire and structured interviews were deployed.
The interview questions were designed for appreciating the bank managers
understanding on the concept of employee engagement. It also helps in knowing
the initiatives which they suggest to implement or had implemented to develop
their employee engagement levels. The questionnaire was intended to measure the
current level of employee engagement in the banking sector and to use the
information for substantiating the transcripts of structured interviews.

The questions for the interviews were framed with the help of the project supervisor
and a visiting faculty member to the department of management and commerce,
who were kind enough to point out the areas wherein the questions were to be
asked. For identifying this areas, it was advised to draw a concept map. The concept
map gave a better picture of the construct of employee engagement and it depicted
various components of employee engagement such as definitions, dimensions,
significance and drivers. The visiting faculty member indicated that the study must
be done on the initiatives of the banking sector towards promoting employee

30
engagement in the organization, with the help of the competency map. Thus, the
questions where framed based on the drivers of employee engagement.

When it came to framing the questions for questionnaire survey, the literature
review formed as the basis for choosing a suitable model. In total six models were
identified from the literature review:

i. The Gallup Questions

ii. BlessingWhites X model of Employee Engagement
iii. Penna Research the Hierarchy of Engagement Model
iv. Hewitt Associates Model of Employee engagement
v. Role based performance model
vi. DecisionWise Employee engagement survey

After going through each model of employee engagement, DecisionWise

Employee engagement survey was chosen for data collection. DecisionWise
Employee engagement survey was selected because of its metrics of employee
engagement levels which measures the employees opinions on their work, team,
manager and their organization.

Once the questionnaires were obtained after the responses were sought, for each
question a criterion was assigned, which was collated with the Gallup questions.
Gallup questions, helped in measuring the aspects of employee engagement with
respect to the organizations business results. These models were put to use instead
of any of the other four models because the chosen model considers both the
employee perspective and the organizations business point of view. The other
models are complex and they are deployed by the organizations when they conduct
employee engagement programs, which involves professional help and huge
expenditure. With respect to the need of this study, the above mentioned models
were found appropriate and hence it was decided to proceed with them.

31
 4.4.3. The Data Collection Mode

The data collection was done by visiting the bank branches in person. This method
was chosen for two reasons:

i. Since the study was done in the field of Human Resource Management, it
was assumed that unless the banks were sure about the purpose of the data
collection, they would be defensive in providing with the necessary data.
Therefore, field visits were considered to be the suitable approach inorder
to build the trust amongst the managers and employees.

ii. The data collection was done primarily through structured interviews. In
order to substantiate the data obtained from the interview, it was essential
to administer a questionnaire survey on the employees by seeking their
opinion. Moreover, the pen and paper mode of survey was found to be
effective than online questionnaire format because of the ease in follow-up,
ease in acceptance or rejection of the responses and for keeping a check on
the soundness of the information. It helps to understand which employees
have not filled the entire questionnaire at the field itself and if possible they
could be requested to fill their incomplete questionnaire.

4.4.4. The Data acceptance - rejection criteria

For the data collected through interviews, the criterion used for its acceptance or
rejection was based on the quality and depth of information provided by the bank
managers (interviewees). If their responses were not found to be satisfactory
despite multiple attempts of probing them and explaining to them the intention of
the questions, the interviews were rejected as whole. For the questionnaire survey
the criterion was whether all the questions were answered by the employees. If the
questionnaire was found to be incomplete and even if one of the questions was
found unanswered, it was rejected. These measures were taken in order to ensure
the reliability and validity of the data collected.

32
 4.5. Treatment of Data

After the collection of data through the interviews and questionnaire surveys, the
following series of activities were performed:

i. Formulation of themes for the interview questions and collation of

information theme wise.
ii. Establishing criterion for each of the questionnaire survey questions.
iii. Tabulation of questionnaire survey responses and evaluation of responses.
iv. Combining the DecisionWise Employee engagement survey with Gallup
questions and selecting the questions which were common to both the
models.

4.5.1. Theme formulation & Collation

A series of 8 questions where posed to each of the branch managers of banks. The
responses so obtained were collated and themes were formulated for each of the
questions. The following table indicate themes that were assigned for each of the
interview questions:
Questions Themes Assigned

1. What are the measures undertaken by your bank when it Measures to strengthen the Bank-
comes to strengthening the relationship between the Employee Relationship
employees and the Bank?
2. How do the above reflect in the day to day functions of the Effect of putting the measures into
Bank? Can I understand this, using example? practise
3. To enhance the levels of employee engagement, what are Employee Engagement initiatives
the various initiatives undertaken?
4. Do you see any significant relationship between the level Employee engagement level and Banks
of employee engagement and the banks performance level? performance level the relation
5. Is employee retention a good measure for level of Employee Retention A good measure
engagement? for Engagement
6. What steps would you recommend to increase the level of Steps to increase the current level of
engagement? Employee Engagement
7. Does the bank provide employees with avenues to express Employees opinions and views
their opinions and views?
8. In comparison with your counterparts in the industry, what Overall engagement level as against their
is your view regarding the overall level of employee counterparts
engagement in your bank?

Table 1: Interview Questions and their themes

33
 Once the themes were assigned, the transcripts of the interview from public sector
banks and private sector banks were referred and insights were drawn, which were
recorded against each of the themes, in separate Microsoft Excel sheets.

4.5.2. Identification of Criteria for Questionnaire Survey

As a part of the field visits, the questionnaire survey which was administered across
the banks, was formulated based on the DecisionWise Employee engagement survey.
The questionnaire which was named as the Employee Engagement Survey consists
of 18 questions divided into four sections: My Job, My Team, My Boss and My
Organization. All the questions were close ended, following the Likert scale pattern.
The responses range were: Agree strongly, Agree slightly, Neutral, Disagree
strongly and Disagree slightly. Each question was separately looked at and were
assigned with a criterion. The following table shows the questionnaire survey questions
and their respective criterion:

Questions Criteria basis

I have the necessary equipment & tools to assist me to do my job well Basic level
Most days I see positive results because of my work Optimism
In the recently concluded financial year, I have had opportunities at work , to learn and grow Career growth
There is someone at work who encourages my development Extrinsic motivation from
other employees
The amount of work I am expected to do is reasonable Perception of workload
The people I work with take accountability and ownership for results Responsible team
The people I work with treat me with respect Peer treatment
My co-workers and I openly talk about what needs to be done to be more effective Orientation
My Boss helps me understand how my work is important to the organization Extrinsic motivation from
the boss
My Boss is approachable and easy to talk to Relationship building
My Boss creates a motivating and energizing workplace Peaceful work life
My Boss sets high expectations for our teams performance Strength building
The vision & goals of the organization are important to me personally Alignment of goals
For me, this organization provides attractive training & development opportunities Organizational Learning
opportunities
There are opportunities for my career growth , in this organization Growth
My opinions are sought on issues that affect me and my job Have a say
This organization cares about employees Concern
I would recommend this organization as a great place to work Overall view

Table 2: Employee Engagement Survey - Questions and Criteria Basis

34
 4.5.3. Tabulation & Evaluation of Responses

After setting the criteria for the questionnaire survey, the responses from the pen
and paper format of the questionnaire was recorded into Microsoft Excel sheets
and the responses obtained from each bank was separately tabulated. After
tabulating the responses for each bank, the responses were further categorized into
Public sector banks and Private sector banks. The following table is the
framework that was used for tabulating the responses:

Total Number of xxx Type of xxx

BANK EMPLOYEE RESPONSES Responses Bank

Responses
Questions
Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Disagree
Strongly Slightly Slightly Strongly
I have the necessary equipment & tools to assist me to
do my job well
Most days I see positive results because of my work

In the recently concluded financial year, I have had

opportunities at work , to learn and grow
There is someone at work who encourages my
development
The amount of work I am expected to do is reasonable

The people I work with take accountability and

ownership for results
The people I work with treat me with respect

My co-workers and I openly talk about what needs to be

done to be more effective
My Boss helps me understand how my work is important
to the organization
My Boss is approachable and easy to talk to

My Boss creates a motivating and energizing workplace

My Boss sets high expectations for our teams

performance
The vision & goals of the organization are important to
me personally
For me, this organization provides attractive training &
development opportunities
There are opportunities for my career growth , in this
organization
My opinions are sought on issues that affect me and my
job
This organization cares about employees

I would recommend this organization as a great place to

work

Table 3: Bank Employee Response Framework

35
 4.5.4. Formulation of Combined Model and Selection of Questions

The questionnaire survey had 18 questions and reflected the employees opinion
regarding their job, colleagues, superior and their organization at large. The Gallup
questions which were identified during the literature review phase were found to
be of great significance with respect to the data analysis as it reflects the aspects of
employee engagement with respect to the organizations business results.
Therefore, it was decided that, both the models would be combined and those
questions which have common criterion would be chosen for the analysis. Out of
12 Gallup questions 8 coincided with the DecisionWise Employee engagement
survey questions. Both public bank responses and private bank responses were
separately analyzed. The following tables shows the Gallup Questions selected
along with their corresponding criterion, matching of Gallup question criteria with
the questionnaire criteria and the data analysis framework:

Gallup Questions Selected Criteria Assigned

I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right. Basic Level of Engagement
At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day. Empowerment
My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person. Concern

At work, my opinions seem to count. Opinion Counts

My associates or fellow employees are committed to doing quality work Commitment of Colleagues
I have a best friend at work. Best Friend at work
In the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about my
progress. Progress
This last year, I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow. Growth opportunity
Table 4: Questions for Analysis & their criterion

Gallup Questions Criteria Employee Engagement Survey

Questions Criteria
Basic Level Basic Level
Empowerment Optimism, Peaceful work life
Concern Extrinsic motivation from the boss ,
Relationship building
Opinion Counts Have a say
Commitment of colleagues Responsible teams, Orientation
Best Friend at work Peer treatment
Progress Extrinsic motivation from the other
employees
Growth Opportunities Career growth, Organizational learning
opportunities, Growth
Table 5: Matching the Criteria

36
Category of Bank : Private/Public
Question Highly Engaged Not engaged Disengaged Highly
engaged disengaged
Basic Level of
Engagement
Best Friend at
work
Commitment of
Colleagues
Concern
Empowerment
Growth
opportunity
Opinion Counts
Progress
Table 6: The Data Analysis Framework

4.6. Limitations of the study

Some of the banks that were approached for data collection were initially
apprehensive about sharing the necessary information, in spite of reassuring them
that data is collected exclusively for academic purpose. This formed the basis for
certain limitations of the data analysis.

The following are the limitations:

i. The sample size of the questionnaire survey was limited to 90 which might
result in the possibility of skewness of the data. The reason behind a small
sample size is because of certain banks defensive approach in providing
with the necessary responses. Of the 90 responses obtained, 35 responses
were from public sector banks and 55 responses were from private sector
banks. Even though these responses were given equal weightage in data
analysis, the difference in the number of responses between the public
sector and private sector might bring certain disparities in the data analysed.

ii. The study is limited to the two districts of Kerala State due to constraints
associated with travelling to places and ease of availability of contacts and
information.

37
iii. The DecisionWise Employee engagement survey which was used for the
questionnaire survey had more than 18 questions which were not ventured
into, since it might be tedious for the employees to give response. It is
assumed that the more the number of questions asked, lesser would be the
amount of sincerity in the response.

iv. Multinational Banks which are having their operations in India were not
subjected to the scope of this study because of their business policies which
restricts them from providing them with the necessary information. Taking
them into consideration might have helped the researcher to draw better
insights as they are better aware and experienced with concepts like
Employee engagement.

v. All the Gallup questions could not be analysed since the basic tool chosen
was DecisionWise Employee engagement survey. Only those questions
which were having a common criterion between the DecisionWise
employee engagement survey and Gallup Questions were subjected to data
analysis.

38
 CHAPTER 5
DATA ANALYSIS AND
INTERPRETATION
5. DATA ANALYSIS AND INTREPRETATION

In this section the tools used for data analysis, the process of data analysis and the
findings from data analysis are dealt in detail.

5.1. Tools used for Data Analysis

The data for this study was obtained through questionnaire survey and structured
interviews. The tools used for analyzing these data were Gallup question model and
subgroup analysis

5.2. Methodology of Data Analysis

By using Gallup question model, the response ranges were converted from degree of
agreement to degree of engagement. The following table indicates the renaming of
response range:

Questionnaire Response Range Data Analysis

Response Range
Agree Strongly Highly engaged
Agree Slightly Engaged
Neutral Not engaged
Disagree Slightly Disengaged
Disagree Strongly Highly disengaged
Table 7: Renaming the response range

The response ranges were reduced from five to just three: Engagement, Not Engaged,
Disengagement. Highly engaged & engaged responses were combined to form the
response: engagement. Highly disengaged & disengaged responses were combined
to form the response: disengagement. Once the response ranges were redefined, the
engagement score for each criterion in the questionnaire were identified. By adding up
the engagement scores of all the criteria the total engagement score was found. This

41
total engagement score was divided by the total number of criterions, to arrive at the
average engagement score. Totally 8 criteria were selected for the study. The following
figures shows the calculation of individual criterion engagement scores and the average
engagement score:

Figure 6: Calculation of criterion wise engagement score

Figure 7: Calculation of average employee engagement score

42
The sub group analysis was used for comparing the data collected with the literature
review and identifying the commonalities. These commonalities where later studied in
detail under a matrix structure, comprising of public sector banks and private sector
banks as against commonalities from interview-literature review and questionnaire-
literature review. Along with the eight criteria, four more criteria were found from the
questionnaire survey since they were mentioned as key employee engagement drivers
in the literature review. The following are the four criteria.

Questionnaire questions Criteria

My Boss sets high expectations for our teams Responsibility assignment

performance

The vision & goals of the organization are important to Aligned to Organizational Goals
me personally

This organization cares about employees Caring Environment

I would recommend this organization as a great place to Great place to work

work
Table 8: Selected questionnaire questions and their respective criterion

On comparing data collected with the literature review the following observations were
found:

Interview-Literature Commonalities:

1. Employees should be given autonomy to express their opinions & voice their
views. The banks had provided them with avenues like in house magazine,
open house informal meetings, organizational gatherings, intranet websites and
employee grievance redressal forums for the same.

2. Factors such as good work relationship, awareness of organizations

expectations, periodical performance review, attractive salary package and
promotion policies, creating knowledge sharing environment, empowerment,

43
 recognition of achievements, caring work environment, employee skill
development programmes drives employee engagement in the organizations.
The banks have such measures made operational in their work environment.

3. Organizational success & Employee engagement go hand in hand. This a

positive was confirmed by the bank managers.

4. Engaged employees bring in customer loyalty & more business, for which the
banks provide them with necessary training.

5. For effective change management it is necessary to have a set of engaged

employees.

6. Employee engagement is a long term & continuous process. There is a need for
its continuous monitoring.

7. Engaged employees help in delivering quality products and services either

through their work or through their opinions & views.

8. In the Indian banks, employee engagement is in the emerging stage, since the
mangers have not understood and appreciated its immense importance in a
highly competitive business environment. When they were asked to suggest
certain steps to improve their current levels of employee engagement, most of
the bank managers suggested to initiate employment bond & hire only
graduates from tier two or tier three educational institutions. It is assumed that
such measures, although help in retaining the work force, might result in poor
performance of the employees & significant drop in the financial performance
of the bank, due to employee disengagement and lack of appropriate skill sets.

44
Qustionnaire-Literature Commonalities:

1. 89.48% of the employees are engaged when it comes to the attitude &
behaviour of their colleagues.

2. 76.36% of the employees are engaged due to the commitment shown by their
colleagues & team mates in contributing towards the organizational goal
achievement.

3. 84.42% of the employees are engaged due to the concern & care shown by
their supervisors in terms of guidance & explaining to them about the work
expected from them.

4. 75.00% of the employees are engaged because they feel empowered because
of the energizing & inspiring work environment where they work & because
of the people who helps in creating such an atmosphere.

5. 78.01% of the employees are engaged because of the career growth

opportunities offered by the bank.

6. 63.38% of the employees are engaged when it comes to the organization

listening to their opinions & acknowledges them in turn.

7. 82.99% of the employees are engaged because there are people in the
organization who encourages their development & provide them with
necessary skills through training.

8. 83.38% of the employees are engaged because they are given challenging as
well as attainable tasks by their supervisor by setting high targets.

45
 9. 85.32% of the employees are engaged as they understand & personify the
organizations goals by their day to day action, i.e. they are aligned to the pre-
set goals of the organization.
10. 73.64% of the employees are engaged because they feel cared by the
organization.

11. 78.70% of the employees are engaged because of a conducive work

environment.

Interview observations and Questionnaire Criteria Public Private

Sector Sector
Banks Banks
Best Friend at work

Aligned to Org. goals

Concern

Progress

Responsibility assignment

Growth opportunity

Great place to work

Basic Level of Engagement

Caring Environment

Empowerment

Commitment of Colleagues

Opinion Counts

Knowledge Sharing Environment

Rewards & recognition & Attractive Salary Package

Periodic performance review NIL

Table 9: :The cross tabulation of observations

After assessing the interview questions, data analysis of interview transcripts was The
observations made were analysed in the following tabular framework:

46
 Public Private
Description of Colour Colours sector sector
banks banks
MEASURES WERE TAKEN & HIGH 3 0

MEASURES WERE TAKEN & LOW 3 3

MEASURES WERE NOT TAKEN & HIGH 3 6

MEASURES WERE NOT TAKEN & LOW 2 2

INITIATIVES WERE TAKEN BUT NOT 2 2

MEASURED
INITIATIVES WERE NOT EXPRESSED BUT 1 1
MEASURED
Total 14 14

Table 10: The Colour coding index

In the above table the observations are studied against the public sector banks and
private sector banks. Appropriate colours are used to depict the status of the criteria.

Each colour has a description which is appropriately mentioned below:

i. MEASURES WERE TAKEN & HIGH: This means that the banks had
taken appropriate measures for developing the levels of employee
engagement with respect to the criterion or the observation mentioned and
the employee engagement score with respect to that criterion or observation
as against the average employee engagement score of the sector (public
sector banks or private sector banks) was high.

ii. MEASURES WERE TAKEN & LOW: This means that the banks had
taken appropriate measures for developing the levels of employee
engagement with respect to the criterion or the observation mentioned and
the employee engagement score with respect to that criterion or observation
as against the average employee engagement score of the sector (public
sector banks or private sector banks) was low.

iii. MEASURES WERE NOT TAKEN & HIGH: This means that the banks
had not taken any appropriate measures for developing the levels of

47
 employee engagement with respect to the criterion or the observation
mentioned and the employee engagement score with respect to that
criterion or observation as against the average employee engagement score
of the sector (public sector banks or private sector banks) was high.

iv. MEASURES WERE NOT TAKEN & LOW: This means that the banks
had not taken any appropriate measures for developing the levels of
employee engagement with respect to the criterion or the observation
mentioned and the employee engagement score with respect to that
criterion or observation as against the average employee engagement score
of the sector (public sector banks or private sector banks) was low.

v. INITIATIVES WERE TAKEN BUT NOT MEASURED: This means that

the banks had taken initiatives for developing the levels of employee
engagement with respect to the criterion or the observation mentioned, but
it was not measured by the questionnaire survey.
vi. INITIATIVES WERE NOT EXPRESSED BUT MEASURED: This means
that certain initiatives taken by the banks were not found explicitly stated
in the literature review, but it was measured by the questionnaire survey.

5.3. Findings from Data Analysis

In this section, the findings from data analysis is categorized into two sub-section:
Public sector banks and Private sector bank findings.

5.3.1. Findings from Data Analysis - Public sector banks:

i. The managers had advocated that they had already taken the necessary
initiatives to ensure that their employees have a platform like periodical staff
meetings, suggestion box, information technology-based solutions like video
conferencing & enquiry, in-house magazines etc. to express their views &
voice their opinions. However, only 68.57% of the employees were engaged

48
 (remaining 20.00% not engaged and 11.43% disengaged) with respect to
expressing their opinions. The public sector banks have to focus more in this
aspect. They need to lend their ears to their employees and acknowledge them
for their suggestions and opinion. When employees are heard and
acknowledged, it will generate a feeling that the organization cares for their
opinion, which will boost their morale and gets translated into delivery of good
results. Above all, the engagement levels of these employees increases and it
would result in customer satisfaction & loyalty.

ii. Most of the public sector banks consider training as a driver of employee
engagement or an employee engagement initiative. Employee trainings were
hosted at various locations (at zonal levels & country levels). When referred
to the literature with respect to drivers of employee engagement, training was
not identified as a driver of employee engagement. Besides, trainings are
necessarily structured organizational programmes that equip their employees
to discharge their responsibilities in the organization with respect to the duties
assigned to them. Therefore, training may not be a major employee
engagement driver which takes employee engagement to a higher level, but a
prerequisite for being an employee.

iii. One of the bank manager advocated that their bank had taken measures when
it came to maintaining a good work relationship amongst the bank & its
employees. When looked at the questionnaire survey responses from that
branch, only 1 out 5 employees answered that their bank was a great place to
work. This was the case with only one of the branches of that public sector
bank. Similar kind of responses could be expected, if the study was done across
the banking sector of the country.

iv. Employee empowerment needs to be looked at when it comes to public sector

banks. Even though the employees were recruited from the Banking Service
Recruitment Board and the banks need not really spent time & effort on
recruitment processes, engaging their current employees would reward the
efforts of the recruitment body by reducing their challenges related to work
pressures. Employee empowerment is an area where the public sector banks

49
 had not taken any significant measures and the employees are having a low
level of engagement.

v. The employee engagement score with respect to commitment of colleagues is

low (80.00% as against the average engagement score of 85.48%). The public
banks had not taken any measures which will encourage their employees to
come together and formulate their own plans towards achieving the
organizational goals. It is suggested that the banks encourage their employees
to come up with innovative ventures to scale greater heights. It is mutually
beneficial, as the banks would have better results and employees could unleash
their potential and realize their latent talents that might reward them with
promotion and career growth.

vi. When it came to performance review, in comparison with private sector banks,
the public sector banks were not up to the mark. There is a need for periodic
performance reviews (suggested to be conducted on quarterly or bimonthly
basis). Conducting performance reviews are highly beneficial, as the
employees will be aware of where they are making mistakes. In addition, the
timeliness of such reviews would avoid any kind of employee burnouts.

vii. The public sector banks had achieved high levels of engagement in the
following areas: Best friend at work 97.14%, Aligned to Organizational
goals 94.29% & Responsibility Assignment 88.57%. In these areas,
banks did not take any significant measures to develop the levels of their
employee engagement and yet they could achieve significant employee
engagement scores.

viii. The public sector banks took measures with respect to employee engagement
and achieved a high level of engagement in these areas: Concern 94.29%,
Progress 91.43% & Growth opportunity 85.71%.

ix. The banks had also taken measure when it came to knowledge sharing, timely
rewards and recognition and providing lucrative salary packages.

50
 5.3.2. Findings Private sector banks:

i. In the private sector banks, the branch managers who were interviewed
collectively agreed that they acknowledge their employees opinions and
views. They replied that they successfully run an internal information
technology-based system, wherein the employees could anonymously put
forward their views, suggestions & opinions. They conducted regular surveys
and circulated an in-house magazine, which routes the employee opinions to
them. Apart from these, there were staff meetings which were considered to
be an important avenue to express their opinions. Irrespective of all these
measures, the engagement score of opinion counts was only 58.18%. It is
suggested that private banks should take measures to reinforce their employees
to actively use these forums to express themselves and receive due
acknowledgement from the management of the bank. The more open &
friendly the bank is towards the employees opinion, the higher would the
expected levels of their employee engagement be.

ii. The bank managers responded that the bank had taken measures to create a
caring working environment by providing special care and supervision from
the Head Office, but the employee engagement score with respect to. Caring
Environment was only 67.27% as against the average engagement score of
73%. There is a need for the banks to look into their policies since such
measures might result in disengagement because of the ever vigilant eyes of
the executives on them. Due to this, the employees might refrain from
innovating their ways of doing work. Employees need to have a breathing
space, which would lead to the promotion of their levels of employee
engagement.

iii. Certain banks had given importance to employee empowerment initiatives and
they had reported 100% employee engagement in this regard. However, some
of the private sector banks did not resonate with engagement through
empowerment. The overall Empowerment score of engagement is 70.00%.
The commitment levels are lacking for these banks and they need to allot more
attention in this direction, for improving their employee engagement levels.

51
 iv. Even though no measures were taken in the area of developing the
commitment of colleagues to improve the employee engagement levels, the
respective score stands at 72.73% as against the average engagement score of
73.36%. Though not a very low score, but its an area which seeks attention
for promoting the employee engagement levels.

v. The banks had reported a low level of engagement for Growth opportunity.
The engagement score stands at 70.30%, while the average engagement score
for the private sector banks was 73.36%. In those banks that had committed
towards designing employee growth initiatives, only 63% of the employees
are engaged. It is suggested that these banks should focus at providing more
growth opportunities to their employees to increase their engagement levels.

vi. Private sector banks had taken up initiatives in the area of periodic
performance review while their counter parts in the public sector did not report
any such initiatives. Since timeliness of performance review can make or break
the employee engagement levels, it is of paramount importance to conduct
such reviews, at appropriate time intervals.

vii. For the private sector banks, the employees had responded with high level of
employee engagement in the following areas: Best friend at work - 81.82%,
Aligned to organizational goals -76.36%, Concern 74.55%, Progress
74.55%, Responsibility Assignment 78.18% and Great place to work
74.55%.

viii. The private sector banks branch managers communicated that they had taken
active measures when it came to creating a knowledge sharing environment,
instituting reward & recognition programmes & offering attractive salary
packages.

From the findings the following criteria were found to be the critical drivers of
employee engagement, focusing upon which the employee engagement levels

52
could be improved: employee opinion, employee empowerment, commitment of
colleagues, periodic performance review, caring environment and growth
opportunity. Along with these criteria three more areas were identified, considering
which would help the bank to take their employee engagement levels to the next
level. They are: Communicate customer feedback, Ideal leadership and work
environment. These areas were identified from online articles and books that
suggest ways and means to build an engaged workforce at work.

53
 CHAPTER 6
SUMMARY CONCLUSIONS
AND SUGGESTIONS
6. SUMMARY CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTIONS

Under this section the following phases are dealt:

i. Exploring insights from Man Management & Sai Baba's Mahavakya on

Leadership.
ii. Looking at online articles on employee engagement activities.
iii. Formulating strategies based on the findings, insights from Man management
and Sai Baba's Mahavakya on Leadership and online articles on employee
engagement.
iv. Conclusion

6.1. Exploration of Man Management and Sai Babas Mahavakya

on Leadership

In order to add value to the formulation of strategies, for developing the employee
engagement levels in the public sector banks and the private sector banks, it was
felt that there is a need to contribute insights from the value based management
that has been taught at Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning for this study.
The following two books were referred for this purpose:

i. Man Management Discourses of Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba to His

management students and staff.
ii. Sai Babas Mahavakya on Leadership

These books were read for promoting the employee engagement levels and insights
were recorded in a word file. These insights were incorporated in the relevant areas.

6.2. Reference to Online employee engagement articles

For formulating appropriate strategies that can help in the development of

employee engagement levels in the banking industry of India, it was deemed to
look at those current employee engagement activities. Article were searched online

57
and ideas from such articles were incorporated in the formulation of the strategies
along with the insights from the two books.

6.3. Recommendations Formulation of Strategies

Once the insights from articles and books were derived and the findings were
arrived at, the strategies or recommendations for developing the levels of employee
engagement in public sector banks and private sector banks have been formulated.
The strategies are of three types:

i. Strategies for both public sector banks and private sector banks
ii. Strategies for public sector banks
iii. Strategies for private sector banks

6.3.1. Strategies for both Public Sector Banks and Private Sector
Banks

Strategies were formulated for the following criteria and observations and they are
relevant for both public sector banks and private sector banks:

i. Employee Opinion

Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, in one of His discourses to His students and faculty
members of the Department of Management and Commerce at Sri Sathya Sai
Institute of Higher Learning, mentioned that in order to motivate the employees in
an organization, the management must ensure that they cultivate sober
communication.

The management must seek, listen & acknowledge the opinions of their employees.
If their opinions or suggestions are accepted, communicate it to them that their
viewpoints are considered & that necessary actions towards reinforcing their idea
or suggestion is in the pipeline. Incentivizing and rewarding those employees who

58
provide the organization with an idea or a suggestion which could be beneficial to
the organization. Moreover, it should be clearly communicated to the employees
that their suggestions, opinions and viewpoints are valuable to the organization.

There is a need for the organizations management to understand how the

employees react or feel when a particular policy is introduced or certain change
initiatives are taken up. In a bank, implementing a core banking solution can be a
best example for bringing about a change in its functioning, which requires active
participation and cooperation from its employees. Hence conducting questionnaire
surveys & periodic feedback sessions would help the management to solicit the
employees opinion on such factors which might affect their work life at the
organization. Above all, it is believed that, when an organization inspires its
employees to communicate fairly and openly, the employees would display a high
level of engagement.

ii. Empowerment of employees

Employee empowerment activities have to be encouraged and promoted in the

organization. It is a measure to motivate the employees, to explore their latent
potentials, which can be channelized towards achieving the organizational goals.
Employee empowerment gives way to innovation and out of the box thinking. It
helps the employees to digress from the traditional path of thinking. Though their
thought process may be different, they would finally culminate in the common
objective of achieving organization goals.

There is a need for the banking sector to grant considerable level of autonomy to
their employees. By unleashing the employees ability to think wild, the
organization takes its first step towards innovation. With autonomy as the basis,
the employees can think and express their plans and ideas to the organization,
which could be disruptive, but rewarding.

59
To successfully empower the employees, involve them in meetings wherein they
should be asked to brainstorm over a particular issue or a situation that the bank is
facing and come up with ways and means to approach the issue or situation. The
management should consider those which, according to them is a possible solution
for the problem at hand.

iii. Commitment of colleagues

If the colleagues or peers exhibit high levels of enthusiasm, commitment and

motivation, to come together and achieve great heights, it will affect the employees
too by encouraging them to join hands with their team. Likewise, if their colleagues
or peers are disengaged and do not find any purpose in being in the organization,
they might even belittle the work done by other employees and in turn try to
degrade their levels of engagement. Hence, Commitment of colleagues is a vital
employee engagement driver which can make or break the organizations
performance. It is the onus of the management to ensure that their employees
display high levels of commitment towards the organization. For promoting the
commitment levels of the employees, they must take certain measures such as
enabling a good communication network amongst the team members and
organizing exclusive team interactive sessions with experts.

In the case of banking sector, offering and marketing their products online is a
challenge. The management needs to allocate their employees into teams and
assign them with such tasks which involves collectively devising a plan of action
or a process to tackle emerging challenges and reward them amply for their
achievements. Involving the employees in such assignments have twin benefits:
One, the employees feel motivated to work together on a challenging issue, which
will increase their levels of employee engagement. Two, it will act as a medium to
percolate the organizational goals and values.

60
Bringing in motivational speakers and experts will help the management a great
deal, to increase the commitment levels of the employees. By organizing such
sessions, employees can learn about contributing better in a team and how to
achieve tasks together. It will also help to improve the relationship amongst the
employees, which would get translated into strong and cohesive teams that will
deliver timely results.

iv. Communicate customer feedback

By following what the organization asks for, the employees are merely discharging
their duties. By communicating the customer feedback on the services delivered,
to those employees who had delivered, the management can increase the level of
their employment to a large extent. An engaged employee will attract more
customers and the organization will be rewarded with a set of loyal customers. The
management must ensure that their employees are well trained in the
communication and negotiation skills, to deliver good results.

v. Ideal Leadership:

Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba explains from the great epic Mahabharata that; the
first duty of a leader is towards his or her people. He or She expresses leadership
as a symbol of love and sacrifice which is the art of caring leadership. To motivate
the employees, Bhagawan advises the managers that, Practice everything that one
expects others to implement in their day to day life & then only preach the same to
others. According to Him to engage the employees, the manager himself or herself
must be engaged.

This can be promoted in the workplace by conducting an engagement survey

exclusively for the managers, team leaders and executives, to determine where they
stand when it comes to engagement. When the leaders themselves walk the talk

61
as per the dictums of the organization, the employees would feel encouraged to do
the same.

6.3.2. Strategies for Public Sector Banks

The following strategies are formulated and found relevant exclusively for public
sector banks:

i. Periodic performance review

Bhagawan Sri Sathya Sai Baba, in one of His discourses to His students and staff
at the department of management studies and commerce, indicated that, One
should look for ways & means that win; not trigger agitation among the employees.
If an employee commits a mistake, call him or her separately or privately and
counsel him or her to mend his or her ways.

With the above statement, he meant that employees must be made aware of the
impact of their work on the organization from time to time. If an employee does
not deliver the desired results or make errors in his or her course of work, it is duty
of the management to explain to their employees where they have gone wrong and
to advise them to be more vigilant. This has to be done gently and with care.

In the public sector bank, periodic performance reviews are not implemented in the
desired manner and if no proper care is taken immediately, the organizations may
suffer in the long run due to employee burnouts and high attrition rates. The
management needs to establish an excellent performance appraisal system that will
provide the employees with the necessary as well as timely feedback, which can
be helpful for self-improvement and course correction in their work. The timeliness
of the feedback is of utmost importance since it determines the speediness of the
employees in understanding where they err and what they should do to avoid
making such errors.

62
 ii. Work relationship

From the findings of the data analysis it was determined that some of the public
sector bank managers were trying to give an amiable picture of their employee
engagement levels when it comes to maintain good work relationship. The
responses from the employees showed that only a very small portion of the
employees are engaged with the current level of work relationship.

A good work relationship is quintessential for an organization to have a set of

engaged employees. They can achieve a good work relationship by communicating
them what is happening in the organization on a regular basis and take measures to
create a sense of pride to be an employee of the organization. By providing
information about the workplace, the employees feel that the management trusts
them and that it is their utmost duty to rise up to the expectations of the
organization. With a positively charged environment of work as the backdrop, the
employees would want to come back for work every day and they would even
stretch themselves to achieve the organizational success.

6.3.3. Strategies for Private Sector Banks

The following strategies are formulated and found relevant exclusively for private
sector banks:

i. Growth opportunity

Providing the employees with the necessary career growth opportunity is a major
driver of employee engagement. With reference to Abraham Maslows Need
Hierarchy theory, as the employee moves from one level of need to another, he or
she aspires for greater goals. For an employee who has a competitive remuneration
package, whose job is secured and who enjoys good work relationship, growth in

63
 his or her career is a vital esteem need. He or she can no longer be motivated with
the drivers like monetary benefits or incentives.

Though certain private sector bank managers advocated that they promote career
growth of their employees, the engagement survey responses indicated that only
63% of the employees are engaged in their organization due to career growth
opportunities. Henceforth, there is need for the bank managers to take measures to
provide their employees with career growth opportunities.

To promote the career growth of their employees, the management can organize
career counselling sessions and workshops and also fill vacant job posts internally.
By conducting career counselling sessions, the employees will be provided with
insights on how to move up the corporate ladder and also their current status in
terms of knowledge and skill set. This would motivate the employees to take
measures to acquire knowledge in the areas with respect to their career growth and
to sharpen their skills, so that they are ready for new challenges. By encouraging
internal recruitment of employees to job vacancies, the management can exhibit
that they value and trust their employees. Along with internal recruitment, the
management must also ensure that the employees are well equipped and prepared
for the tasks assigned. For those talented employees who are tailor-made for top
management positions, introducing a systematic succession planning proves to be
the ideal solution which will ensure that he or she is ready for the job.

ii. Caring environment

In the private sector banks, the engagement level with respect to caring work
environment is very low, in spite of some managers committing that their
organization takes measures to take care of employees even from executive levels.
There is lag in this area and there is a need to develop measures to create a caring

64
work environment like bringing in flexibility of company policies (within the set
boundaries) and recognizing the value of the employees.

In the Indian context, it is acceptable to enquire the employees about their personal
life, to an extent. The managers, by doing so, can determine the challenges that an
employee is going through and bring about certain flexibilities in those policies
such as transfer and promotion, which have a direct bearing on the employees life.
This will help the employees to strike a good work-life balance. By treating the
employees as an asset to the organization, the management would shift its
standpoint from viewing employee as an individual than as a means to get work
done. It is within the capability of the manager to establish a bond with his or her
employees, establish robust communication within the team and become a peoples
manager which will lead to the creation of a caring environment, stimulating high
levels of employee engagement.

6.4. Conclusion

This study was aimed at identifying the current levels of employee engagement at
public sector banks and private sector banks and formulating strategies for
developing the current levels of engagement. After undertaking the data collection
with the help of an employee engagement questionnaire survey and a structured
interview, the information necessary for understanding the current employee
engagement level and the banking industrys understanding about the employee
engagement were obtained. When data was analyzed thoroughly using sub-group
analysis, findings were established successfully. With the help of findings, the
study found its fulfillment in creating a set of nine strategies. It is believed that, on
incorporating these strategies in their work places, the public sector banks and
private sector banks can develop their current level of employee engagement into
higher levels.

65
APPENDIXES
7. APPENDIXES

7.1. THE LIST OF BANKS VISITED

The following table shows the banks that were approached for data collection and
the number of questionnaire responses provided by each bank.

Public Sector Banks Number of Private Sector Number of

Responses Banks Responses
Punjab National Bank 5 Dhanlaxmi Bank 9
State Bank of India 8 ICICI Bank 0
Canara Bank 8 Karnataka Bank 5
Bank Of India 4 Federal Bank 31
Bank Of Baroda 3 South Indian Bank 6
Indian Overseas Bank 7 HDFC Bank 1
Catholic Syrian Bank 3
Total 35 Total 55
Table 11: Banks visited for data collection

Of the above banks visited the following branch managers of the following Banks
granted interviews:

Public Sector Banks:

i. Punjab National Bank

ii. State Bank of India
iii. Canara Bank
iv. Bank Of India
v. Bank Of Baroda
vi. Indian Overseas Bank

Private Sector Banks:

i. Dhanlaxmi Bank
ii. South Indian Bank
iii. Federal Bank
iv. ICICI Bank
v. Karnataka Bank

69
7.2. THE COVER LETTER

The following cover letter was used as a proposal for collecting data from banks:

Figure 8: The cover letter

70
7.3. THE QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY

The questionnaire survey used for data collection is as follows:

Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning

Department of Management & Commerce

Vidyagiri, Prasanthi Nilayam

Dear Sir/Madam,

This is a survey conducted as a course requirement for Masters of

Business Administration at Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher
Learning, Prasanthi Nilayam Puttaparthi, Anantapur District, Andhra
Pradesh, for my project. I am doing my project in the area of Human
Resource Management, the topic being Strategies for developing the
levels of employee engagement in public sector and private sector
banks.

I request your good-self to go through this questionnaire and provide

with appropriate responses. Your responses are the basis for my data
analysis and therefore it is of extreme importance to me. I hereby
declare that the information so obtained will be used solely for
scholastic purpose and I promise that the name of the respondents will
be kept anonymous. I assure you that I will strictly abide by the ethical
standards expected of me and that I will respect the policies of your
Organization.

Thanking you for your co-operation

Aswin Rajagopal
Phone No: +919495635170
Email ID: aswinrg94@gmail.com

Note: The questionnaire has been divided into four sections. Each section has 3-5
questions. The questions are declarative statements and the responses have to be
given by choosing any one of the response boxes. Any queries in this regard, most
welcome.

71
Employee Engagement Survey
A purely academic oriented survey

Please indicate your Bank type by putting a tick mark: Public / Private

My Job
1. I have the necessary equipments and tools (example: Computer,
Stationery items, Knowledge help etc.) to assist me to do my job well.
Please put tick mark only in one box.

2. Most days, I see positive results because of my work.

Please put tick mark only in one box.

3. In the recently concluded financial year, I have had opportunities at work,

to learn and grow.
Please put tick mark only in one box.

4. There is someone at work who encourages my development.

Please put tick mark only in one box.

72
5. The amount of work I am expected to do is reasonable.
Please put tick mark only in one box.

My Team

6. The people I work with take accountability and ownership for results.
Please put tick mark only in one box.

7. The people I work with treat me with respect.

Please put tick mark only in one box.

8. My co-workers and I openly talk about what needs to be done to be

more effective.
Please put tick mark only in one box.

My Boss

9. My Boss helps me understand how my work is important to the

organization.
Please put tick mark only in one box.

73
10. My Boss is approachable and easy to talk to.
Please put tick mark only in one box.

11. My Boss creates a motivating and energizing workplace.

Please put tick mark only in one box.

12. My Boss sets high expectations for our teams performance.

Please put tick mark only in one box.

My Organization

13. The vision and goals of this organization are important to me personally.
Please put tick mark only in one box.

14. For me, this organization provides attractive training and development
opportunities.
Please put tick mark only in one box.

74
15. There are opportunities for my career growth, in this organization.
Please put tick mark only in one box.

16 My opinions are sought on issues that affect me and my job.

Please put tick mark only in one box.

17. This organization cares about employees.

Please put tick mark only in one box.

18. I would recommend this organization as a great place to work.

Please put tick mark only in one box.

Thank You for Your Co-operation!

75
 7.4. THE INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

The following are the interview questions asked to the branch managers of the
banks:

i. What are the measures undertaken by your bank when it comes to

strengthening the relationship between the employees and the Bank?

ii. How do the above reflect in the day to day functions of the Bank? Can I
understand this, using example?

iii. To enhance the levels of employee engagement, what are the various
initiatives undertaken?

iv. Do you see any significant relationship between the level of employee
engagement and the banks performance level?

v. Is employee retention a good measure for level of engagement?

vi. What steps would you recommend to increase the level of engagement?

vii. Does the bank provide employees with avenues to express their opinions
and views?

viii. In comparison with your counterparts in the industry, what is your view
regarding the overall level of employee engagement in your bank?

76
7.5. THE EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT SCORES

The following tables shows the employee engagement scores for each criterion
and the employee engagement level for the entire sector:

PUBLIC SECTOR BANKS : 35 responses

Criteria Engagement Not engaged Disengagement
Basic Level of Engagement 82.86% 11.43% 5.71%
Best Friend at work 97.14% 2.86% 0.00%
Commitment of Colleagues 80.00% 14.29% 5.71%
Concern 94.29% 4.29% 1.43%
Empowerment 80.00% 18.57% 1.43%
Growth opportunity 85.71% 9.52% 4.76%
Opinion Counts 68.57% 20.00% 11.43%
Progress 91.43% 5.71% 2.86%
Caring Environment 80.00% 20.00% 0.00%
Great place to work 82.86% 14.29% 2.86%
Responsibility assignment 88.57% 5.71% 5.71%
Aligned to Organizational Goals 94.29% 5.71% 0.00%
TOTAL SCORE 1025.71% 132.38% 41.90%
LEVEL OF ENGAGEMENT 85.48% 11.03% 3.49%
Table 12: Public Sector Bank Employee engagement scores

PRIVATE SECTOR BANKS : 55 responses

Criteria Engagement Not engaged Disengagement
Basic Level of Engagement 81.82% 10.91% 7.27%
Best Friend at work 81.82% 14.55% 3.64%
Commitment of Colleagues 72.73% 17.27% 10.00%
Concern 74.55% 11.82% 13.64%
Empowerment 70.00% 15.45% 14.55%
Growth opportunity 70.30% 18.79% 10.91%
Opinion Counts 58.18% 27.27% 14.55%
Progress 74.55% 12.73% 12.73%
Caring Environment 67.27% 14.55% 18.18%
Great place to work 74.55% 18.18% 7.27%
Responsibility assignment 78.18% 16.36% 5.45%
Aligned to Organizational Goals 76.36% 16.36% 7.27%
TOTAL SCORE 880.30% 194.24% 125.45%
LEVEL OF ENGAGEMENT 73.36% 16.19% 10.45%
Table 13: Private Sector Bank Employee engagement scores

77
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9. REFERENCES

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